Restaurants, bars, and dives—Can you hear me now??

The acoustics of “places of public accommodation” including restaurants, bars, and dives have been an ongoing issue with the users of such places for many years. ASTM International once considered writing a standard for the measurement/performance of such spaces, but it died an uncertain death during development. More recently, the ASA was requested to look at the possibility of writing such a standard, and to that end a special session on “restaurant acoustics” sponsored by the ASA Panel on Public Policy was conducted in Boston. So what to do?? More data are obviously needed—but to what end?? It may be possible to write a measurement standard, probably at ASTM, and it may be possible to write a performance standard, probably at ASA. But, this would be a tall task given the variety of such places and the diffused focus between entertainment and “hunger and thirst” … maybe a rating system would be a more appropriate starting point. A proposal for that approach will be made herewith.