Shared Dining Seating: Why 90% of Generation Z Like Them
Term: Communal tables.
Look: Long, awkward and back in fashion.
Communal Dining is Back? Oh no. The Only Acceptable Place for Long Benches is the School Canteen
What kind of adult chooses to dine alongside strangers? Gen Z, it seems. According to data from the restaurant reservations company Resy, "Nine out of ten of gen Z diners say they enjoy shared seating, versus just six in ten of boomers".
I’ve Never Felt More Out of Touch. Before Complaining About the Youth of Today
Communal eating in patriotic “British Restaurants” was a major trend during the second world war, in fact – there were about 2,500 of them, supported by Winston Churchill.
It Was Logical When Food Was Scarce, But Why Do It Now?
This might seem strange to you, I know, but shared dining can be enjoyable! As the Resy CEO explains: "Dinner becomes a collective event," and "The excitement lies in not knowing your neighbor!"
The “Fun” of An Interrupted Meal by Someone Explaining Loudly That Their Therapist Revealing They Are an Empath
Or sitting beside a fitness enthusiast chomping chicken breasts 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 online generation, who grew up during COVID, and many of whom entered an almost exclusively digital workplace – love a structured communal activity. It’s the same impulse driving the popularity of young people’s running clubs, hiking outings 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 (47% of them, as per an Oxfam survey released this summer). A recent American study , one-third of men aged between 18 and 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 People Who Eat Socially Report Greater Happiness
Conversing with new people is good for us, too: it enhances our feeling of community. Additionally the Resy survey highlights an additional benefit: 14% of survey respondents said they’d found a romantic partner at a communal dining experience. Since young people are leaving dating apps, this offers a chance for a unplanned "meet-cute".
I Hate That Pun Almost as Much as I Hate Communal Tables.
Mission accomplished.
Do say: "Gen Z think communal dining ate and left no crumbs."
Inappropriate remark: "It’s all fun and games until someone drops a katsu prawn on your Y2K baggy jeans."
