Reducing Crowd Noise in a Restaurant



A great restaurant provides an escape where guests can relax and savor their favorite meals while socializing with loved ones. Customers repeatedly patronize restaurants which offer consistently excellent service, quality cuisine and a pleasant atmosphere. The presence of numerous dining establishments makes the restaurant industry extremely competitive, so restaurants must provide a consistently satisfying dining experience in order to develop and retain a loyal customer base. Not only do restaurant patrons demand great tasting food and friendly service, they also seek enjoyable ambience and the ability to intimately converse with other members of their party. A high noise level in a restaurant is enough to drive business elsewhere, making it imperative for restaurant owners to take measures to minimize unwanted sound throughout their dining areas. Fortunately, many easily implemented sound reduction options are available to restaurant owners who want to improve ambience and contribute to the long term success of their businesses.

Excessive noise in restaurants stems from a vicious cycle wherein a jumble of conversations generate reverberations, causing guests to speak louder in order to be heard over the noise. Perpetuating the heightened noise level, restaurants typically require a lot of hard surfaces such as tables, floors and countertops to facilitate cleaning, with the result being an abundance of highly reflective surfaces that intensify sound reverberations throughout the establishment. The goal in restaurant noise control is reducing the background noise level by reducing the reverberation time, thus providing patrons with a pleasant environment where they can hear and be heard.

Reverberations can be held to a minimum through the installation of soundproofing products designed for restaurant walls, ceilings, or both. Soundproofing solutions will not bring dead silence to a room full of talking guests; rather they will absorb excess sound and reduce the overall decibel level such that patrons can enjoy the atmosphere and socialize in normal conversational tones.

Soundproofing panels and tiles designed to be wall mounted for absorption of excess reverberations are widely available and can be custom fitted for use in specific areas. Many are available in a range of colors to coordinate with restaurant furnishings and align with corporate color schemes. However, wall panels are often not an option as they may interfere with the décor that restaurants integrate into their persona. Therefore, ceiling soundproofing tiles or clouds may be used instead of (or in conjunction with) wall panels for increased reverberation control. Some ceiling tiles are designed to be placed in an existing grid based ceiling structure, which are effective but not always desired by restaurants whose design scheme would be affected. Thus ceiling clouds, or decorative suspended sound panels that “float” from the ceiling in even, aesthetically pleasing rows offer a popular solution for restaurants. For areas with large windows, sound absorbing blinds may be installed to capture sound and control reverberations from windows.

Anyone wishing to implement a restaurant sound reduction project is advised to consult a reputable soundproofing company to ensure that all variables are considered and that an effective solution is instated. Volume control is an issue that restaurant owners must address to maximize the comfort and satisfaction of their guests and build a loyal repeat customer base that will contribute to the restaurant’s long term success.