🔗 Share this article Shared Dining Tables: Why 90% of Gen Z Like Them Term: Shared seating arrangements. Look: Long, awkward and making a comeback. The Return of Communal Eating? Not Again. The Sole Appropriate Location for Refectory Tables is the School Canteen Who would voluntarily eat with strangers as an adult with free will? The younger generation, it seems. According to data from the dining booking company Resy, "90% of young adult patrons say they enjoy communal tables, compared with just 60% of boomers". A Sign of the Times. Before Complaining Regarding Younger People Communal eating in patriotic “British Restaurants” 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 During Times of Rationing, But Why Do It Now? This might seem strange to you, I know, but communal tables can be fun! As Pablo Rivero explains: "They naturally turn dinner into a shared experience," and "You never know who you’ll be seated next to; that’s the fun of it!" The “Fun” of An Interrupted Meal by A Loud Conversation That Their Therapist Revealing They Are an Empath Or sitting beside a Hyrox bore 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 started careers remotely – love a structured communal activity. It’s the same impulse driving the popularity of young people’s running clubs, group hikes and art nights: they’re seeking real-world interactions. I’d Rather Eat in One of Those One-Person Ramen Booths Found in Japan. This may not appeal to you, but lots of young people are lonely (Nearly half of them, according to an Oxfam study released this summer). A recent American study a third of males aged between 18 to 23 reported they had no contact outside their household in the past week. Isn’t it a good thing they’re going out and breaking bread with strangers? Perhaps. Studies Indicate People Who Eat Socially Report Greater Happiness Conversing with new people 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 landed a date at a shared meal event. Given gen Z have gone off the apps, this offers a chance for a unplanned "meet-cute". That Joke Annoys Me Almost as Much as I Dislike Shared Seating. Mission accomplished. Do say: "Gen Z think communal dining ate and left no crumbs." Inappropriate remark: "Things are fine until food spills on your vintage clothes."