Canele in Atwater / D. Solomon

Some of us can barely abide restaurants where we have to shout to chat with a friend or order a drink. (That’s why old fashioned spots like Taix and The Pacific Dining Car are two of my L.A. faves.) Puh-leeze, can’t this stop? Eateries can be hip and successful without the din drowning out our voices. And as New York Times critic Pete Wells suggested recently, loud restaurants practice what amounts to “legal age discrimination.” Read “Working or Playing Indoors, New Yorkers Face an Unabated Roar” in the Times to learn how it could be affecting our ears. Check out the awesome infographic too for audio examples. (The LA Times wrote about this topic recently, too.)