Televisions in Restaurants...
 

Given 24 hour/day news and sports programming, it seems that wall-mounted flat screens have become pretty common place in less than fine dining establishments. Sometimes they grab our attention and sometimes they're just background visuals like wallpaper or murals that are constantly changing. I got some Chinese take-out the other day and while waiting for my order, I watched what appeared to be a Chinese channel. The show displayed not only how chefs prepared eel dishes but also how to gather eel in the wild and how to skin eel before going into the wok. This was really gross to watch, and the only saving grace was that none of the diners seemed to be watching and I hadn't ordered anything resembling eel. Anybody else ever have that experience of seeing a television on the wall at a restaurant that should have simply been turned off? For that matter, do televisions even belong in restaurants???

You are right,televisions shouldn´t been there,and shops should´t generally play that garbage they call music.I don´t like earbugs but I will have to get some to cover that up.I am really sensitive to music and I get freaked out a lot these days.

This probably marks a difference in our cultures, but I wouldn't consider a TV on in a restaurant as appropriate.

I have experienced "muzak" in pubs 9which are all restaurants nowadays, but would always ask for it to be turned down or off - although the places that we frequent don't have such extraneous noise.

You have reminded me of an instance we experienced taking breakfast in a chain hotel in Austin back in 2004 and watching a news broadcast in horror at the misinformation that was being broadcast in the world news section which included my country.

While I don't think Americans invented this concept, I think I can argue we have mastered it quite nicely...

RP - simply, if a restaurant has a tv that we don't want to watch, we go elsewhere.

I hear you - Televisions blasting CNN, Fox and ESPN (along with the breaking news crawler) are omnipresent in our society; it's very Orwellian. And I have no idea why.

So Ichoose to do it differently. In my dental office, I have a live feed from Cornell Lab's bird feeders on Sapsucker Lake in Ithaca. I also have a loop of beaches in the Bahamas. Note that the TV is also used to display xrays, photos, etc as needed, but honestly, the birds (not the Byrds, although we did have Levon Helm* up for one patient) are a big hit.

* We were watching Levon's Homespun video on drumming. It has sooo many tie-ins to how we approach guitar.

PPS - at a local 'regional' grocery store (Stew Leonard's), they have videos of Stew talking to the farmers and fisherman that he buys from. Plus, some of them highlight what to look for when selecting food. IMO, that's a good use of the media

My favorite local restaurant plays the Food Network on its TVs in the bar. I do not patronize any establishments, restaurants or otherwise, that constantly blare political TV networks.

TV's in restaurants? I don't think this has caught on in UK...





Thankfully.

My first thought was no to TV's in restaurants. I wouldn't mind if the TV was there as an 'art' window displaying a slide show of non-intrusive (and quiet) images. Definitely not loud sports or a TV channel I might recording at home to enjoy later.

I suppose it's each to their own. I probably would choose not to go to a restaurant with TV just as some out there would choose not to go to a restaurant with an acoustic guitarist playing (especially if that guitarist was me).

I suppose it somewhat depends on what one considers the definition of a “restaurant” is.
For myself, there are enough opportunities for a true dining experience minus the televisions. You just have to seek them out.
On our recent vacation trip to Nashville and Memphis, we had breakfast at a “Waffle House “. Good ol’ Americana stuff.
No televisions, just the constant good-natured banter between the cooks and the servers. Now that’s entertainment!
As far as the rest, it’s the culture of today in America. There are lots of things that have changed...more to come.
How we tend to perceive all this is pretty closely entwined with our demographic. I have to keep reminding myself, don’t be the “bah humbug“ guy you used to despise when you were young.

I work in TV. My wife is a newshound. In TV as a job, you have to watch the monitor like a hawk. If you work in the biz, when you get home you have to concentrate not to watch if you are in the room. Plus, by the time I get home from mixing music my ears and mind are exhausted from "steering my hearing" to listen to fine details in the background, especially if I am mixing music. Breaking dialog (my wife) out of the background (the TV) is mental work. If there is a TV on in the room at home I simply don't get away from work all day and night.

I was in an upscale restaurant on Sunday and they had a TV in the bar (featuring the Packer's demise) that could be heard in the restaurant.

Let's just say I despise TVs in restaurants and leave it at that.

Bob

My favorite Mexican restaurant has three televisions on all the time, but the volume is down. Even if it was turned up it probably wouldn't bother me. Hey, it's not exactly Capital Grille.

What bugs me even more is bars that have televisions, and they don't turn them off when the band is playing...

When I go to Fur Peace Ranch every year I stay Thursday night at a hotel with free breakfast. The breakfast room always has the news blaring while I'm trying to eat. I hate it but I hate almost all TV, especially the "news".

I try to avoid restaurants with tv's.
Problem is I am running out of places to go.

Get off my lawn!

Yeah...hotel breakfast rooms and waiting areas at airport gates ...
...augghh!