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Name: Shared seating arrangements.

Look: Lengthy, 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 young adult patrons say they like communal tables, compared with just 60% of older generations".

I’ve Never Felt More Out of Touch. Before Complaining Regarding Younger People

Group dining in nationalistic eateries was a big thing during the second world war, 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 enjoyable! As Pablo Rivero notes: "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 That Their Therapist Says They’re “a Highly Sensitive Empath”

Or sitting beside a Hyrox bore eating chicken to fuel his "farmer’s carries"? 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 grew up during COVID, and many of whom entered an almost exclusively digital workplace – love a structured communal activity. This same desire 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 Found in Japan.

You might not fancy it, but many youths feel isolated (47% of them, as per an Oxfam study released this summer). In a 2023 US report a third of males aged between 18 and 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 enhances our feeling of community. Plus the Resy survey points out another advantage: 14% of 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 "meet-cute".

That Joke Annoys Me Nearly as Much as I Dislike Shared Seating.

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."