🔗 Share this article

Term: Shared tables.

Look: Lengthy, uncomfortable and making a comeback.

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

Who would voluntarily eat with strangers as an adult with free will? The younger generation, it seems. According to data from the restaurant reservations company Resy, "90% of gen Z diners say they like communal tables, compared with just 60% of older generations".

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

Group dining in nationalistic eateries was a major trend during the second world war, actually – 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, 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 “Fun” of An Interrupted Meal by A Loud Conversation About Their Therapy Says They’re “a Highly Sensitive Empath”

Or being squeezed next to a fitness enthusiast eating chicken to fuel his "workout routines"? Or a social media user filming you accidentally in their video as they massacre a salad? You have to remember: young adults – the most online generation, who grew up during COVID, and many of whom entered an almost exclusively digital workplace – enjoy organized group events. It’s the same impulse behind the rise of young people’s running clubs, hiking outings and art nights: they’re seeking real-world interactions.

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

You might not fancy it, but many youths feel isolated (47% of them, according to an Oxfam study published in June). A recent American study a third of males 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. Research Shows People Who Eat Socially More Often Feel Happier

Conversing with new people is beneficial, too: it enhances our feeling of community. Additionally the Resy data points out another advantage: 14% of survey respondents said they’d landed a date at a shared meal event. Given gen Z have gone off the apps, this offers a chance for a spontaneous "meet-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."