Communal Dining Seating: The Reason 90% of Generation Z Like Them

Name: Shared seating arrangements.

Look: Long, awkward and making a comeback.

Communal Dining is Back? Oh no. The Sole Appropriate Location 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 young adult patrons say they like shared seating, compared with just six in ten of boomers".

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 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 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 A Loud Conversation That Their Therapist Says They’re “a Highly Sensitive Empath”

Or sitting beside a fitness enthusiast chomping chicken breasts to fuel his "workout routines"? Or a nano-influencer capturing you in the background of their reel as they massacre a salad? Consider this: young adults – the most digitally connected group, 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 crafting nights: they’re craving offline social connection.

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

This may not appeal to you, but many youths feel isolated (Nearly half of them, as per an Oxfam survey released this summer). 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 going 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 gives us a greater sense of belonging. Additionally the Resy data points out another advantage: 14% of survey respondents said they’d found a romantic partner at a shared meal event. Since young people are leaving dating apps, this gives them a shot at a unplanned "meat-cute".

I Hate That Pun 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: "It’s all fun and games until someone drops a katsu prawn on your Y2K baggy jeans."