Italy here. Speaking of restaurants (not "cafe's") i.e. where you actually have lunch or dinner, (which means normally at least two courses) the number of serv

Italy here. Speaking of restaurants (not "cafe's") i.e. where you actually have lunch or dinner, (which means normally at least two courses) the number of servers is function of the level of the place, it is more or less "coded". The range goes from "bad" or "slow" service which is 1 server every 25 people to "excellent" or "fast/responsive" which is 1 server every 8 people. You won't find 1/25 if not in really cheap places, nor 1/8 if not in really expensive ones, average is 1/12 to 1/16. Leaving the table free after having eaten is exclusively cultural, no waiter will ever dare to tell you to free the table or bring you the bill if not asked for, with the rare exception of long time customers with which there is confidence, in which case the waiter may ask this as a personal favour, on the other hand any long time customer will notice that the place is full and leave the table free as soon as possible. Good restaurants (and capable waiters) can understand from a number of signals if you are in just for a quick meal or if you are in for a meal at leisure and serve you accordingly.