What is Peer-to-Peer Dining?

Maybe you’ve heard of the new trend, maybe you haven’t, but peer-to-peer dining is the new way to go out for dinner — at someone else’s house. Peer-to-peer dining is the idea you can get a home-cooked meal in someone else’s home and that going out doesn’t mean you have to go to a restaurant.

Why peer-to-peer dining? Well, the home-cooked food first. But it also offers a chance to get to know strangers and make new friends. Maybe you’ll meet new people in your neighborhood or maybe you’ll discover an entirely new neighborhood. Peer-to-peer dining also offers a more intimate experience than a restaurant, one in which you can really focus on your food and friends. Plus, it’s generally cheaper than a restaurant.

Why not peer-to-peer dining? If you’re looking for a romantic dinner between just the two of you, where you do nothing but stare in each other’s glowing eyes all night, this probably isn’t for you. Also if you’re not big into the social scene, peer-to-peer dining might not be for you either.

There are several websites that focus on peer-to-peer dining. Mealsharing is an international website in more than 450 cities and the heavy hitter of the peer-to-peer dining world. But there is also Cookening, EatWith and Feastly, all which offer various levels of dining experiences. Suppershare donates part of their profits to charity. Also be on the lookout for Airbnb expanding into the peer-to-peer dining marketplace.

Whether you decide to host your own dinners or meet up at someone else’s, you have to admit, peer-to-peer dining sounds like a pretty cool idea. So get out there, be social and get some good, home-cooked food.