> USA is that restaurants are almost always over staffed there.

> European restaurants typically use a team service model, which greatly reduces the number of staff needed

100% this.

US restaurants have a "zone" model and always seem to need 3x the staff of European restaurants.

If you went the Euro model, you could have less staff and pay them more per head and therefore not need tipping.

> There is no pressure to run up the bill or clear out quickly in this model.

I think this is more a function of "need to turn over tables at some multiple per night to cover costs" but costs aren't just labor e.g. rent and food are also big line items.