I read this somewhere but I can't find it so I can't confirm it.

Has anyone else heard of this? Seems odd.

I assume you mean RAISED... In which case I actually thought it was just the opposite.  As in better for food consumption.  With that said all my dogs' bowls rest on the floor.

I thought it was for posture in young puppies that might become show dogs.

What side does the napkin go on?  

Heard that using an elevated food/water bowl was important for some large breed dogs.

Our dog could care less. he makes less of a mess from the elevated bowl so that is what we use.

It keeps my lab from laying down while eating.....

my understanding is a raised food bowl is better for tall dogs, helps with digestion.

Be careful. Raised bowls are known to increase the risk of bloat. Bloat is a life threatening emergency requiring immediate medical intervention. If you have a breed that is susceptible to bloat, do not feed from raised bowls.

While I'm on my bloat soapbox: do not overfeed. Feed at least twice a day, preferably three times to cut down on stomach loading. No play, exercise or any other rambunctiousness for 20 minutes prior to eating and for 60 minutes after eating. Dogs can bloat on just water intake. Do not leave too much water out and monitor your dog's water intake, too. I have a co-worker who came home to find one of his Dogue de Bordeaux dead of bloat--he had drank a ton of water and played with the other dog. Most importantly, know the signs of bloat. This video is very tough to watch, but watching it might save your dog's life someday. The dog in the video made it, by the way.

Akita man above me is right. Eating from raised bowls is very unnatural for dogs. They way they naturally eat is with their food on the ground, with them either laying down or standing over it.

Feeding them in an unnatural manner increases the chances of bloat. Don't do it!

It's always been recommended to elevate food bowls for my GSD ... He naturally pulls the meat out on places on floor and then he eats the veggies out of the raised bowl and the crunches on his meaty bones (he's on raw) hovering over the floor

Damn, I've always heard the opposite, but that makes sense.  Time to ditch the raised bowls.