“Music has charms to soothe the savage breast.” – William Congreve (1697) As this opening line from a 17th-centrury play suggests, we’ve known that music can affect the listener for quite some time. In fact, no other element of design has been as thoroughly studies in restaurants and other public setting like stores and offices, as has music. But even with all of this empirical research on music’s ability to influence those who hear it, there are still a lot of misconceptions about what music can and cannot do and how it should be used to best effect in a restaurant. Here then is a summary of what we know about the psychology of music in restaurant environments and how you can use this information to make your dining room a better place for your customers and your staff.