If you want to go through life thinking that a self-service restaurant isn’t really a self-service restaurant, knock yourself out.
I get self-service checkout. I pick up all my own groceries, I run them through the scanner, I scan my credit card, I take my receipt, bag my groceries, and off I go without ever talking to a person.
A self-service restaurant is a vending machine.
And they are working on a "self-service McDonalds". Where you go up to a kiosk and order your own food, and the machines deliver them.
The term for what you are calling "self-service" seems to in fact be Counter Service
I guess if you want to go through life calling counter service restaurants self-service, go right ahead. I'm not even going to argue the point.
Because MY point was that you didn't SERVE YOURSELF that McDonald's meal, a PERSON DID IT. All the things you fear from "bad service" from a waitstaff can happen with counter service at McDonalds. And yet you can get good service, and you don't have to tip, and they are paid a decent wage.
If you don't want to debate the point, that's fine as well. Getting hung up in a dubious terminology debate seems like a fruitless waste of effort.
Because God knows you wouldn't want to be confused when people talk about careers in Counter Service Or Drive-Through Service.
Or when people complain about the terrible COUNTER SERVICE at McDonalds.
You'll go crazy trying to run around correcting all those people shouting "that's SELF-SERVICE you idiot".