When I lived in Minneapolis, there was a great rib place really close to me. I loved going there for dinner because they didn’t have a TV. I’d bring a book and read during dinner. Much better than the constant droning and burping of the omnidirectional sludge pump.
Yes, and for the most part, they are definitely more upscale than the sports bar type of restaurant, which caters to the beer drinking-wing eating-sports watching young male demographic. In Chicagoland, Maple Tree Inn is a great example of what I mean. This genre of restaurant is definitely more expensive, though, but way classier.
Yes, although I’m not sure if the ones I’ve eaten in for the last year have them or not. We moved and we’ve only dined outside. Walked through a couple of them to get to the patio and can’t remember noticing any TVs. Half of them might have a TV set, and if they do it’s probably just one at the bar.
We almost exclusively go to restaurants without TVs. In fact, the quieter the better. Our hopes for having a nice night out are for good food and conversation.
I’d be fine with no TVs in restaurants. There should also be a moratorium on background music heavily laden with the greatest hits of Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett, which someone decided was the epitome of class.
I think that the only place I’ve eaten at in the past decade with a TV was Buffalo Wild Wings. Though granted I don’t eat out very much.
This. I can’t bear it.
The Mrs. and I definitely prefer and frequent restaurants without TVs. Our nearest local dining establishments don’t have them. The local taverns tend to have at least one, but we seldom visit those venues.
It’s Easy to find great restaurants that do not feature television entertainments. It’s the sports bars, pubs and family chain restaurants that must have tvs. Some like one of the local Vitales have stacks and stacks of big screen tv’s blanketing the walls, honestly I lost count last time, others may just have a few behind the bar or in corners.
It’s not a requirement when deciding where to eat whether they have tvs or not.
We frequently eat at restaurants. The only places that have TVs are the local Mexican and Indian places. Both have one TV in a corner of the dining room with no sound. They are usually tuned to sports. In the Indian place, I get the feeling it’s more for the owners/staff, at the Mexican place it seems to be for the customers. Non-American football is often on.
No TVs anywhere else we frequent. I’d prefer no TVs, but they really don’t bother me if the sound is off (or it’s a bar)
Unlike Kayaker, we often (but not always) watch TV at home while eating dinner. After 20+ years together, my wife and I remain deeply in love and find each other fascinating, but honestly, at the end the day we often don’t have much to talk about. If we put some effort into a meal, we are more likely to eat at the table. There’s no TV in our kitchen/dining area.
I can think of several sit-down restaurants that I eat at and that have no TV: a Mexican place, a couple of diners, a chain Italian restaurant, a fine dining place, and probably others.
There are also a few that do have TVs running.
In my experience, more often than not when there’s a TV, or especially when there’s more than one TV, in a restaurant, the sound is turned off.
(TVs in waiting rooms, on the other hand… but that’s a whole nother peeve.)
Is this really a thing in the US?
As for restaurants, I do not recall eating anywhere where a TV was on. It’s just contrary to the idea of a restaurant (as opposed to a Kneipe (bar)). Here in Germany a number of restaurants (the midrange, not the gourmet sort) do have a video projector and a screen that can be pulled down, but that’s reseved for an occasional screening of European/world championship late-round games that are billed as an event in the restaurant, a few times during championships, not for everyday use.
Microbreweries are a big thing right now in Wisconsin and none have TVs. The beer is good and very cheap yet it usually keeps me away because I drink at bars often by myself and I have no interest in meeting new people. Or I am just grabbing a quick bite for lunch and like the TV for a distraction.
I may be the only one who goes there and doesn’t want to talk about the almond notes in the new Triple Black Yo Mamma’s Assblaster IPA or whatever beer hipster/snobs talk about.
never you mind.
Yes, Buffalo Wild Wings is the king of “TV on the wall instead of decorations” The largest one in my area has 50 TV sets. They no longer have Buzztime Trivia at BWW as the new owners of BWW (and Arbys) dropped the trivia games. Buzztime lost half of their customers at once at least partially because they could not provide all the services the new owners wanted. Like credit card scanning on the tablets.
I just got done with radiation treatments and there was a separate waiting room for us - people there for consults, etc. use the one at the reception desk. It has a TV and plays the Planet Earth series. The tech came to get me one day and noticed I was watching it and turned to look just as a snow leopard killed a critter. “Maybe not the best thing to see at the doctor’s” he said, looking a little horrified.
I spent 15+ years working in the service industry in diners, mom & pop restaurants, bars, and fine dining establishments across several different states (NY, NJ, PA, NV, TX). I can’t think of any restaurants that I worked in that had TVs in the dining room.
Most places had TVs in the bar area but that’s about it. In the fine dining locations the TVs were also set up so that they were very hard to see from the main dining areas (if you could see them at all). If you were at the bar or one of the bar tables then you could see them but that was about it. We never had the sound on for TVs in the fine dining locations even if there was a local sporting event.
I feel like Buffalo Wild Wings is a unique case since they advertise themselves as being a place for “wings, beer, and sports”. The commercials that I’ve seen also make a big deal about the number of TVs they have.
Sports bar/restaurant a block or two over got a patio license, and hung ginormous flat-screens on the outside of the building. We can see them from 500 feet away, and hear them when the wind is wrong…I’d rather live behind a drive-in theatre.
I’ve rarely seen televisions in restaurants. I would still eat and ignore the tv.
I remember local mom & pop businesses would turn on the radio during an important Razorback game. That was nice because I had it on in my car. I could quickly walk in the business and not miss a play.
That doesn’t happen as much anymore. The Razorback teams aren’t as popular state-wide. Local businesses don’t see a need to support them.