Around here it’s the contrary. Paying when ordering is only on the low-end or when speed is a selling point. In any other setting you pay when leaving.
Making customers pay upfront is a huge “we’re too cheap to pay for waiters so the customers have to do their jobs” warning sign. They are the kind of places where you’re expected to clean the table when you leave. Ok when all you need are calories quickly, but definitely not pleasant places.
I’m so used to it it’s now bizarre I need to have waiter walk to my table 5 times for a 1 euro coffee. It’s also supremely slow and I keep forgetting to pay.
Pay up front is a sign that either crime is so high in the area that they don't trust you to eat and then pay (as opposed to walking out the door); or a sign that inflation is so bad the price will change by the time you are done eating. Either way not the type of place you want to live.
Or it's a sign that they want you to be able to eat there on your lunch break. I've certainly written off restaurants that made me wait a long time to pay.
