Giovanni's Restaurant

The Issue

Restaurants can get very loud very quickly if they’re busy, and Giovanni’s Restaurant in Richmond, Virginia gets busy. Acoustical Solutions helped the restaurant control its noise problem by supplying acoustic wall panels that work perfectly for soundproofing and noise reduction.

The Challenge

The company next to Giovanni’s had just gone out of business, and like any good businessman, John Failla saw an opportunity.

John, the owner of Giovanni’s, made the decision to expand his Italian restaurant into the vacant space next door. After expansion and renovations were complete, however, a problem arose that many business leaders overlook: Noise.

Almost immediately after the new section at Giovanni’s opened, the complaints began. Customers and servers alike complained about not being able to hear or communicate. This is a big problem in a friendly, sociable environment like Giovanni’s.

The Solution

The problem facing this Italian restaurant in Virginia was perhaps the most common noise problem, which is reverberation and/or echoes caused by hard, flat, parallel surfaces (walls, floor, and ceiling).

John, with the help of experts at Acoustical Solutions, decided to install seven AlphaSorb^® Fabric Wrapped Acoustic Panels in Guilford of Maine Anchorage Fabric. These acoustic wall panels, which drastically reduce reverberation time, are ideal for theaters, home theaters, recording studios, houses of worship, and of course, Italian restaurants. They are available in a wide variety of sizes, shapes, and colors, which allows you to create an effective sound control treatment that is distinctly appropriate for any environment. John chose three colors, Willow, Amber, and Goldenrod, to complement the Italian décor in his restaurant.

Giovanni’s Restaurant — Giovanni wanted to add color, shape and acoustic control using AlphaSorb^® Fabric Wrapped Acoustic Panels.

The Result

“I was there (Giovanni’s) Saturday night when it was really busy,” explained Kevin McIver, an Acoustical Solutions Technical Sales Representative. “It obviously isn’t going to be silent, but the reverb time has definitely been reduced.”

John has noticed a difference, too. About a month after installation he said he hadn’t heard any complaints about the noise, whereas before he heard them every night.

John is also very pleased with his AlphaSorb^® Anchorage Acoustic Panels’ aesthetics. Plans to put wall hangings on and around the panels were canceled because the wall looked nice enough with only the panels.