Yes. If a restaurant microwaves, it would be some horrible place meant for the equivalent of "white trash" or the kind found in tourist traps (which for tourists might be the only kind they ever try, especially if they don't bother much to see where locals eat).

There are all kinds of industrial heated plates, continuously running pots on stoves, or always on ovens, etc restaurants use to keep the day's food heated or slightly reheat it.

Most restaurants use microwaves. They may not use it to prepare the entire dish (that’s reserved for mass-market faux-nice places like Red Lobster), but it’s a standard piece of commercial kitchen equipment. Reheating frozen soups, for example, usually starts with a quick zap to get the process going.

Please don't speak authoritatively about things of which you are ignorant.

Almost every restaurant uses microwaves for some part of food prep. Go work in a kitchen for a bit.

You'd be surprised of what I'm cognizant.

If "almost every restaurant microwaves" in one's area, they should probably move to a better area.

Though I'm not sure what you call a restaurant. Does it include fast food "restaurants" for example? Or some 2x-3x the local price tourist trap in places like Barcelona, Rome, Amsterdam, Paris (say, Montmartre) or the Greek isles?

Indeed, the vast majority of restaurants are filthy, terrible over priced eateries where you are gambling your health. Especially after covid.

How much would you like to bet on sone Michelin starred restaurants having microwaves in use?

Even in the US there is definitely derisiveness towards the type of restaurant that just microwaves frozen food.

It appears that people are taking my remark "as a part of the food preparation process" to mean "they cook with a microwave." Whereas I meant, "take a prepared sauce or ingredient out of the freezer and thaw with the microwave before continuing with the meal."

In much the same way that I take a stick of butter out of the fridge and nuke it for exactly 9 seconds to get it (at least the bottom) to spreadable consistency. In fact, this is 90% of what I use a microwave for.