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Term: Shared seating arrangements.

Appearance: Long, awkward and making a comeback.

Communal Dining is Back? Oh no. The Sole Appropriate Location for Refectory Tables is the School Canteen

What kind of adult chooses to dine alongside strangers? Gen Z, it seems. Research indicates from the dining booking company Resy, "90% of young adult patrons say they like shared seating, versus just six in ten of older generations".

A Sign of the Times. Before Complaining About the Youth of Today

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

It Was Logical During Times of Rationing, But Why Do It Now?

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

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 fitness enthusiast 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 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, group hikes and crafting nights: they’re seeking real-world interactions.

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

This may not appeal to you, but lots of young people are lonely (Nearly half of them, according to an Oxfam survey released this summer). A recent American study , one-third of men 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. Research Shows Those Dining in Groups Report Greater Happiness

Talking to strangers is good for us, too: it gives us a greater sense of belonging. Plus the Resy survey highlights an additional benefit: one in seven survey respondents said they’d landed a date 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 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."