Restaurant Acoustics: How to Cut Noise with Panels, Baffles, and Clouds

Why restaurants get so loud

Most dining rooms are built from hard surfaces: drywall or exposed concrete overhead, tile or wood underfoot, glass along the street, and stone or laminate on every table. Each surface bounces sound back into the room, so voices, music, and kitchen noise keep circulating long after they are made. Guests then raise their voices to be heard, which makes the room louder again.

The fix is absorption: soft, porous surfaces that take in sound instead of reflecting it. Acoustic products are rated by their Noise Reduction Coefficient (NRC), measured to ASTM C423. An NRC of 0 reflects nearly everything; 1.0 absorbs nearly everything that hits it. Suspended baffles and clouds can test above 1.0 because sound reaches both faces and the edges.

Start with the ceiling

The ceiling is usually the largest uninterrupted hard surface in a restaurant, and it sits above the noise source, so it is where absorption does the most work. Hanging baffles and clouds also leave room for sprinklers, lighting, and HVAC above them.

• Ezobord Ceiling Baffles test at NRC 0.75 and higher with a 50 mm air gap and come in 72″, 84″, and 96″ lengths.
• Ezobord Geo Clouds test at NRC 0.75 to 0.90 at 9 mm and 0.80 to 1.20 at 12 mm, depending on whether the back is open or closed.
• Ezobord Rail Baffle tests at NRC 1.10 to 1.20 and runs in straight lines, corners, and T-shapes.
• Ezobord Summit tests at NRC 1.30 suspended.
• Ezobord Macaron Cloud tests at NRC 1.50 to 1.55 suspended, layering several felt colors in one piece.
• Akupanel Akutile wood-slat ceiling tiles reach NRC 0.97 at 1,000 Hz (0.66 averaged from 500 to 2,000 Hz).

Every Ezobord product is cut from PET felt: 100% polyester with at least 60% recycled content, rated ASTM E84 Class A, in 30 colors.

Then treat the walls near the tables

Wall panels at seated ear height stop sound from bouncing between booths and along banquettes. They also give the room its look, so the choice is as much about design as about performance.

• Akupanel Highline and Akupanel Profile Wrap wood-slat panels test at NRC 0.97.
• Akupanel 3x1 panels test at NRC 0.52 and pair real wood or laminate slats with a recycled PET backer.
• Ezobord Full Panels test at NRC 0.31 (3/8″) to 0.40 (1/2″) mounted flat, higher with an air gap, and are tackable and impact resistant.
• Novelio Acoustiver is a paintable glass fiber wallcovering for rooms that should look like plain painted walls; it tests at NRC 0.25 or higher and is Class A.

How much to add

The right amount depends on the room's volume, its finishes, and how busy it gets. An acoustic consultant can calculate the reverberation time for your space, and Ezobord offers an online reverb calculator for a first estimate. Start with the ceiling, add wall panels where tables sit closest together, and check the result before adding more.

Fire ratings and cleaning

Commercial interiors usually call for Class A finishes. Ezobord felt is ASTM E84 Class A, and Akupanel panels pair a Class A PET backer with Class A rated substrates (Profile Wrap slats must be treated to reach Class A). PET felt is spot cleaned with a mild water-free cleaner; wood slats are wiped with a soft cloth and a non-chlorine, non-ammonia cleaner.

Samples and pricing

Most of these products can be sampled from their product pages; see how sampling works. Full-material pricing is given by quote, based on the project. Roos International is the Authorized Florida Distributor for Ezobord, Akupanel Pro, and Novelio and supplies projects across the US. You can also see the materials at our Deerfield Beach showroom.