Wargarden, you don’t seem to have read the same article as I did, which focused a lot more on the food and a lot less on the economics of running a small business, and the tax mentioned was VAT/TVA which is sales tax, not business in general
For your points 2 and 3, I’d point out that the Working Time Directive is Europe wide, not specifically French
And Europeans generally find US employment practices horrific, in particular firing people on the spot just on a whim and “less than minimum wage” jobs (illegal and also culturally unacceptable throughout Europe). This also leads to the US tipping culture which bemuses and worries Europeans, and in fact means that eating out in the US is not as much cheaper as it looks at first glance where in moderately priced places prices may be given as STC (service et taxe compris, fully inclusive)
Having linked to what was a once a very disappointing restaurant in my OH’s home time, here are our two favourites which look much the same alas the last time I went there some years ago, and are popular with locals and tourists alike
https://leffetmaison.com/http://restaurant-lejardin47.fr/