🔗 Share this article Shared Dining Tables: Why 90% of Gen Z Enjoy Them Term: Communal tables. Look: Lengthy, uncomfortable and back in fashion. The Return of Communal Eating? Not Again. The Only Acceptable Place for Long Benches is the Cafeteria What kind of adult chooses to dine alongside strangers? The younger generation, apparently. According to data from the dining booking company Resy, "Nine out of ten of young adult patrons say they enjoy communal tables, compared with just 60% of older generations". I’ve Never Felt More Out of Touch. Before You Start Harrumphing About the Youth of Today Group dining in nationalistic eateries was a big thing during the second world war, actually – there were about 2,500 of them, backed by Winston Churchill. I Suppose It Made Sense When Food Was Scarce, What's the Appeal Today? This might seem strange to you, admittedly, but shared dining can be enjoyable! As the Resy CEO notes: "Dinner becomes a collective event," and "The excitement lies in not knowing your neighbor!" The “Fun” of An Interrupted Meal by A Loud Conversation That Their Therapist Revealing They Are an 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 while eating a salad? You have to remember: gen Z – the most digitally connected group, 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 youth running groups, 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. You might not fancy it, but lots of young people are lonely (Nearly half of them, according to an Oxfam study published in June). In a 2023 US report , one-third of men aged between 18 to 23 reported they hadn’t seen anyone outside their household in the past week. Isn't it positive they’re getting out and sharing meals with new people? I Suppose. Research Shows 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 highlights an additional benefit: one in seven survey respondents said they’d landed a date at a shared meal event. Given gen Z have gone off the apps, this gives them a shot at a unplanned "meat-cute". That Joke Annoys Me Almost as Much as I Dislike Shared Seating. Mission accomplished. Do say: "Young adults believe shared meals are a total success." Don’t say: "Things are fine until food spills on your vintage clothes."