Ordering food at restaurants and cafes is pretty easy once you learn and understand a few set expressions. These set expressions are said all over the country and you will have the same exchange when ordering no matter where you go. The Japanese service industry lacks personality. All waiters and waitresses sound the same, say the same things with the enthusiasm of a programmed robot. Staff will rarely start up a conversation, comment on the weather or local news, or ask you anything other than “May I take your order?”.
For someone new to Japan or to the Japanese language it is great because you will hear the same service phrases every time you go out to eat. It won’t be long before you can walk into a restaurant without the fear of being misunderstood. For someone living in Japan for several years you really get sick of the programmed exchange. In most places of customer service Japanese follow a strict code of “by the book” service. Of course some staff are friendlier than others and may make a comment or show a smile, but generally everyone behaves in exactly the same way. Straying from this “by the book” service is frowned upon and considered time wasting.
I have worked in restaurants in Japan myself and learned not to talk to customers “too much” and just stick to the manual. I also have discovered restaurants aren’t generally customer friendly when it comes to requesting slight changes to menu items. Try ordering a pizza without onions and chances are they just can’t do it. It is quite funny. If you do ask for changes on a menu item the waiter or waitress will give you a perplexed look and then run off to the manager. He or she will then return to tell you it can’t be done because of “quality control” or some other bizarre reason. If you are a vegetarian life is going to be difficult in Japan.
Some people may argue that they don’t like to be disturbed when eating out by staff and just want to order and eat - fair enough. However, I do thinking I am losing my brain when I am at a restaurant and I order two things off the menu and then have the waitress announce to me that she will repeat my order, have my order repeated, then told that the “drink bar” is on my right 3 meters away by the entrance (as if I hadn’t seen it). Keep in mind that I have been served by the same staff before and that I am a regular customer of the establishment.