Open concept
Local works with restaurants to bring European communal tables to Durango

At a time when people seem more divided than ever, Connie Gordon wants to bring them together. And what better way than to try to do it through our greatest common denominator: food?

For Gordon, a longtime Durango resident, architect and all-around adventurer, building things and having fun comes as second nature. So it’s no surprise she took on her latest goal to build community through the concept of open restaurant tables.

“It’s an experiment,” said Gordon, who had been thinking of bringing the idea of community, or open, tables to Durango restaurants after experiencing them in Europe. “I just thought, ‘why not?’ Especially in this day and age where connection is so important – especially connecting maybe with someone who you don’t know or who has different views from you, but you can still enjoy a meal together.”

Gordon said it was her New Year’s resolution this year to finally follow through on her idea. “I just wanted to get this going and see if, after talking to a couple restaurants, they were like, ‘Yeah, we’ll give it a try,’” she said. “I hope it’s beneficial for everybody.”

The good news is, after a few emails and phone calls, Gordon got three restaurants on board (she’s still looking for a fourth): PRIMI Pasta & Wine Bar, Carver Brewing Co. and Union Social House. The idea is simple: once a month on a Tuesday evening starting around 5:30 p.m., each restaurant will offer an open table where single diners or pairs (no family reunions or bachelorette parties, please) can choose to take a seat vs. dining alone. (Although if you would rather dine alone, that is fine, too. No judgment.) Diners pay their own bill and can come and go freely.

The program, if you can call it that, since it’s meant to be a casual type of affair, begins next week with PRIMI hosting on Jan. 27. The following week, Feb. 3, will be hosted by Carver’s and then Feb. 10 will be at the Union. The schedule will then repeat, with PRIMI hosting again Feb. 24 (for up-to-date schedule, please see the Tele’s “Stuff to Do” section.) 

 “The idea is just to provide a table, a place for people to go,” said Gordon. “Maybe people are visiting from out of town who don’t know anybody. Or maybe people want to go out, and don’t have anyone to go with, and they just want to go engage with other people.”

Tracy Regan, who owns PRIMI with husband, Jarrod, said the restaurant, which has a decidedly European flair, has been wanting to try the idea out for some time.

“We’ve seen how well this works at our Chef & Somm special event dinners – nearly half of the guests who sign up request seating at the community table,” said Tracy. “We even considered creating something similar when we first opened PRIMI in January 2020, until COVID quickly put that idea on hold.”

She said the next few months will be a trial run to see how the idea flies. “I’m hopeful that Connie’s idea will give people an opportunity to dine out and meet others in an easygoing, non-intimidating way,” she said. 

Gordon, who is single, said she was interested in getting the idea started locally, because often she wants to go out to eat but doesn’t necessarily feel like dining alone. “As a single adult, I am always eager to meet new folks out of my social circle and don’t really enjoy eating out by myself,” she said. 

However, she noted, the idea behind the communal table is not for a singles hookup – that’s what the bars or dating apps are for. Rather, it’s to share a meal and maybe have some (hopefully) interesting conversation. All while managing not to get spinach in your teeth and resisting the urge to look at your phone.

“It’s a connection for sharing food versus going on a date. Though, if you find a date, that would be fine, too,” Gordon said.

Community tables are big in European pubs, most of which have at least one long table dedicated to sharing with strangers, she said. “When you walk in, they ask if you want to sit at the community table,” she said. “You sit down and people just chat with you. When I was in Scotland, people were telling us what they did for a living, where they lived, and it was just very comfortable. There was no expectation.”

She said the table is open to anyone – local or visitor, introvert or social butterfly – who is brave enough to sit down and strike up a convo with the person next to them. “I’m expecting we’re going to have people of all age groups … it could be anybody who wants to go meet somebody new.”

A communal resurgence

According to a recent story in the Washingtonian magazine, communal tables had a moment in the early 2010s, before the trend faced a backlash and largely faded away, probably due to that pesky pandemic.⁠ However, thanks to Gen-Z, they are making a resurgence. A survey by the reservation platform Resy found that 90% of Gen-Zers enjoy dining at communal tables, compared with 60% of boomers. Furthermore, one out of three respondents said they’d made a new friend at a communal table, and one in seven claimed they’d scored a date.⁠

Washington restaurateur Dante Datta, who has a 20-seat communal table at his Indian restaurant, Tapori, told the Washingtonian he noticed that age split when he opened in 2025. Young diners are more open to the idea, he said, recalling an older customer who walked out after accidentally booking the communal table. He then wrote a nasty Google review about being “forced” to sit there.⁠

But Datta said patrons of all ages have become more amenable to the arrangement. Young families like it, because it’s easy to set up high chairs and strollers. And it has created opportunities for kismet. “Two people had served in the Peace Corps at the same time, at the same place, and didn’t know it until they were sitting at the communal table,” Datta told the magazine. “This happens all the time: Neighbors figure out that they live very close to each other. They end up connecting and becoming friends.”⁠

Carol Clark, owner of Union Social House, said her establishment has community tables regularly on its patio in the summer when seating is at a premium. “People share tables all the time outside in the summer, but not so much on the inside in the winter,” she said. “I think it’s cool what Connie wants to do. We’ll see who comes. It’s worth trying.”

Clark said she also experienced the communal table for the first time in Europe. “It was one of my favorite things when I was traveling in Europe – all the people wanted to sit with you and talk with you and sing and dance with you – it’s a little bit of a different feel.”

And while singing and dancing is all good, Gordon envisions Durango’s foray being a little more low-key to start.

“The idea really started from connection. You can connect over sharing food, sharing conversation,” she said. “The only theme on this is just eating, but... who knows? I’m hoping that it’s popular enough that more restaurants will have a table, too.”

Bottom line, she said, if you’re curious, just show up. You might have such a good time that you never glance at your phone even once.