If you are going to a place that becomes a club come 9 or 10 p.m., then I don't care about the noise.

However, if you are going to high quality restaurant, then I would probably complain about the noise level if it got way too high. Dining out is not just for food, but also for conversation.

Every time we eat dinner at L'Auberge Provincial in White Post, VA, you can hear the traffic in McLean when it is almost an hour away - it is extremely quiet in their dining room, it's deafening. And with that silence, no one wants to talk, since everyone's afraid that the table next to them would hear the "sweet nothings," or revelations that they just cheated, or worse...

I prefer quiet, but not too quiet and if no one wants to talk then by all means please play something (I'm sure what Abacrombie was playing was at a good volume though I haven't been there) - better than nothing at all I think. As long as my company and I can hear our conversation without yelling or leaning over, any reasonable "noise" would be acceptable.

To me it works out like this, dinner I want quiet so I can pleasant conversation, bar I can handle noisy. why would anyone want an upscale resturant to feel like being at a cook-out?

I really dislike noisy restaurants, to the point of avoiding them. The most recent too-noisy restaurant added to my probably-won't-return list is Cinghiale.

I think restaurants have lost the talent of playing music befitting the ambiance of the restaurant and at an appropriate volume. Even a few of my favorite places have been guilty of turning to piping in radio stations at one time or another, even if it's that schmantcy FM satellite stuff. Multi-disk cd players aren't that expensive to hook into sound systems. Load them with a selection of shifting artists with similar mood and voila, instant mood.

I too encountered a too quiet restaurant recently and my sweetie and I didn't talk as much because it seemed like our voices were carrying even if we were whispering.

I eat out a lot and I notice the noise. For the most part, most restaurants aren't too noisy - to the point you cannot communicate with your companions, but I think this trend of larger spaces with smooth surfaces really increases the noise levels.

Ate at both per se and L'Arpege recently and am happy to report that both dining rooms were pleasantly calm, relaxing, comfortable and devoid of music or excessive noise.

I expect it is all old/young divide on this. I don't mind background music, but it should be just that - background. When I can't easily hear my hubby or other dining companions across the table because of music, it is too loud for me and has a negative impact on the experience.

I have "dog ears"--really good hearing--so loud noise physically hurts me. On a recent federal holiday, I went to a chain restaurant in TowsonTown Mall for lunch, and the place was packed. The music was thumping, so everybody had to shout to be heard by their neighbors. Too much for me...probably won't be going back.

There's one Owings Mills "fine" restaurant that is frequented by almost all elderly people and it's the loudest restaurant I've ever been in. If there's background music, I can't even hear it over the screaming conversations and laughter.

I really dislike discussing how old I am because of all the preconceived notions that comes with it, depending on the group that I associate with, but here it is - I am still in my 20's and I prefer to keep my hearing abilities way past retirement, thank you. I don't mind noise, loud or soft, and it all depends on where I am.

Now there I said it, please withhold the comments =)

Eric, you took the words right out of my keyboard.