🔗 Share this article Shared Restaurant Tables: The Reason Nine in Ten of Gen Z Enjoy Them Name: Communal seating arrangements. Look: Lengthy, awkward and back in fashion. Communal Dining is Back? Not Again. The Sole Appropriate Location for Refectory Tables is the Cafeteria Who would voluntarily eat with strangers as an adult with free will? The younger generation, apparently. Research indicates from the restaurant reservations company Resy, "Nine out of ten of young adult patrons say they enjoy shared seating, versus just six in ten of boomers". I’ve Never Felt More Out of Touch. Before Complaining Regarding Younger People Group dining in nationalistic eateries was a big thing during the WWII, in fact – there were about two thousand five hundred of them, supported by Winston Churchill. I Suppose It Made Sense When Food Was Scarce, What's the Appeal Today? It’s an alien concept for 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 “Fun” of An Interrupted Meal by Someone Explaining Loudly About Their Therapy Says They’re “a Highly Sensitive 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 online generation, who came of age during the pandemic, and many of whom started careers remotely – love a structured communal activity. This same desire behind the rise of young people’s running clubs, hiking outings and art nights: they’re craving offline social connection. I Prefer Dining in One of Those One-Person Ramen Booths They Have in Tokyo. You might not fancy it, but lots of young people are lonely (Nearly half of them, according to an Oxfam study published in June). A recent American study a third of males aged between 18 to 23 reported they hadn’t seen anyone outside their household in the past week. Isn’t it a good thing they’re getting out and sharing meals with new people? I Suppose. Studies Indicate Those Dining in Groups Report Greater Happiness Talking to strangers is good for us, too: it gives us a greater sense of belonging. Plus the Resy data points out another advantage: one in seven 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 "meet-cute". I Hate That Pun Nearly as Much as I Dislike Shared Seating. Mission accomplished. Appropriate comment: "Young adults believe shared meals are a total success." Inappropriate remark: "Things are fine until food spills on your vintage clothes."