My husband, mother, and I were staying in a hotel and we thought we’d go to a restaurant at the hotel for some dessert and coffee. This is something pretty common amongst my friends and relations, but the management was short with us and said they only served dinner, not dessert. (They had dessert on their menu, so it wasn’t that they didn’t have dessert.)
I was very surprised at this, but maybe I’m just odd. Is it unusual to go to a restaurant just looking for dessert and coffee?
Just dessert and coffee/tea is fine with many customers but may not be so popular at certain restaurants. I’m thinking no problem in any college town or at a coffee house/Starbucks/Denny’s/greasy spoon and the like–not so much at a mid-to-upscale hotel bar.
I don’t see why they got so upset about it. Why turn down any money? Get a whole table of dessert and coffee, what is the issue?
I can certainly see the management not wanting a group of people tying up a table and waitstaff for something as small as dessert and coffee, particularly if you showed up during the dinner hours.
OTOH I think a hotel that wants to restrict their restaurant to full meal service ought to have a coffee shop alongside.
I should have put in that they were not at all busy. It was after 9. They close at 10, but when we went in they were fine with seating us for dinner, but not if we just wanted dessert.
speaking of just desserts, I want to go to this place!
That’s a pretty specific menu they’ve got there, if that’s really the case. And, one I haven’t heard of before. However, if that’s their business model, that’s their business.
MMMMMMMMMMMM that peach pie looks goooood! Alton! Who knew! My sister lives near there - Ill have to ask her about it.
But to answer the question, I dont see anything unusual about going out for dessert and coffee late at night, esp if the place isnt all that busy. Their loss.
Lower total bill for near the same time of table occupation as a full meal.
Maybe not as much of a problem nearer to closing than the evening dinner rush.
http://betterthansexkeywest.com/ (May be NSFW)
LOL
full service dessert only restaurant and lounge
OMG, heaven
Sounds odd to me. I would have done the same as the OP and not thought about it until they turned me away. Maybe it’s the district, but there are lots of downtown restaurants here that will serve that way, though I’m thinking in the theater district maybe it’s more normal. I wouldn’t think twice about a hotel restaurant in any area, though, and would be annoyed. Especially as a client of the hotel and not walking in off the street.
Maybe you had a server or manager that wanted to get out of there early. It seem illogical to me that a half-empty restaurant would turn away a paying customer an hour before closing.
Turning you away because you want dessert is piss-poor management… and frankly speaking, who ever made that judgement was a shitty person all around. Get out of the hospitality business if that is your attitude.
Interestingly, I was in an upscale hotel bar recently, and there was a party that came in just wanting dessert and coffee. And they got it. Mind you, this particular hotel also has a fancy dining room, so the bar has become kind of the place to go if you want a quick bite. The party that had dessert and coffee in the bar probably wouldn’t be able to get ‘‘just dessert and coffee’’ in the hotel’s dining room.
I agree though; it depends.
People go out for dessert and coffee all the time, even at upscale places. Granted, if it were during the dinner rush and they were busy I could see them getting a bit out of sorts but an hour before closing in a nearly empty restaurant? That I don’t get.
Oh, man, if it was half a state north, I would soooo be there!
This hotel (this was in Vegas) had some weird restaurant policies, so it might not have been the staff. You could get something to go from some of the restaurants, but not others. If you were in one that didn’t allow it, the server could bring you your muffin or your piece of pie or whatever and a box to take it home in, but couldn’t put the muffin or the piece of pie into the box.
Between both of these policies and the fact that I rarely ever get dessert directly after eating a meal, I didn’t have dessert at all while in Vegas. Which is probably a good thing for which I should be thanking them. 
Unless the restaurant was near full, and lined up with diners, there is no excuse for this.
Piss poor management, straight up.
But I’ve worked under such management. Turning business away, because of the time, while I’m serving 3 or 4 tables. How stupid is that? No one is going anywhere, for a while clearly, what’s one more table? Except more money?
Restaurants in large hotels are insulated from some harsh realities as the hotel provides a continuous supply of one time diner business.
That sounds very odd, especially at a hotel restaurant. They should be used to people just ordering an appetizer or a desert. They should also be used to people ordering at all times of the day that they’re open, people travelling aren’t always aligned to the same time zone or they may have grabbed fast food at an airport and just want a little something to tide them over.
This sounds like someone who just wanted to get out early and was probably afraid you’d tie up a table and talk for hours.
It’s not odd at all to tell them straight up that you’ve already eaten but you want dessert and drinks; I’ve done it lots of times without the slightest incident. I think you just stumbled upon a weird excuse for a restaurant.