I don’t have as much trouble with the loudmouths as with the NOISY NOISY restaurants I’ve been in lately. God! So many have stylishly stained concrete floors plus floor-to-ceiling glass so the whole world can see you eating in a fabulous place (?), so right off there’s so much ambient noise you need earplugs, then add the chatter of many happy diners who are practically shouting to hear their dining companions, then the kitchen starts banging around, and THEN they add some rock and roll or something over the built-in speakers. I try to get away from the direct source of noise from those speakers but they are ubiquitous.

I have been eliminating places lately - as in, I’ll never go there again. Used to like Kianti for a salad/pasta/wine easy dinner after a busy day. NEVER AGAIN, it’s so loud you can’t hear yourself think. You can ask them to turn down the music a little and they either agree but give you the “boy they’re weird” stink-eye, or they say they “have no control” over it.

We tried out the new Davenport place and it was UNBEARABLE, I actually sat there with my fingers in my ears! Okay - concrete floors, brick & glass walls, hard wood up above. I recall the old Cash Store had, I don’t know, tapestries or quilts or something hanging on the brick walls, which helped. Now, once the kitchen is banging around and the level of customer chat ramps up, forget it. This particular night they had a singer with a guitar and a couple of small amps, doing some jazz standards, but the singer was really bad. So add that on top of just about unbearable noise to begin with. So they’re on thelist.

I used to enjoy some places on the wharf for fun sometimes, like Riva, where the food is just ok but it’s fun sometimes to go and have a drink and watch the sun go down. But yikes - all tile. It’s so noisy I think, If I worked here I’d have to kill myself.

This has become a huge issue for me. I am having trouble finding places to eat where I’m not in PAIN.