New to Site: Is Pine okay for Kitchen table?

I'm no expert, just an amateur, but what that HD worker probably meant was that construction grade pine is not a long-lasting table topper. It is inexpensive and very easy to work with, but chances are that it will start to misbehave as time goes on (warp, crack, etc). The higher grade pine boards are a better choice, but a very solid protective coat is necessary to maintain the boards' integrity. But that's kind of true for all wood that comes into contact with food/water.

I'd say, if you don't care about the top lasting more than a few years, then do as you like with regards to wood choice. You'll learn a lot building with just the cheap stuff and using it to practice with finish options. And when you're ready to build your Forever dining table, get the nicer stuff. From a lumber yard. Because even HD's nice stuff still isn't as nice as what you'll get from a good lumber yard, and it's just as expensive (my HD doesn't carry maple, anyway - plus my lumber yard always cuts me 10-15% over what I pay for).

Just my 2 cents.

Pine is actually an excellent table top material. It will pick up dents and scratches over the years. It will, however, last a very long time. If well made, the table should last for a few decades at least.

There are tricks to making your experience with pine happier.

The first is that you should follow Ana's lead, and purchase your lumber from a local lumber yard rather than a national chain. The lumber is much higher quality at a much better price. The Number 2 pine at a decent lumber yard is as good as or better than the select lumber at a national chain store.

The second thing is to consider how you're going to assemble the top of the table. You can buy premade project panels, or you can glue up your own. The panels are expensive, but easy to use. If you choose to glue up your own table top, you should have somebody with a bit of experience show you how. There are lots of complicated ways to do it, but the most durable method I've found is also the easiest: plane a smooth straight edge on the boards, apply glue and clamp them togther.

I've made several tables as well as work benches using off the shelf yellow pine from the box stores.

The first thing I do is run both faces through the planet then rip the boards into 3/4" to 1" or thicker pieces giving me nice squared 1 3/8" x 3/4"-1" pieces. Staggering the boards so the end grains oppose each other and glue them up and clamp tight then plane both faces once again to about 1 1/4" . You can then even stack layers together if you want thicker pieces. If I feel fancy I might even dowel them together ,but most quality glues such as Tight Bond, etc. are perfectly sufficient if clamped properly. A 2 1/2" thick pine table top isn't going anywhere after that and adding a proper finish should last a lifetime. At this point you're weighing cost v softness or hardness . Pine is far less expensive than maple or walnut so you're sacrificing surface hardness for initial cost, but the top itself isn't going to fall apart if done correctly