Quote:
Originally Posted by King Harold
I doubt it. Contrary to popular opinion Parisian attitudes range from indifferent to nice.
Americans are used to obsequious service staff so waiters and baristas acting like normal adults seems startlingly rude.
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I find the service in France to be more or less on par with American service. It is mainly in American chain restaurants and coffeeshops (Applebee's, Olive Garden, Starbucks, and the like) that have an enforced corporate culture of obsequious service live up to the stereotype.
In normal restaurants, servers may be somewhat more attentive to the needs of the table (especially considering the American propensity for refilled water/tea/soda), but lack the 'chumminess' and fake 'new best friends' attitude you find in restaurants patronized by families and, apparently, European tourists to the US. Of course since American servers rely on tips, they are going to want to ensure that your needs are met as a diner and that you are comfortable and welcome, but that does not always mean service with a toothy grin. They will sometimes introduce themselves by name, though, which seems to be an Americanism.
And the part of the country, or even city, makes a difference in the tone of service. A neighborhood restaurant that caters largely to locals in a city like New York City will have a different service attitude than, for example, a TGIFridays (chain restaurant) in Times Square just a couple of miles away.
Also, many of America's restaurants are run by families of the ethnicity of the cuisine served, thus the service often reflects the style of the home country to some degree.
I think many European tourists coming to visit America visit fast growing "new" areas such as Orlando, Florida or Las Vegas, Nevada where chain restaurants and backward bending attention to tourists is common, as opposed to the real world where a mixture of policies and personalities shape the service culture. This contributes to a warped perspective on AMerican restaurant culture. Of course many Americans live in these areas, too, and they have a warped perspective as well :-) You can find them on these very forums saying that they only go to chain restaurants because they dislike the originality, unknown foods, and "surly" service at regular restaurants, much preferring the predictable and ingratiating environment of chain restaurants where their server will treat them like a long lost friend while serving their boil-in-a-bag meal
This has been my experience, anyway.
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