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Name: Shared seating arrangements.

Look: Long, uncomfortable and back in fashion.

The Return of Communal Eating? Not Again. The Only Acceptable Place for Long Benches is the Cafeteria

What kind of adult chooses to dine alongside strangers? The younger generation, apparently. According to data from the restaurant reservations company Resy, "90% of gen Z diners say they like communal tables, versus just six in ten of boomers".

A Sign of the Times. Before You Start Harrumphing About the Youth of Today

Communal eating in patriotic “British Restaurants” was a major trend during the WWII, in fact – there were about two thousand five hundred of them, backed by Winston Churchill.

It Was Logical When Food Was Scarce, What's the Appeal Today?

This might seem strange to you, admittedly, but shared dining can be enjoyable! As the Resy CEO explains: "Dinner becomes a collective event," and "The excitement lies in not knowing your neighbor!"

The Enjoyment From An Interrupted Meal by A Loud Conversation That Their Therapist Revealing They Are an Empath

Or being squeezed next to a fitness enthusiast chomping chicken breasts to fuel his "workout routines"? Or a nano-influencer filming you accidentally of their reel while eating a salad? You have to remember: gen Z – the most online generation, who grew up during COVID, and many of whom entered an almost exclusively digital workplace – love a structured communal activity. It’s the same impulse behind the rise of young people’s running clubs, group hikes and crafting nights: they’re seeking real-world interactions.

I’d Rather Eat in a Solo Ramen Stall They Have in Tokyo.

You might not fancy it, but lots of young people are lonely (47% of them, as per an Oxfam survey 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 past week. Isn’t it a good thing they’re going out and sharing meals with new people?

Perhaps. Research Shows People Who Eat Socially More Often Feel Happier

Talking to strangers is beneficial, too: it enhances our feeling of community. Plus the Resy survey points out another advantage: one in seven survey respondents said they’d landed a date at a communal dining experience. Since young people are leaving dating apps, this gives them a shot at a unplanned "meat-cute".

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

My work here is done.

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

Don’t say: "It’s all fun and games until someone drops a katsu prawn on your Y2K baggy jeans."