Music in Restaurants

the beer revolu

I'm curious to know other people's thoughts on this.

Went for breakfast this morning in The Spitjack, Cork. The food was lovely and the service was professional and friendly. But the music!!!!!!
Played pretty loudly was (I can't name any of the artists, so excuse my long winded description) contemporary pop ballads. You know the x factor type, howly, waily, ernest, awful pop ballads that I thought no one over the age of 22 listened to? Now this was a busy, buzzy brunch atmosphere with an open kitchen but the music was loud enough to clearly cut through this considerable background noise.

Both myself and Mrs Beer (who wouldn't be a quarter the music Nazi that I am) found it unpleasant to the point that I asked to be moved upstairs as I thought there wasn't music up there. I was told that the same music was played up there but that they could turn it down for me. They didn't.

A short while later a manager came over and asked if we were enjoying our breakfast. I bluntly told him that we were't and why not. He, very kindly and without hesitation, had the music turned off and we enjoyed our meal with just the sound of busy chatter, the clatter of cutlery and delph and kitchen sounds. It had a great atmosphere.

To my mind, restaurants should have either no music or inoffensive, instrumental, background music - unless it's a themed restaurant. Everyone has different tastes in music so I thought restaurants would avoid very style specific, pop music. I've never encountered this problem before.

Now while the manager was very kind and accommodating and the food was lovely, I , unfortunately, will never return to that restaurant because I
(a) don't want to sit through such awful (IMO) music or
(b) have to ask the manager to turn off the music.

One server did confess to us that she too hated the music.:D

Would this kind of thing bother anyone else or am I (and my wife) just exceptionally odd?

The Hill Billy

A bit of background music is fine for casual dining, but if it is too loud (i.e., I can make out the lyrics & can't fully hear the conversation) it annoys the hell out of me.

Whispered

Annoys me too. At a low level I don't mind too much but I find it hard to conversate or read when there are some types of music on. I'd rather none, unless the restaurant is very very quiet to the point of being uncomfortable.

Exceptions id make would be specific cuisines like Indian, Thai etc in which case I think appropriate music played quietly adds to the atmosphere and casual modern eateries who sell themselves as such. A great example is Peachtree East in Tallaght. They sometimes play the live music from the cocktail bar into the restaurant and it works well because of the type of buzzy place it is (to add the live music is one man singing a range of inoffensive songs from many genres so something for most tastes i would imagine)

AndrewJRenko

It's a big problem for lots of people with hearing loss, which includes a lot of people from 55 onwards. It just makes it difficult or impossible to talk.

Having said that, I do enjoy a nice soundtrack. The Counter in Dundrum often have 'dad rock' stuff which I love, but I'm not sure it would be appreciated by the majority of their audience. I was in another restaurant last week which had Nouvelle Vogue style covers of interesting tracks, which was nice too.

I guess it is all about getting the volume right.

Dizzyblonde

I like a bit of background music in restaurants sometimes, but only if it's soft enough that you can still carry on a normal conversation.

harr

A bit of soft background music is fine but loud current chart music would be a definite no no for me...staff should have known this when op made it known to them...at least the manager was professional enough to turn it off when the problem was pointed out to him.
Had similar issue in New York a few months back in a tiny restaurant/bar , they had a elderly gentleman playing very loud piano music in a restaurant with only 7 tables it was totally head wrecking and made worse when he started to sing Frank Sinatra...the food was drinks were top class but could not enjoy the meal.

BailMeOut

At any restaurant, cafe, pub, etc.. both music and lighting need to be constantly tweaked all day long. A restaurant that is very busy and noisy the music should be adjusted a little louder and if very quiet needs it lowered. It is something management and staff need to be aware and what levels need to be and then adjust accordingly. Same with lighting as it needs to be dimmed or brightened throughout the day to make sure restaurant is not too bright or dark.

A band playing and blasting you out of it while you try to eat however is a different matter and somewhere I would avoid!

woodchuck

Dizzyblonde wrote: »

I like a bit of background music in restaurants sometimes, but only if it's soft enough that you can still carry on a normal conversation.

I agree. If done correctly it can add to the atmosphere, but I primarily go out for a meal to be able to have a conversation. If the music interferes with that, then what's the point!

cee_jay

A small Irish burger chain opened near work last year so met a friend who I hadn't seen in ages for lunch there. We were unable to catch up as we couldn't hear ourselves over the blaring music. We asked if the music could be turned down slightly and it wasn't.

As a result I will never go there or to any of their other establishments again. I have walked past recently enough at lunch time and the music was still blaring out the door. I have also told friends and colleagues about the bad experience and rescheduled future work lunches to go elsewhere.

For me, eating out is a social activity and I enjoy catching up with friends over food. Music being blasted too loudly negatively affects that and is one of my pet hates.

the beer revolu

For me it wasn't just the volume, it was also the style. Far too specific.
If I ran a restaurant, I certainly wouldn't be playing the kind of music that I like to listen to because I know it really wouldn't be to some people's taste.
Music needs to be pretty low key, inoffensive, preferably instrumental and relatively low volume.

kylith

My mum had a similar problem in a restaurant she would go to semi-regularly. She complained to the waitress and was told 'How can you not love X band?'. Next time she was passing she told the manager what had happened, the waitress appears to have been let go since.

I'm sorry if the girl lost her job over it, but the correct response is to turn it down, not berate the clientele for not sharing your love of a band.

BailMeOut

I was on a coffee shop in New York a few weeks ago that plays music like you are in a nightclub all day long. You have you shout at the baristas so they can hear you. Bizarre place especially at 8am in the morning with blaring dance music!

odyssey06

I planned to have lunch in a gastropub in a Dublin suburb... the place was empty but from the music volume you would think it was a standing room only jam-packed Saturday night party.
I went elsewhere. The other eateries in the area all had more customers.

I suspect that if the staff are so oblivious to the needs of customers in this area, that will spill over into other areas of customer service.