I’m a chain restaurant guy and the local independent places I frequent are mostly sports bars. So there can be lots of TVs. The only place I can think of that only has one TV and that is in the bar - is Sorrento’s which I think is a national chain. So if I go to Peter Luger’s are there TV sets? I think this is a USA cultural thing so let’s restrict it to that. And I think “only in the bar” is a distinction also.
My restaurant has only one TV and it is used to show a slide show of pictures of our food and drink and local history. Most restaurants in the area (Kansas) do have them and we deliberately counter programmed against that. It may hurt us during big sports events but many people do appreciate not having the noise and distraction.
Hear, hear. I’ll go to a sports bar with TVs to hang out for drinks, but if I want a restaurant meal with actual conversation and/or pleasant serenity then TVs (and any background music except soft and non-intrusive) are right out.
Remind me not to eat out in Kansas except maybe at Moreau’s place. (Uh, that’s not like Doctor Moreau’s place, I’m hoping.)
Admittedly, I’ve only been in a handful of sit-down restaurants in the past two years. Two of them, both small mom-and-pop places that focus on breakfast and lunch (and close by 2pm) don’t have any televisions in the dining rooms.
I don’t go to restaurants with TVs except under duress (or for take-out, but even then I’m annoyed if I have to hear it while waiting for my order). I absolutely loathe TV as ambient noise.
Huh, I’ve seen sports bars, but i don’t think I’ve ever eaten at one… Maybe at an airport? I haven’t been to many restaurants in the last few years, but i can’t remember the last time i went to one with a TV. I find that distracting, and prefer places that don’t have them.
Outside of sports bars and chain establishments, I can’t really think of any restaurant I’ve recently been to that has TVs in them.
Huh, it never occurred to me that TVs in American restaurants might be standard. I don’t frequent bars but would be less surprised to find them there.
I can think of only one restaurant on the Big Island I’m aware of that does have TVs; they keep them tuned to cooking shows.
Restaurants that have a TV in the bar are ok with me. In the regular dining area it can be an unnecessary distraction.
I’m pretty useless for conversation if there’s a screen with flashy lights on it. It’s really distracting to me, and even if it’s something I don’t care about at all like a Nickelodeon cartoon or some golfer standing around staring at a ball for fifteen hours before hitting it, I’ll find myself staring at it and losing track of what my companion is talking about. So I try not to face TVs if I go to a restaurant with one on, and I prefer restaurants without TVs.
Can’t think of any mom-and-pop places that have them. I’d be annoyed as hell and probably not go there again if they did. Off the top of my head, the only chain I can think of that has TVs in the dining room is Chili’s. But the screens are all tuned to sports and have the sound turned off. Instead, the speakers are playing classic rock. None of the other chains I frequent have TVs outside the bar area.
Oh wait. Islands, a Hawaiian-themed burger chain, has screens displaying an endless loop of surfing competitions.
TVs in the bar area (but usually not in the dining area, as you note), usually turned to sports programming (but with the sound turned down) are pretty much the standard at other chain “bar and grill” restaurants like TGI Friday’s and Applebee’s.
That said, depending on the layout of the particular location, it may be possible to still see the bar TVs in much, if not all, of the main dining room.
Here’s a shot of the bar area at a Friday’s:
And, at Applebee’s:
Buffalo Wild Wings tend to have TVs – and a lot of them – in both the bar area, and the “main” dining room; those again are usually turned to sports, though, in my experience, BWWs often offer Buzztime video trivia, and some of the screens there have the trivia game going.
Most of the local places we frequent don’t. Two only do in the separate bar areas. One did but took them out, which I was pleased about because they had them tuned to Fox News.
I’ve been to a pub in San Antonio and a casual eatery in New Jersey, oh and Tip Top Cafe in Massachusetts when I was very young, that had TVs but those are the only places that aren’t bars I can think of I’ve ever noticed having TVs.
I occasionally end up eating at a restaurant that has a TV set. I sit as far from it as possible and face the other direction.
I’m old enough and wealthy enough that mostly when I eat out, I eat out at the kind of place that isn’t constructed of fluorescents and formica countertops. Not quite the kind that has the live string quartet, mind you, but at least a complete dearth of television sets. Wooden tables with tablecloths.
I’m reminded of a neighborhood Chinese restaurant that we used to eat at often back in the 1980’s. There was a TV up in one corner by the kitchen, but got turned off at dinnertime - mostly it seemed to be on to keep the staff and his kid occupied in the afternoons with cartoons and old reruns.
Then, one Friday, the restaurant was featured in the local newspaper which gave it a rave review. That evening, they were caught short-handed. The poor owner was running himself ragged waiting on every table by himself, rushing orders from the kitchen to the tables, helping prepare the food, etc. He was in such a mad rush that he hadn’t turned off the TV. The restaurant was filled with diners dressed up for a highly anticipated dinner, a few of them getting noticeably frustrated with the long waits for their meals, while over in the corner, The Three Stooges played on the TV set. The rest of us just sat back and enjoyed the absurdity.
I pretty much only go to sports bars, and the local race book, all of which have TVs. But there are times when I don’t feel like such places, most often when I’m with a group of friends. At such times, I know where we can go, and we can all enjoy an evening with friends, instead of any or all of us being distracted by TV.
I can’t think of more than a handful of restaurants that don’t serve alcohol but do have televisions. That’s especially true for immigrant-run/ethnic places.
My local McDonald’s about 5 years ago put in 2 large HDTVs in the dining area and tuned them into “McDonald’s TV” which was basically a custom program that would run ads for McDonald’s, the local weather, trivia, and occasionally local news.
After a few months the HDTVs wound up permanently off because my local McDonald’s spends as little as possible on cleaning and maintenance since 95% of their business is at the drive-through (I would go in to order and see nobody inside but the drive thru would have 30 cars in line) and then a few months after that the TVs were completely gone.
Similarly my local Jack in the Box also put in TVs into their dining room at the same time but tuned into the local news but again after a few months got rid of them because that Jack’s was infamous for being a hangout for homeless people who would just sit and watch the TV all day.
I wonder if adding TVs to chain fast food places was a trend 5 years ago.
A tv in a bar is acceptable, and I enjoy watching soccer. We never eat in chain restaurants and would never frequent a restaurant with a television. I can see someone who dines alone wanting a tv for “company”, but otherwise who needs it?
Then again, when we dine at home we do not have a television playing. The very thought of it is weird to me. One or both of us put effort into preparing a meal, any distraction from enjoying the meal seems blasphemous.