Shared Dining Seating: The Reason Nine in Ten of Gen Z Like Them
Name: Shared seating arrangements.
Look: Long, awkward and back in fashion.
The Return of Communal Eating? Oh no. The Only Acceptable Place for Long Benches is the School Canteen
What kind of adult chooses to dine alongside strangers? The younger generation, it seems. According to data from the restaurant reservations company Resy, "Nine out of ten of gen Z diners say they enjoy communal tables, versus just six in ten of boomers".
I’ve Never Felt More Out of Touch. Before You Start Harrumphing About the Youth of Today
Communal eating in nationalistic eateries was a major trend 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 communal tables can be fun! 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 “Fun” of Having Dinner Interrupted by Someone Explaining Loudly About Their Therapy Says They’re “a Highly Sensitive Empath”
Or sitting beside a fitness enthusiast 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? Consider this: gen Z – 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. It’s the same impulse behind the rise of young people’s running clubs, group hikes and crafting nights: they’re craving offline social connection.
I’d Rather Eat in One of Those One-Person Ramen Booths They Have in Tokyo.
This may not appeal to you, but lots of young people are lonely (Nearly half of them, as per an Oxfam survey published in June). In a 2023 US report a third of males aged between 18 to 23 reported they hadn’t seen anyone outside their household in the previous seven days. Isn’t it a good thing they’re getting out and sharing meals with new people?
Perhaps. Research Shows Those Dining in Groups More Often Feel Happier
Talking to strangers 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 found a romantic partner at a communal dining experience. Given gen Z have gone off the apps, this offers a chance for a unplanned "meat-cute".
That Joke Annoys Me Almost as Much as I Hate Communal Tables.
My work here is done.
Appropriate comment: "Young adults believe shared meals are a total success."
Inappropriate remark: "Things are fine until food spills on your vintage clothes."
