Not the original commenter, and definitely no art expert, but I can speak about why I personally like this particular painting. What it communicates to me is a very vivid sense of social isolation. There is a wide, empty space between the viewer and the crowd, and this emptiness is only further emphasized by the empty tables and stretch of detailed cobblestone. Color also plays a big role here. The restaurant goers are seemingly engulfed in a warm, yellow color while the viewer, by contrast, is set back, oriented among colder blues, grays, and blacks, such as the sky, cobblestone street, and doorframe in the left edge of the painting. It’s such a concise expression of loneliness, one made all the more poignant the more one knows about Van Gogh himself. I think that is why it works so well for me.