Loud, loud, loud. Our party of 4 went to 204 North for dinner on a recent weeknight. The restaurant was maybe 2/3 full, and it was so loud that we left before ordering. We were literally shouting across a four-top to be heard, as was everybody else in the place.
Sorry if the one-star rating is cold, but extremely high ambient noise is just as impactful on a restaurant experience as bad food, dirty silverware and rude service. Restaurant owners and designers need to figure this out -- it's better to provide a good dining experience that encourages conversation than to design hip-looking hard floors, walls and ceilings that reflect noise and make it impossible for customers to converse.
What's the future value of a local party of 4 that otherwise might dine at a restaurant 6-10 times a year -- maybe $5,000 over three years? That's how much 204 North is losing from us because the restaurant design overtook common sense. 204 North management has no idea how many other customers like us they're losing because customers don't communicate that issue back to the owners. But I guarantee that it's a big chunk of lost sales. We voted with our feet last night, and we won't be back.