Expert reveals solutions that could help dial down restaurant noise

• Restaurant-goers have debated if large noisy groups should be banned
• Experts say design choices can help reduce sound in restaurants 

Noise levels can make or break a restaurant experience for some diners – so experts have revealed how they can get so loud and what solutions businesses have.

Visits to sit-down restaurants down nearly five percent in 2023 from the year prior, according to location analytics firm Placer.ai.

Restaurant-goers have complained about loud groups ruining their meals and even debated if big groups should be banned from nice restaurants.

However, experts say a few design changes could help reduce sound and keep customers at their tables.

‘I do think that’s an issue with why restaurants have gotten louder, because I think there’s been an aesthetic change,’ Lily Wang, Director of the University of Nebraska Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction, told The Washington Post.

‘You know, we want to design a vibe that’s either kind of industrial or cool.’ 

Wang said while people talking is a source of noise, their bodies also act as sound absorbers and reflectors.

‘You know, concert halls design chairs to absorb the same amount of sound as a normal human body,’ she said. ‘That way, it sounds the same whether or not it’s a packed house.’

Wang explained that the movement of dishes and chatting makes sound by vibrating molecules in the air. 

That vibration does not move in a straight line, rather it moves outward like a growing sphere of sound waves.

When the waves move through a restaurant in can interact with objects, three things can happen, depending on the materials involved. 

‘Some gets reflected, then there is some of it that will … continue propagating … and then there is some that is absorbed,’ Wang told The Post.

 In confined space, when someone raises their voice others subconsciously react by raising their voices, creating a feedback loop called the Lombard effect.

Sound absorbing materials such as foam or fiberglass placed in ceiling tiles and wall panels can help channel sound waves, but are often deemed unaesthetic and expensive.

Experts suggest for people who don’t want to install sound absorbing materials, there are layouts that can include physical barriers that can help prevent voices from floating through the restaurant.  

Spacing out the tables and seating diners away from sound sources such as a ventilation system or the kitchen can help.

The Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema recommends people can avoid noise by eating early when the dining room is less full or sitting in booths.