Dinner with a Stranger: How Glasgow students are serving up friendship

Tired of endless scrolling on social media? Two University of Glasgow students, 21-year-old Juliette Sartori and 22-year-old Mary Yiorkadji have a new use for your free time: ‘Dinner with a Stranger’, a society where friendship is always on the menu.

Juliette, a business and management student from the US, felt lonely after moving to Scotland. Strangers seemed to have social walls up, so she and her flatmates decided to shake things up. Inspired by a successful coffee date with strangers, they launched ‘Dinner with a Stranger’—a friendship matchmaking society.

Talking to the BBC, she revealed that what started as a “maybe 30 people will join” idea quickly became a campus hit, with over 200 students signing up in its first month.

How It Works: A Friendship Blind Date

Forget complicated dating algorithms; ‘Dinner with a Stranger’ is all about personality quizzes. Students share their favourite movies, dream holiday spots, and go-to karaoke songs.  Then, Juliette and her team play friendship matchmakers, pairing people up and letting the magic unfold.

“People are lonelier now. Our generation is lonelier,” says Mary, an economics and philosophy student from Cyprus. “Social media creates unrealistic expectations and makes real connections harder.”

From Strangers to Best Friends

Vanya, 19, and Hannah, 20, are clear examples of how ‘Dinner with a Stranger’ brings people together. The two were paired last December and are now best friends and flatmates.

“Society focuses so much on romance that we forget how important friendships are,” Hannah points out. She adds that before meeting Vanya she was “miserable”and spent much of her time alone, but their friendship has boosted her mental health and increased her confidence.

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Vanya loved the fresh approach. “You go in with no assumptions. It’s just two people talking and seeing where it goes.” says the economics student from India.

Juliette believes that with social platforms like Bumble introducing friend-matching features, this type of thing is the way forward.

“It’s a modern way to make friends—taking the dating app concept but making it about real friendships.”

So, if you’re hungry for new connections, skip the swipe-right game and try ‘Dinner with a Stranger’. Who knows? Your next great friendship might just be one conversation away.

Featured image via @dinnerwithastrangersociety on instagram