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Name: Shared tables.

Look: Lengthy, awkward and making a comeback.

Communal Dining is Back? Not Again. The Sole Appropriate Location 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, "90% of young adult patrons say they like communal tables, versus just 60% of older generations".

A Sign of the Times. Before You Start Harrumphing About the Youth of Today

Communal eating in patriotic “British Restaurants” was a major trend during the WWII, in fact – there were about two thousand five hundred of them, backed by Winston Churchill.

I Suppose It Made Sense During Times of Rationing, But Why Do It Now?

It’s an alien concept for you, I know, but shared dining can be enjoyable! As Pablo Rivero explains: "They naturally turn dinner into a shared experience," and "The excitement lies in not knowing your neighbor!"

The “Fun” of An Interrupted Meal by Someone Explaining Loudly That Their Therapist Says They’re “a Highly Sensitive Empath”

Or being squeezed next to 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? You have to remember: young adults – the most digitally connected group, who came of age during the pandemic, and many of whom entered an almost exclusively digital workplace – enjoy organized group events. This same desire behind the rise of youth running groups, hiking outings and art nights: they’re craving offline social connection.

I’d Rather Eat in One of Those One-Person Ramen Booths They Have in Tokyo.

This may not appeal to you, but many youths feel isolated (Nearly half of them, according to an Oxfam survey released this summer). 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 going out and sharing meals with new people?

Perhaps. Research Shows Those Dining in Groups Report Greater Happiness

Talking to strangers is beneficial, too: it enhances our feeling of community. Plus the Resy survey highlights an additional benefit: 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 unplanned "meat-cute".

I Hate That Pun Almost as Much as I Dislike Shared Seating.

Mission accomplished.

Do say: "Young adults believe shared meals are a total success."

Inappropriate remark: "Things are fine until food spills on your vintage clothes."