🔗 Share this article

Name: Communal seating arrangements.

Look: Long, uncomfortable and back in fashion.

The Return of Communal Eating? Not Again. The Sole Appropriate Location for Long Benches is the School Canteen

What kind of adult chooses to dine alongside strangers? Gen Z, apparently. According to data from the restaurant reservations company Resy, "90% of young adult patrons say they enjoy communal tables, versus just 60% of boomers".

I’ve Never Felt More Out of Touch. Before Complaining Regarding Younger People

Communal eating in nationalistic eateries was a big thing 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, admittedly, but shared dining can be fun! As Pablo Rivero notes: "They naturally turn dinner into a shared experience," and "The excitement lies in not knowing your neighbor!"

The Enjoyment From An Interrupted Meal by Someone Explaining Loudly About Their Therapy Says They’re “a Highly Sensitive Empath”

Or being squeezed next to a Hyrox bore eating chicken to fuel his "farmer’s carries"? Or a nano-influencer capturing you in the background of their reel as they massacre a salad? You have to remember: young adults – the most digitally connected group, who came of age during the pandemic, and many of whom entered an almost exclusively digital workplace – enjoy organized group events. This same desire behind the rise of youth running groups, hiking outings and art nights: they’re craving offline social connection.

I Prefer Dining in a Solo Ramen Stall They Have in Tokyo.

You might not fancy it, but lots of young people are lonely (Nearly half of them, according to an Oxfam study published in June). A recent American study , one-third of men aged between 18 and 23 reported they hadn’t seen anyone outside their household in the past week. Isn’t it a good thing they’re going out and sharing meals with new people?

Perhaps. Studies Indicate People Who Eat Socially Report Greater Happiness

Conversing with new people is good for us, too: it gives us a greater sense of belonging. Additionally the Resy survey highlights an additional benefit: one in seven survey respondents said they’d found a romantic partner at a communal dining experience. Given gen Z have gone off the apps, this gives them a shot at a spontaneous "meet-cute".

I Hate That Pun Almost as Much as I Dislike Shared Seating.

My work here is done.

Do say: "Gen Z think communal dining ate and left no crumbs."

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