The restaurant chains louder than a drill

IF you plan to catch up with friends and family at a restaurant over the holidays, prepare to shout across the dinner table.

Many of our biggest chains are noisier than a pneumatic drill, making dining out more of a battle than a pleasure.

Modern restaurant decor has been blamed for the deafening din, with the preference for trendy hard floors and minimalist seating replacing traditionally noise- muffling soft furnishings.

Diners also find themselves straining to be heard over chaotic open kitchens, thumping background music and clattering cutlery.

As part of its ‘Decibel Squad’ campaign, the charity Action on Hearing Loss has asked the public to take restaurant noise readings on an app to be compiled into a database of the worst offenders.

Top was Pizza Express at Royal Festival Hall on London’s South Bank, which last month hit 108.1 decibels – louder than eating next to a revving motorbike or the metallic jabber of a pneumatic drill, followed by Cote Brasserie in Camden, London.

Branches of Costa Coffee, TGI Fridays and Toby Carvery were also reported to be louder than roadworks. Gemma Twitchen, senior audiologist for Action on Hearing Loss, said: ‘We have all been in restaurants where we haven’t been able to hear the people around us speak over excess background noise. This can be frustrating and uncomfortable for anyone, but for some with hearing loss, it can be impossible to hold a conversation.’

Campaigners, including Age UK, are calling for restaurants to introduce quieter areas for the benefit of older customers.

Pizza Express said it had met with Action on Hearing Loss to discuss the report, while chains including TGI Fridays, Costa and Toby Carvery said diners could ask for music to be turned down or to be moved if unhappy.

To record a restaurant noise reading, visit facebook.com/groups/DecibelSquad.