🔗 Share this article

Term: Shared seating arrangements.

Look: Lengthy, awkward and back in fashion.

Communal Dining is Back? Oh no. The Only Acceptable Place for Refectory Tables is the School Canteen

What kind of adult chooses to dine alongside strangers? The younger generation, it seems. According to data from the restaurant reservations company Resy, "Nine out of ten of young adult patrons say they enjoy communal tables, compared with just six in ten of boomers".

A Sign of the Times. Before You Start Harrumphing Regarding Younger People

Group dining in nationalistic eateries was a major trend during the WWII, actually – there were about two thousand five hundred of them, backed by Winston Churchill.

I Suppose It Made Sense When Food Was Scarce, But Why Do It Now?

It’s an alien concept for you, I know, but communal tables can be enjoyable! As the Resy CEO explains: "Dinner becomes a collective event," and "The excitement lies in not knowing your neighbor!"

The “Fun” of Having Dinner Interrupted by A Loud Conversation About Their Therapy Revealing They Are an Empath

Or sitting beside a Hyrox bore eating chicken to fuel his "farmer’s carries"? Or a social media user capturing you in the background of their reel as they massacre a salad? Consider this: gen Z – the most digitally connected group, who grew up during COVID, and many of whom entered an almost exclusively digital workplace – love a structured communal activity. This same desire driving the popularity of young people’s running clubs, hiking outings and art nights: they’re craving offline social connection.

I’d Rather Eat in a Solo Ramen Stall Found in Japan.

This may not appeal to you, but lots of young people are lonely (47% of them, as per an Oxfam study published in June). In a 2023 US report , one-third of men aged between 18 and 23 reported they had no contact outside their household in the previous seven days. Isn’t it a good thing they’re going out and breaking bread with strangers?

Perhaps. Research Shows People Who Eat Socially Report Greater Happiness

Talking to strangers is good for us, too: it enhances our feeling of community. Additionally the Resy survey highlights an additional benefit: 14% of survey respondents said they’d found a romantic partner at a shared meal event. Given gen Z have gone off the apps, this offers a chance for a unplanned "meet-cute".

That Joke Annoys Me Almost as Much as I Dislike Shared Seating.

Mission accomplished.

Appropriate comment: "Gen Z think communal dining ate and left no crumbs."

Inappropriate remark: "Things are fine until food spills on your vintage clothes."