Communal Restaurant Seating: Why 90% of Gen Z Like Them
Term: Shared seating arrangements.
Look: Long, awkward and back in fashion.
Communal Dining is Back? Not Again. The Only Acceptable Place for Long Benches is the School Canteen
What kind of adult chooses to dine alongside strangers? Gen Z, apparently. According to data from the restaurant reservations company Resy, "Nine out of ten of gen Z diners say they like communal tables, compared with just six in ten of older generations".
I’ve Never Felt More Out of Touch. Before You Start Harrumphing Regarding Younger People
Group dining in patriotic “British Restaurants” was a major trend during the second world war, in fact – there were about two thousand five hundred of them, backed by Winston Churchill.
It Was Logical When Food Was Scarce, But Why Do It Now?
It’s an alien concept for you, I know, but communal tables can be enjoyable! As the Resy CEO explains: "Dinner becomes a collective event," and "You never know who you’ll be seated next to; that’s the fun of it!"
The Enjoyment From Having Dinner Interrupted by Someone Explaining Loudly That Their Therapist Says They’re “a Highly Sensitive Empath”
Or sitting beside a fitness enthusiast chomping chicken breasts to fuel his "workout routines"? Or a social media user capturing you in the background in their video as they massacre a salad? Consider this: 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 behind the rise of young people’s running clubs, hiking outings and art nights: they’re craving offline social connection.
I Prefer Dining in One of Those One-Person Ramen Booths They Have in Tokyo.
You might not fancy it, but many youths feel isolated (Nearly half of them, as per 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 past week. Isn't it positive they’re getting out and breaking bread with strangers?
Perhaps. Studies Indicate Those Dining in Groups More Often Feel Happier
Talking to strangers is beneficial, too: it gives us a greater sense of belonging. Additionally the Resy survey points out another advantage: one in seven 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 spontaneous "meat-cute".
That Joke Annoys Me Nearly as Much as I Hate Communal Tables.
My work here is done.
Appropriate comment: "Young adults believe shared meals are a total success."
Don’t say: "It’s all fun and games until someone drops a katsu prawn on your Y2K baggy jeans."
