Why Gen Z says 6pm is the new dining prime time

Gen Z: Booked us a table for 6pm tonight!

Boomer: Six?! I thought it would just be the two of us.

*Groans* I said SIX PM. Someone needs a hearing test…

Rude. But seriously, why 6pm? Did you leave it too late to book a decent table?

It’s the new dining prime time, Boomer. Booking site OpenTable says 6pm reservations are up 11 per cent in London.

Then when’s cocktail hour? Do you start swigging martinis at 4.30pm?

I’m teetotal, duh. Anyway, early dining is good for wellbeing: better sleep, no hangovers and we can still socialise.

Back in my day, leaving Soho House at 3am was the norm. Dinner at 6pm meant you were either pregnant or entitled to a free bus pass.

Now it’s trending. According to The TimesGen Z’s average dinner time of 6.12pm shows we prioritise our ‘physical and mental wellbeing’.

By scoffing steak frites late afternoon so you’re back on the sofa in time for EastEnders?

By giving our food time to digest and not sacrificing our eight hours’ sleep.

I’m more aligned with my fellow Boomer commenter: ‘Early dinner is for wimps and 6pm-8pm is solely for boozing!’

There are other perks too. One 20-something told The Times she books at 6pm because ‘the (sober) vibe suits me better’ and she can ‘actually hear friends talk’.

That’s because the only other people there are infants and pensioners.

Sorry, would you rather I came crawling in at 3am on a Wednesday morning?

Completely! I’m with The Standardwhich declared: ‘Gen Z are eating dinner at 6pm… because they’re losers.’

*Gasps* Sooo salty.

‘There is something inarguably sexy about a late-night dinner,’ The Standard says. ‘Staying until the waiter kicks you out. Going to bed hot and full and boozy.’

Vom. As one Gen Z put it on TikTok: ‘If I eat at nine and get home at 12, when do I do my skincare regime?’

Dinner used to be a social event. Apéritifs at seven, a buzzy 9pm table. Our favourite restaurant on Kensington Church Street, home to royal protection officers from Kensington Palace and itinerant journalists, once famously hosted a Christmas party that ended at 7am.

FGS, you win, but we’re still social! That’s why we’re obsessed with communal tables.

What tables?

Communal. You share with other diners. Ninety per cent of Gen Zs enjoy them, compared to just 60 per cent of boring Boomers.

How am I meant to enjoy a meal while making trivial chat with strangers? I struggle enough with engaging my own family in decent conversation.

It’s fun! According to booking site Resy, youngsters are ‘intentionally seeking real-world connection’ and ‘social experience’.

What’s wrong with socialising with the people you already know?! Let me guess… They finish work at 6.30pm, so a dinner date would disrupt your sleep schedule.

I wanna meet exciting new people. You know one in three Gen Zs has made a new friend at a shared table, and one in seven has landed a date.

While the other six in seven were stuck making small talk with someone called Tarquin who works in crypto-finance-banking…

Well, you’re always telling me you met all your boyfriends in bars and restaurants or on the night bus home.

Yes, but not by initiating forced conversation at a dinner table while scoffing hummus.

Besides, a long, bustling table looks way more bougie when you post it on your Insta stories.

Great. So not only am I forced to chat to strangers, I’ll also probably be snapped inelegantly shovelling forkfuls of dauphinois into my gob.

We’re doing venues a favour, actually. Ninety-two per cent of Gen Zs say they’re willing to travel at least 30 minutes to visit a ‘social-media famous’ venue.

It’s a pity 92 per cent of Gen Zs aren’t as enthusiastic about travelling 30 minutes to visit their office.

And 36 per cent of us have been to a restaurant just so we can post about it. My latest meal pic in a hip Mayfair joint got 157 likes.

One hundred and 57 strangers validated your steak. I’m delighted for you.

And back home by 7.30pm. Talk about a meal-ly good idea.

I have major reservations.