🔗 Share this article Communal Restaurant Tables: Why Nine in Ten of Gen Z Like Them Term: Shared tables. Look: Long, uncomfortable and making a comeback. The Return of Communal Eating? Not Again. The Sole Appropriate Location for Long Benches is the Cafeteria What kind of adult chooses to dine alongside strangers? Gen Z, it seems. Research indicates from the restaurant reservations company Resy, "90% of young adult patrons say they enjoy communal tables, compared with just 60% of boomers". I’ve Never Felt More Out of Touch. Before You Start Harrumphing Regarding Younger People Communal eating in nationalistic eateries was a big thing during the second world war, actually – there were about 2,500 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, I know, but shared dining can be fun! As Pablo Rivero notes: "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 Enjoyment From Having Dinner Interrupted by A Loud Conversation That Their Therapist Revealing They Are an Empath Or being squeezed next to a fitness enthusiast chomping chicken breasts to fuel his "farmer’s carries"? Or a nano-influencer capturing you in the background in their video while eating 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 – enjoy organized group events. It’s the same impulse behind the rise of young people’s running clubs, hiking outings and art nights: they’re craving offline social connection. I Prefer Dining in a Solo Ramen Stall Found in Japan. This may not appeal to you, but many youths feel isolated (Nearly half of them, according to an Oxfam survey published in June). A recent American study , one-third of men aged between 18 and 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. Research Shows People Who Eat Socially Report Greater Happiness Conversing with new people is beneficial, 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 offers a chance for a unplanned "meat-cute". That Joke Annoys Me Almost as Much as I Hate Communal Tables. Mission accomplished. Appropriate comment: "Young adults believe shared meals are a total success." Inappropriate remark: "It’s all fun and games until someone drops a katsu prawn on your Y2K baggy jeans."