Am I getting old, or is a super-loud restaurant even more annoying than really bad service?
I’m not sure what the loudest restaurant in the Twin Cities is, but I have a contender for the top five.
BLVD Kitchen & Bar just opened in Hopkins right off of 394. It’s owned by the Redstone people and the cougar crowd moved right up the street to populate this place. There’s plenty of good stuff to eat (which you’ll read about in an upcoming issue of Minnesota Monthly) but the volume in there on a Tuesday night was worth talking about here.
With a high tin ceiling over the bar and low wood ceiling over the dining room, the volume was thunderous. We had to yell to each other during the meal.
Conversely, I went to a restaurant last week where we were the only people there, and the silence was awkward. I get that you want some energy in a place.
My dad said to me that dining is mostly a social experience for him, and so when it’s so loud you can’t socialize, it ruins the meal.
Why do designers do this? They know certain things are going to be loud? Do restaurants want that loud, excited vibe?
It made us skip dessert on my dad’s birthday, because we wanted to get out of there.
What’s the loudest place you’ve eaten at? Does it bug you as much as it bugs me?
