Communal Restaurant Seating: The Reason 90% of Gen Z Like This Trend
Term: Communal seating arrangements.
Look: Lengthy, awkward and back in fashion.
Communal Dining is Back? Not Again. The Sole Appropriate Location for Refectory Tables is the Cafeteria
Who would voluntarily eat with strangers as an adult with free will? Gen Z, it seems. According to data from the dining booking company Resy, "Nine out of ten of young adult patrons say they enjoy shared seating, compared with just 60% of older generations".
A Sign of the Times. Before Complaining Regarding Younger People
Communal eating in patriotic “British Restaurants” was a big thing during the WWII, in fact – 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?
This might seem strange to you, I know, but shared dining can be fun! As Pablo Rivero explains: "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 “Fun” of Having Dinner Interrupted by Someone Explaining Loudly About Their Therapy Says They’re “a Highly Sensitive Empath”
Or sitting beside a Hyrox bore chomping chicken breasts to fuel his "farmer’s carries"? Or a social media user filming you accidentally of their reel as they massacre a salad? Consider this: young adults – the most online generation, who came of age during the pandemic, and many of whom entered an almost exclusively digital workplace – love a structured communal activity. It’s the same impulse behind the rise of youth running groups, hiking outings and art nights: they’re craving offline social connection.
I Prefer Dining in One of Those One-Person Ramen Booths Found in Japan.
This may not appeal to you, but lots of young people are lonely (47% of them, according to an Oxfam survey published in June). A recent American study a third of males aged between 18 and 23 reported they had no contact 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. 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 data points out another advantage: one in seven survey respondents said they’d landed a date at a shared meal event. Since young people are leaving dating apps, this gives them a shot at a spontaneous "meet-cute".
I Hate That Pun Almost as Much as I Dislike Shared Seating.
My work here is done.
Do say: "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."