At the very least, when you tell them that you only intend to have drinks and dessert, they should just say, “There will be a surcharge added to your bill in the amount of $X for every person that does not order a full meal.”
I’ve been to places like that. It’s understandable and most of the time agreeable. If they really don’t want to seat people who only want coffee and desserts, why not just institute that policy? Most people will just turn away and say, “No thank you,” but they will probably feel less offended than by being refused to be seated at all.
It would not make good business sense to turn away a drink-dessert-coffee patron the markup on these 3 items is where the restaurants make most of their profit.
The elaborate entree with a half page description - not so much.
I’ve actually been here! It’s very good, but if you ever go - beware, they run out of pies! When I was there we sat down for lunch, and by the time we were ready for dessert, most were crossed off the board. Order your pie when you order your lunch!
The fact that it was a restaurant at the hotel changes things considerably, IMHO. Even if it’s an independently-managed facility that rents the space from the hotel, it still exists in a symbiotic relationship with the hotel: most of the restaurant’s customers are probably people staying in the hotel, and if people have good/bad experiences at the hotel’s restaurant, they’re more/less likely to stay there the next time they’re in town, recommend it to their friends, etc.
So they exist in part to give people warm fuzzies about the hotel. And given the logistical hassles of doing coffee, drinks, and dessert in one’s hotel room, that definitely is the sort of thing the hotel restaurant is there for, once they’re past the busy dinner hour and there are an abundance of empty tables.
If the restaurant has a problem with that notion, I’d go to the front desk of the hotel, and ask to have a word with the hotel manager on duty. If he sees it your way, he can probably pull rank on the restaurant manager. If not, you can cross that hotel off your list for the next trip to Vegas.
Unfortunately, so many people just don’t do this. They leave the percentage for the bill or nothing at all. I would say roughly 90% of my patrons that did this failed to tip for the time the table was taken.
One tip - next time, just go to the M Resort (far, far south on The Strip, you will need a car or take the free shuttle from Fashion Mall) and pay to go to their buffet, but just go to the dessert bar area*. Everything made from scratch and a truly amazing selection of goodies that will make you cry. Worth the (somewhat) pricey admission to the buffet, just for the desserts. They also have free wine and beer…and even Root Beer on tap to make the perfect Root Beer float as the final drink of the calorie pigout.
*The rest of the buffet is also quite good, but ohlordy - that dessert bar is a sweet tooth’s dream.
