Cafes are no longer pleasant experiences

[GeorgeA12]

Just that really. I used to look forward to having a drink and a bite to eat in cafes, it was nice and relaxing. But no longer, some examples and you always get at least one or two now.

The expense, its getting crazy.
People on mobile phones making noise
Elderly on mobile phones with the speaker on so you can hear the other person.
Dogs
Toddlers
Keyboard warriors
Staff attitudes
Small portions / cheap ingredients
Wobbly and dirty tables
Poor toilet hygiene
Advertising screens (yes there was one in M & S today which really bright)

Anyone else the same?

Yes human noise is - but not constant keyboard bashing, YouTube videos etc. They used to put quiet carriages on trains but even they have given way now to 'quieter carriages' because the train staff could not put up with the complaints from people wanting quiet in the carriage and people could not follow the basic rules to do this.

You forgot to add excessive music (although pubs are often worse) that makes it hard to have a conversation, and terrible acoustics from hard surfaces amplifying all the annoying background noises.

Oh and whooshy coffee machines.

I miss greasy spoons and table clothes.

Why should toddlers not be in cafes?

Are you autistic, have misophonia or just a miserable person?

We go to a local independant, dogs not allowed as it's tiny -result- it's a great place, reasonable prices and friendly staff. Everybody knows everyone it's really friendly.

Ah….a ‘dogs in cafes thread’ in disguise! Cunning🤣.
(Because the 28 threads over the last few days just weren’t enough?)

Wtf that got to do with anything?
Some people are arseholes end of and just because others think they are arseholes does not make them autistic or miserable. Misophonia isn't much fun either.
Arsehole = entitled, selfish, loud, greedy . it probably covers a good portion of the population in one form or another.

I avoid many places because of the fucking noisy fucking coffee machines. Whoosh, bang bang bang clatter bang bang bang whoosh constantly.
You do sound miserable though.

I know what misophonia is as my husband has it. OP sounds very sensitive to what is mostly normal noise levels.

Agree @GeorgeA12. And M&S cakes are nasty now. No longer quality ingredients. Same old shit as Mr. Crapling cakes.

M and S cafes are shocking these days!

The trend for industrial styling hasn’t helped with the noise levels - makes the acoustics appalling.

And the coffee is generally either bad or all hipstered-up.

If you can ever find one, I tend to find tea shops more enjoyable as an experience than coffee shops / cafes (and generally do better coffee, if you prefer that to tea)

I really try and avoid chain cafes.
They’re so expensive now and not really pleasant to be in. There’s a Costa near where one of my DC does activities, I do sometimes buy a coffee there because there’s nowhere else open and not much else to do. The staff are always talking through headsets prioritising drive through customers, it takes ages to order in store and they often get your order wrong as they aren’t really listening.
Every time they send me a questionnaire I mention it but nothing has changed.

my favorite cafe has been open for around 20 years. Its in a local family owned garden nursery and its lovely. The do allow dogs but there is plenty of space around the tables and I have never seen a badly behaved animal or child there. Actually we are lucky, there are quite a few nice ones round me.

oh you are so right about the industrial styling thing its terrible! Muffle the ceilings guys!!

I hate the new Marks and Spencer's setup in their cafés.

I really miss that old style.

Feels a bit McDonaldish with ordering at the kiosk, the way it's set out, and the lack of a good menu. It's all factory prepared sandwiches now.

My mum's still crying and shaking after going in the Liverpool one a few months ago. All drinks served in paper cups. Scandalous.

Same here. We have some lovely independent cafes, as evidenced by the local Costa closing down. Almost every other cafe is nicer, so it got hardly any custom.

I don’t think it’s about the cafe. It’s society now, if I go to a cafe I’ll take a book and I’ll try to not look at my phone. However for my age group and below it’s rare.

Life has changed and I’ll be honest sometimes I’ll take my laptop and I’ll be tapping away. Enjoying the vibe in a different way instead.

I really dislike the advertising screens which are appearing everywhere. Badly animated stuff that's constantly moving for no reason. Often overly bright. Way to ruin a space.

I’ve mostly stopped eating and drinking out, the quality/ingredients/quantity/service has all decreased while prices have increased. It’s just a disappointing experience.

I love cafes . The chain ones can be a bit grubby but it depends which branch.
They are expensive.

I don't ever really eat out , it's so expensive and so mediocre ( unless you go somewhere super expensive which is of course nice)
They can be busy but that can be a bonus for people watching.
I still love cafes despite all of the above. An overpriced latte and cake can still really feel like a treat to me. I just pick a place I know i like to go and always enjoy it.

Ah....I forgot about the staff headsets too! I'm not miserable just want to go out for a bite to eat where people are considerate of others and not inflicting noise on people. If I'm considerate enough to not do this why can't others?

Surely part of the point of going to a cafe is the bustling thrum of life going on around you, a bit of people watching, seeing other people enjoying themselves.

If you want a cheap coffee in surroundings you can completely control then your own kitchen table is the best bet.

Although in my kitchen there will almost certainly be toddlers, dogs and the elderly person having noisy conversations at the dirty table will be me.

I love going to cafés! Sure not all are created equal, so I just don’t go back to the ones I don’t like. But most are great, though my local one was taken over and they stripped out the wood and plants and basically the personality. But staff are fine and the food, while not as good as before, is decent. But the atmosphere isn’t the same, so I hardly ever go there now because there are plenty of good alternatives.