Service might simply be seen as better because of cultural differences between your home country and one you visit. Example: in France Americans often perceive restaurant service as slow and indifferent, because the French service is not about feeding you and getting you the hell out of the restaurant. The word "restauration" in French implies a restoring (of not just your stomach, but your well-being) and that is what French restaurants are for. Allowing you to be seated and to look around you for a while, discussing rather than quickly selecting what is on offer for the meal, a leisurely consumption of what is served and a pressure-free interval for some digestion make a meal in France slow.
I'm also told that the coyness of the server in bringing the check comes from the feeling of community a restaurant strives to foster: "we would rather you stayed here a bit". Getting pushy about turning a table over simply doesn't happen in France.
I'm also told that the coyness of the server in bringing the check comes from the feeling of community a restaurant strives to foster: "we would rather you stayed here a bit". Getting pushy about turning a table over simply doesn't happen in France.