When I lived in Oxford, UK (as a broke student) one of the cheapest places to get dinner on my street was a restaurant with a few very long tables with benches on each side. It was usually pretty full, so you’d always meet interesting people if you were the kind of person to walk in there in the first place.
They didn’t pay you to do so though.
I haven’t found many places like this later in my life, which is too bad. I’m currently on the island of Réunion, which I understand used to have very similar setups, but not many are left. For all I know the one in Oxford doesn’t exist anymore; I last went there almost 2 decades ago.
I think that style is still somewhat common in high density, high turnover places (stadiums, festivals, beer gardens, etc.)
I happened to eat at a place like that in Boston last night, except for the part about it being inexpensive. It was TimeOut over near Fenway Park (a baseball stadium). All the tables were just long slabs of wood in the center of an old warehouse while food and drink vendors were all around the outside. Get your food/drink and grab a spot on the long tables.
Between Cowley & Divinity and the Tesco Express on Cowley if I remember correctly. Looking around on street view I can’t seem to find it :( maybe it was where there is now an Oodles according to Google maps but my memory’s hazy. Perhaps it was further down on Cowley and I’m misremembering.
They didn’t pay you to do so though.
I haven’t found many places like this later in my life, which is too bad. I’m currently on the island of Réunion, which I understand used to have very similar setups, but not many are left. For all I know the one in Oxford doesn’t exist anymore; I last went there almost 2 decades ago.