This is something I often eat as a snack. You pour some oil on a plate and dip some bread (preferably not the sweet fake bread common in the anglosphere, that stuff is vile, it should at least have a crust) in it and sprinkle some salt to taste on top.
It is extremly quick, very cheap, vegan and somewhat healthy. I also like it because i can get a lot of calories very quickly as i tend to eat too little.
This also works with salad dressings and all kinds of vegetable oils and sauces really, but i like the taste of olive oil and it is common everywhere and also healthier .
Seems to be a solely North American thing that no one else does, as ever.
Do Italian Restaurants there do Antipasti, Primo, Secundo etc to define Starters, Pasta and Meat?
That said bread is probably closer to an Hors d'Oeuvres than an Entree, which would come slightly after.
No, in the states every restaurant has "appetizer, soup/salad, entree, desert." Italian placea have entrees, even in cultures places like NY and SF