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Name: Shared seating arrangements.

Appearance: Long, uncomfortable and back in fashion.

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

Who would voluntarily eat with strangers as an adult with free will? The younger generation, it seems. Research indicates from the dining booking company Resy, "90% of gen Z diners say they enjoy shared seating, compared with just 60% of older generations".

A Sign of the Times. Before Complaining About the Youth of Today

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

I Suppose It Made Sense During Times of Rationing, But Why Do It Now?

This might seem strange to you, I know, but communal tables can be enjoyable! As Pablo Rivero explains: "Dinner becomes a collective event," and "You never know who you’ll be seated next to; that’s the fun of it!"

The Enjoyment From Having Dinner Interrupted by A Loud Conversation About Their Therapy Revealing They Are an Empath

Or sitting beside a Hyrox bore chomping chicken breasts to fuel his "workout routines"? Or a social media user capturing you in the background in their video as they massacre a salad? You have to remember: young adults – 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. It’s the same impulse behind the rise of youth running groups, hiking outings and crafting nights: they’re craving offline social connection.

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, according to an Oxfam study published in June). In a 2023 US report a third of males 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 getting out and sharing meals with new people?

Perhaps. Studies Indicate Those Dining in Groups More Often Feel Happier

Conversing with new people is good for us, too: it enhances our feeling of community. Plus the Resy data highlights an additional benefit: 14% of survey respondents said they’d landed a date at a communal dining experience. Given gen Z have gone off the apps, this offers a chance for 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."