As an American living in the US, I also find the "is everything OK?" interruption to be especially annoying. One thing I've noticed, though: this happens in ch

As an American living in the US, I also find the "is everything OK?" interruption to be especially annoying. One thing I've noticed, though: this happens in chain restaurants regularly, but in smaller, independent restaurants only rarely. It's not really cultural: I think it's a product of the disconnect that naturally occurs when people without any feet-on-ground presence are making policies to be followed by the staff, and the other end of the feedback loop isn't isn't in place.