Coming Soon: Oceanic Boil

[CaptainFlannel]

The TV though. Ugh. You know where I can watch TV any time I want? At home. People go out to restaurants for a different experience than eating take out in front of their TV.

My SO and I try to make a point of ignoring the TVs that proliferate like weeds in many of the neighborhood restaurants, but it can be next to impossible as the moving images really do capture your attention. Our worst experience was at a restaurant in another neighborhood we really, really loved. One wall had a big mirror, and after being open for about a year, some great thinker decided to add a TV on the other wall. So any time you were in the space you couldn't avoid seeing moving images. We stopped going.

I don't get it. TVs make sense at a sports bar. They don't make sense for most restaurants.

[Cassat]

I couldn't agree with you more about TVs in restaurants, CaptainFlannel. I don't even have one at home.

[ljr]

Yeah--is it just in JH? It seems like almost every restaurant has a TV now. Maybe it's because of the rise of screen culture--everyone is staring at their phones constantly so if they're not starting at their phone, say, because they are eating, they still need and expect a screen to stare at.

[ptbass75]

Maybe if we're lucky they'll show vintage vietnamese cinema or jazz reels.

I mean, one can hope.

[CaptainFlannel]

I've seen the TV proliferation in other neighborhoods, but there seems to be a higher concentration in JH. I'm not sure if that's really the case, or my noticing it way more because I live here. I think it may be a reflection of the how the owner wants to position the restaurant -- TV = casual, maybe?

The worst experience so far was at El Rico Tinto. We were in there one day when not only was the TV on, but the volume was up loudly. And it just made eating a meal there very unpleasant that day. Fortunately, that doesn't seem to be the norm.

[Jeffsayyes]

TVs really add to the experience of immersing in another culture - news, sports, music.

[CaptainFlannel]

They really don't. Even if a restaurant owner had bad judgment enough to stick a TV in his or her dining establishment, it's usually not getting a satellite feed of Vietnamese TV or whatever country of origin the cuisine is from. And let me tell you something, a news cast from another country looks like a U.S. newscast, just sometimes with a different alphabet than Roman characters.

The only exception I can imagine -- and I see this more at bars that aren't trying to bring in the sports crowd or business crowd by day -- are places that run a loop on mute of say Kung Fu movies, or as someone else suggested vintage cinema, or something arty.

Dining out is not about starting blankly at moving images. Not even for someone who dines alone. It's about enjoying food, and connecting with the people you are with through food. Any restaurant owner who thinks a TV adds something needs their head examined.

[Superclam]

TVs really add to the experience of immersing in another culture - news, sports, music.

I think artwork and/or music can add considerably more. It depends on the "feel" of the restaurant, of course.

[homeowner]

I just don't understand the need for or the appeal of TVs in restaurants.  Even the Jackson House Diner has added them!  I still go there but it's a big disappointment.  Glad the Jax Inn hasn't gone that route...yet. 

The faces of patrons in the new Mario place on 37th are bathed in green light reflecting off the seemingly dozens of TVs usually showing sports.  Not flattering but the patrons seem not to mind.

A TV in a restaurant virtually guarantees I will not eat there.

[CaptainFlannel]

TVs at a sports bar is the point of a sports bar. A place to go to watch sporting events with other sports lovers and where you can go with your friends and you don't need to clean up, prepare food, etc.

Restaurants aren't sports bars, and yes, yes, yes to the comment about art work and music adding 1 million times more to learning about a culture. (As if most of the restaurants that do this bother to pipe in satellite TV from another country).

Frankly, I think most restaurant owners who adds TVs to the restaurant probably have rocks in his or her head.

On a side note though, I actually don't mind the TVs at the Jackson House diner. They are on mute, up high (usually not in your line of sight), and air the news. I don't go to the Jackson House for its ambiance. I go for quick diner fare and the TVs don't disrupt the experience.

[Jeffsayyes]

Something you may not realise is that they are also for the staff sometimes!

[CaptainFlannel]

TVs in the dining room for staff is absolutely not a thing in restaurants. Employees are not on the clock in a restaurant to watch TV. Front of house staff has plenty to do at a restaurant when there are customers in the dining room, and when there isn't any customers, they have plenty of prep work and cleaning to keep the dining experience pleasant and well run.

Any manager or owner foolish enough to install a TV for the benefit of staff needs his or her head examined. It's incredibly unprofessional, and a sign of a horrible business manager.

[Jeffsayyes]

It absolutely is a thing, for the downtime. For soccer. For sports in general. Maybe not in Danny Meyer places, but it is here.

[Liz]

Anyone who has walked around Jackson Heights during the soccer matches knows why so many places have TVs, and it seems like the patrons are very happy with the TVs. 

[CaptainFlannel]

No, I'm sorry, it's not a thing for employees. Any owner who would install TVs for employees to sit around and watch TV during down time -- when restaurant employees are supposed to be doing things like *cleaning* and *prep work* -- is a terrible business person who deserves to have his or her business fail.

This doesn't just go for Danny Meyers type places. If your employees have time to sit around and watch TV rather than clean to pass health inspections or do prep work to make sure service runs smoothly when customers are in the restaurant, than as a business owner you should recognize your business is in serious trouble. The only reason your staff would have all this free time that you pay them to watch TV is if the restaurant doesn't get enough business and you have over-staffed your failing business.

Further, any restaurant owner who would put in TVs for the benefit of his or her employees and ignore the negative impact it has on customers -- the people who pay everyone's wages -- is a terrible business person.