Silent restaurant an oasis of hope

Diners place orders by scanning a QR code on their tables and can leave notes about the flavor or level of spiciness they prefer. The waitresses mainly deliver the dishes to tables and serve water.

At noon on June 6, three days after it opened, only two people were having lunch at the restaurant. "We still have some things to do to make the environment better, as we've only just opened," Liang Yangyang, 33, the cofounder, wrote on a sheet of paper.

Because it was not busy, Liang had decided to go out to buy an air conditioner for the restaurant. "It's summer now," he wrote. "It will be more comfortable for customers to have a cool dining environment."

One of the customers having lunch, Yin Jianghong, said she had been unaware of the restaurant name's significance when she first saw it, but she had thought it was different and decided to give it a try.

"It's so silent inside, making you feel you'd be out of place if you speak out loud," she said. "And then I realized the waitresses here are unable to hear or speak."

Yin gave the food a thumbs-up and said she might bring her friends next time.

The restaurant moved to the new business area after operating for six months in another part of Jinan. The original restaurant occupied just 30 sq m and had space for only four tables. The new one has 11 - five four-seat tables on the first floor, and four four-seat tables and two 10-seat tables on the second floor. The kitchen is on the second floor.