Learn Hardcore Chinese: bǐqǐ zài chǎo de fàndiàn, wǒ gèng xǐhuan zài qīngsōng de kāfēiguǎn liáotiān. - Compared with noisy restaurants, I prefer chatting in a relaxed café.

比 is the basic word for “to compare / than”.
比起 is like “compared with…” or “in comparison with…” and often comes at the beginning of a clause to set up the reference point.

比:
- 我更喜欢咖啡馆，饭店比咖啡馆吵。
比起:
- 比起在吵的饭店，我更喜欢在轻松的咖啡馆聊天。
  → Compared with being in a noisy restaurant, I prefer chatting in a relaxed café.

In many cases you could say 比 instead of 比起, but 比起 (especially in forms like 和/跟…比起(来)) sounds a bit more like you’re explicitly setting up a contrast: “If you compare it to X, then Y…”.

Why is 在 (zài) used twice, before 吵的饭店 and 轻松的咖啡馆?

在 is a preposition meaning “at / in / on (a place)”.

The structure here is:

比起在吵的饭店（聊天），我更喜欢在轻松的咖啡馆聊天。

In the first part, 在吵的饭店 really means “being at a noisy restaurant (to chat)”, but the verb 聊天 is omitted because it’s the same action as in the second part. This kind of omission (ellipsis) is very common in Chinese.

So:

在吵的饭店 = at a noisy restaurant
在轻松的咖啡馆聊天 = chat in a relaxed café

Using 在 both times keeps the comparison parallel: “compared with being at X, I prefer being at Y to chat”.

What exactly does 吵的饭店 mean, and why do we need 的 there?

吵的饭店 literally means “noisy restaurant”.

吵 = noisy (adjective)
饭店 = restaurant
的 links an adjective (or descriptive phrase) to a noun, turning it into an attributive:
- 吵的饭店 = the noisy restaurant
- 新的饭店 = the new restaurant

Without 的, 吵饭店 is not grammatical in standard Mandarin when you want “noisy restaurant”. For adjective + noun as a description, you almost always need 的 in modern Mandarin.

Compare:

饭店很吵。 = The restaurant is very noisy. (adjective used as a predicate)
很吵的饭店。 = a very noisy restaurant. (adjective used to modify a noun, so you need 的)

Why do we also have 的 after 轻松 in 轻松的咖啡馆?

For the same reason as 吵的饭店: 轻松的咖啡馆 means “a relaxed café”.

轻松 = relaxed, light, easygoing (adjective describing the atmosphere)
的 connects the adjective to the noun: 轻松的 + 咖啡馆

So:

咖啡馆很轻松。 = The café is relaxed.
轻松的咖啡馆。 = a relaxed café.

Note that this 的 is different from:

地 (de) after an adjective to modify a verb:
- 轻松地聊天 = to chat in a relaxed way
得 (de) after a verb to introduce a complement:
- 聊得很轻松 = chat in a way that is very relaxed

In this sentence we only have adjective + 的 + noun.

Could I change the word order to 比起吵的饭店，在轻松的咖啡馆聊天我更喜欢? Is that natural?

That word order is understandable but sounds awkward and unnatural.

Normal patterns would be:

比起在吵的饭店，我更喜欢在轻松的咖啡馆聊天。
比起在吵的饭店，在轻松的咖啡馆聊天我更喜欢。 (possible, but a bit written/formal)

In everyday spoken Mandarin, the most natural is to keep 我 close to the start of the main clause:

比起在吵的饭店，我更喜欢在轻松的咖啡馆聊天。

Putting 我 after the whole 在轻松的咖啡馆聊天 phrase (…聊天我更喜欢) is grammatical but feels like a stylistic inversion you’d see more in written or rhetorical style, not in normal speech.

Why do we say 更喜欢 instead of just 喜欢?

更 (gèng) means “even more / more (comparatively)”. Because this sentence is making a comparison (A vs. B), using 更 highlights the preference:

我喜欢在轻松的咖啡馆聊天。
- I like chatting in a relaxed café. (no direct comparison)
比起在吵的饭店，我更喜欢在轻松的咖啡馆聊天。
- Compared with being in a noisy restaurant, I like chatting in a relaxed café more.

You could also see:

我比较喜欢在轻松的咖啡馆聊天。
- “I relatively / somewhat more prefer…” (softer, more hedged)

Here, 更喜欢 is a clear, direct comparative: “I prefer…”.

Can I say 我更喜欢在轻松的咖啡馆聊天，而不是在吵的饭店 instead? Is the meaning the same?

Yes, that’s a very natural alternative:

我更喜欢在轻松的咖啡馆聊天，而不是在吵的饭店。
≈ “I prefer chatting in a relaxed café rather than in a noisy restaurant.”

The difference in feel:

比起在吵的饭店，我更喜欢…
- Emphasizes the comparison setup: “Compared with X, I more like Y.”
…而不是在吵的饭店。
- Emphasizes “not X but Y”, a clearer contrast/choice.

Both are fine and common. You’d choose based on style and what you want to emphasize.

What is the difference between 聊天 (liáotiān) and 说话 (shuōhuà) here?

Both involve talking, but the nuances are different:

聊天 = “to chat”, usually casual, relaxed conversation, similar to “chat/hang out and talk”.
说话 = “to speak / to talk”, more general and neutral; it doesn’t necessarily imply casual chatting.

So:

在咖啡馆聊天 suggests sitting in a café having an easy, friendly conversation.
在咖啡馆说话 just means “talk in the café” (could be anything: a lecture, a serious talk, etc.).

In this context, 聊天 fits better because a 轻松的咖啡馆 naturally goes with relaxed, informal conversation.

Why is it 咖啡馆 (kāfēiguǎn) and not 咖啡店 (kāfēidiàn)? Are they different?

Both can refer to a café, but there are some tendencies:

咖啡馆:
- Often feels a little more like “café” in the Western sense: a place where you sit, chat, maybe have a relaxed atmosphere.
- Slightly more literary/formal in some regions.
咖啡店:
- Literally “coffee shop/store”.
- Can be a place that mainly sells coffee (including takeaway), and may or may not emphasize the sitting atmosphere.

In daily conversation, both can work here. Using 轻松的咖啡馆 nicely fits the image of a cozy, relaxed café where you sit and chat.

Do I need to add 吃饭 (chīfàn) after 在吵的饭店 to be clearer? For example: 比起在吵的饭店吃饭，我更喜欢在轻松的咖啡馆聊天。

You can add 吃饭, and the sentence is grammatically fine:

比起在吵的饭店吃饭，我更喜欢在轻松的咖啡馆聊天。
→ Compared with eating in a noisy restaurant, I prefer chatting in a relaxed café.

The original sentence leaves out 吃饭 because 饭店 already implies a place where you eat, and the focus is on the environment for chatting, not specifically on the act of eating.

Note, though, that with 吃饭 added, you’re comparing eating in a noisy restaurant vs. chatting in a relaxed café—slightly different activities. The original sentence is more about where you like to chat.

If you want parallel actions, you could say:

比起在吵的饭店吃饭，我更喜欢在轻松的咖啡馆吃饭。 (compare eating vs. eating)
比起在吵的饭店聊天，我更喜欢在轻松的咖啡馆聊天。 (compare chatting vs. chatting)

Could we replace 吵 with 吵闹 or something stronger like 吵死了? What difference would that make?

Yes, but the tone changes:

吵 = noisy (plain description)
- 吵的饭店 = a noisy restaurant (fairly neutral)
吵闹 = noisy and bustling, sometimes more vivid
- 吵闹的饭店 = a noisy, bustling restaurant (can be neutral or slightly negative)
吵死了 is colloquial and very strong: “so noisy it’s killing me / extremely noisy”
- 饭店吵死了！ = The restaurant is insanely noisy!
- As an adjective before 的饭店, 吵死了的饭店 is possible but sounds clumsy; usually you’d use it in a sentence, not as a noun modifier.

In your sentence, 吵的饭店 is simple and natural. Using 吵闹的饭店 is okay if you want to emphasize the bustle a bit more. 吵死了 is better for exclamations, not for this kind of attributive phrase.

Why don’t we use 地 or 得 here? How do I know which de (的 / 地 / 得) to choose?

In this sentence we only need 的, because we are doing “adjective + 的 + noun”:

吵的饭店 (noisy restaurant)
轻松的咖啡馆 (relaxed café)

A simple guideline:

的: links a modifier to a noun (attributive)
- 漂亮的咖啡馆, 安静的地方, 吵的饭店
地: links a modifier to a verb (adverb)
- 轻松地聊天 = to chat relaxedly
- 大声地说话 = to speak loudly
得: links a verb/adjective to a complement
- 聊得很开心 = chat very happily
- 说得很快 = speak very fast

Since in this sentence we’re just describing nouns (饭店, 咖啡馆), 的 is the correct de.