Too many different meal orders a “problem” in restaurant in Rome

Were they closing soon? I’ve never heard of that. Obviously it was easier/faster for them to make a bigger batch of one dish than 6 dishes.

Yep— What the waiter was simply expressing is that the cook could quickly whip out 6 identical dishes or 6 dishes of 2 different types more quickly than six different dishes. It comes down to mass production of one or two dishes for 6 diners rather than a different dish for 6 diners.

It's a restaurant. They have a menu .Cooking different dishes is what they do. That's very odd.

It’s actually pretty common for restaurants to have a limited selection of the menu available for groups or to have a special group menu. What number of guests defines a group, can of course differ per restaurant.

So the waiter offered you a choice, a quick lunch or a longer, more relaxed lunch. Considering many tourists, as well as workers in the area, want to eat and get back to touring/working, I think it was nice he offered you a choice.

If it's a small restaurant, the problem may be that they can't get all the meals out at the same time. That is, some will be eating while others are still waiting.

I don't know if I would have realized it sitting in the restaurant, but the waiter was giving you the opportunity to choose between a quick lunch break or a much longer meal time.

Just remember that, in America, the customer is king. In Japan, the customer is god.
But in Europe, the customer is just another person or customer.

Service levels differ across countries. It's a cultural thing. Also, they don't get paid pennies and receive no/low tips.

Easy to theorize: the waiter has dealt with North Americans before. He knows most want a smaller meal at lunch, not the longer lunch that Europeans would have on vacation, and probably have plans for the afternoon. The waiter may have had upset customers in the past telling him they had deadlines and could the waiter and kitchen hurry it up. I think your waiter was doing you a favor giving you a choice.

This is why: In Toledo in February I witnessed an American man loudly barking at the waiter who had every table full with locals: "hey, will you be able to get around to us. We don't have a lot of time and we've already been here fifteen minutes. We have a tour to meet."
I don't know why these customers sat down in a white tablecloth restaurant where a meal is typically two hours, Our lunch took two hours, but I needed the rest.

I agree the waiter was being very kind to offer you choices....something quick or something that would take longer. I would have really appreciated his guidance, if I had afternoon plans that would have meant not being able to take extra time. And, who knows, maybe one of the kitchen helpers was out sick, or the main chef....but whatever, he was being kind IMO. And, could be he "learned from experience" that people who look like they are on vacation may merit giving that guidance. I could see someone saying "Why did you not tell us/warn us/whatever?" He may have learned from experience and kindly wanted to avoid potential reactions.

Not knowing the circumstances of who gave you the menus vs. if they were posted, etc. seems the guidance would have been given at the time of menu presentation, though (instead of everyone looking over the menu, looking forward to their choices, then possibly then choosing to pivot). Something like: "Here are today's choices, but I might add, if you have limited time, perhaps you might consider.......blah, blah, blah....as that would likely save (x time) in being served." But, with potential language issues.................sounds like he got the main point across a nice way.

Side note: Not to worry, I am not going to try to be a coach to waiters in Italy....I know my place in life. Would not want their jobs, and I can only imagine what they have to deal with each day (especially with tourists from all over the world). I am SURE it is hard for them to please everyone ;o Luckily in all our travels over several decades, we have not had a "bad" waiter.....some better than others, but no bad waiters. But, we were humble, kind patrons, too....trying the local language( and often pulling out the Rick Steves' translation book before phones offered such), but often kindly apologizing for not quite grasping it at times :)

OK, I'll ask the obvious, what restaurant was this? Might help in answering.

I would have went to a different restaurant.

My experience in Europe over the past 40something years is that most restaurants with table service give better service and appreciate it if you reserve a table in advance, even if it's just an hour or so ahead. Nothing to do with ogre chefs or lack of customer service. It's a courtesy to the restaurant.

Just a thought, from the restaurant’s point of view. Assuming they are small and the kitchen can’t get more than two different dishes out for them at once, if six different dishes we re ordered then the 6 table places would be busy as a group for as long as the last person got through their meal. From a business perspective, this lack of turnover (as Belushi would repeat in the Olympic Diner sketches) could cost them a possible 6 or more additional servings.