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Term: Shared seating arrangements.

Look: Long, awkward and making a comeback.

Communal Dining is Back? Not Again. The Only Acceptable Place for Long Benches is the School Canteen

Who would voluntarily eat with strangers as an adult with free will? Gen Z, it seems. According to data from the dining booking company Resy, "90% of gen Z diners say they like shared seating, compared with just six in ten of boomers".

I’ve Never Felt More Out of Touch. Before Complaining About the Youth of Today

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

It Was Logical When Food Was Scarce, But Why Do It Now?

It’s an alien concept for you, I know, but shared dining can be fun! As Pablo Rivero notes: "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 An Interrupted Meal by A Loud Conversation About Their Therapy Revealing They Are an Empath

Or sitting beside a fitness enthusiast chomping chicken breasts to fuel his "farmer’s carries"? Or a social media user filming you accidentally of their reel as they massacre a salad? Consider this: young adults – the most online generation, 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 youth running groups, group hikes and crafting nights: they’re craving offline social connection.

I Prefer Dining in One of Those One-Person Ramen Booths Found in Japan.

You might not fancy it, but lots of young people are lonely (47% of them, as per an Oxfam survey released this summer). In a 2023 US report a third of males aged between 18 and 23 reported they had no contact outside their household in the previous seven days. Isn't it positive they’re getting out and breaking bread with strangers?

Perhaps. Research Shows People Who Eat Socially Report Greater Happiness

Conversing with new people is beneficial, too: it enhances our feeling of community. Plus the Resy survey highlights an additional benefit: one in seven survey respondents said they’d landed a date at a shared meal event. Since young people are leaving dating apps, this offers a chance for a spontaneous "meat-cute".

That Joke Annoys Me Almost as Much as I Hate Communal Tables.

My work here is done.

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

Don’t say: "Things are fine until food spills on your vintage clothes."