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Term: Communal seating arrangements.

Look: Lengthy, awkward and making a comeback.

The Return of Communal Eating? Oh no. 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, "90% of gen Z diners say they like communal tables, versus just 60% of older generations".

I’ve Never Felt More Out of Touch. Before You Start Harrumphing About the Youth of Today

Group dining in nationalistic eateries was a major trend during the WWII, actually – there were about two thousand five hundred of them, supported by Winston Churchill.

It Was Logical During Times of Rationing, What's the Appeal Today?

It’s an alien concept for you, I know, but shared dining can be fun! As Pablo Rivero notes: "Dinner becomes a collective event," and "You never know who you’ll be seated next to; that’s the fun of it!"

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Or being squeezed next to a fitness enthusiast chomping chicken breasts to fuel his "workout routines"? Or a social media user capturing you in the background of their reel as they massacre a salad? You have to remember: gen Z – the most digitally connected group, 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 seeking real-world interactions.

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You might not fancy it, but lots of young people are lonely (47% 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 a good thing they’re going out and breaking bread with strangers?

I Suppose. Research Shows Those Dining in Groups More Often Feel Happier

Conversing with new people is beneficial, too: it enhances our feeling of community. Additionally the Resy survey highlights an additional benefit: 14% of survey respondents said they’d landed a date at a shared meal event. Given gen Z have gone off the apps, this gives them a shot at a unplanned "meet-cute".

I Hate That Pun Nearly 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."