Sound and noise provide a set of aesthetic and commercial cues for restaurateurs. Whether it is considered sound or noise depends on the listener as well as the desired atmosphere. In this manner, although often overlooked, noise is an important design element for restaurants.

This entry focuses on sound and noise in restaurants. People often refer to more chaotic and obtrusive sounds, particularly loud ones that disturb people or make it difficult to hear wanted sounds, as noise. This is in some ways, of course, an issue of individual interpretation; context and preference create the distinction between sound and noise. A sound that annoys one person, and thus becomes noise, may not annoy another. Restaurant patrons are often plagued by noise, consistently citing it as one ...