With a raclette grill with plates, you can eat with other people but still grill individually. Each guest gets their own plate to prepare their own dish. The individual plates of the raclette grill often have 2 different sections. You can sear a piece of meat on the ceramic part and grill vegetables on the ribbed section. That's useful for allergies or food intolerances. You can clean the plates in the dishwasher after dinner.