AIBU to go to a restaurant just for dessert?

[justwantedchocolatecake]

I’m on holiday in Spain with two other adults. This evening we had dinner in an Asian restaurant. We wanted dessert, but they didn’t serve it. So we decided to go to another restaurant following our main course for dessert.
We got a table in another restaurant, but when we asked the waitress for the chocolate cake, she asked “but are you going to order dinner?” We said no, we just wanted dessert and coffees/drinks as we’d already had our dinner. She immediately said “no no no”, looked very disapproving and actually tutted at us! She took away our menus and pointed for us to leave.
We were genuinely gobsmacked at being turfed out for only wanting dessert. I understand that they probably wanted people who would have a bigger bill, but we would have spent €30 on what we wanted. We were tired too so weren’t going to hog the table for hours, it was literally a case of eating the dessert and going back to our hotel. they could have had our €30 on top of whatever the next diners would spend!
We have never come across this before. We’ve all gone for just dessert to restaurants in the UK with no issues, and we’ve even done it once before in Spain on this holiday. I actually lived in a different part of Spain for a year while I was at uni and I’ve never heard of this as a blanket rule. The way the waitress reacted (and not explaining why) made it seem like we had transgressed some widely known rule.
We ended up going to a different restaurant for dessert and it wasn’t a problem. AIBU to be taken aback?

My mind is blown - not only do people go to restaurants JUST for dessert but that it's quite common.
Given half the chance this would be me all the time.

You say you'd have been quick, but they were not to know that. You could very well have ordered one dessert for everyone, and stayed there for the rest of the evening.

Ultimately, they have the right to decide who they serve in their establishment, as much as you have the right to go to different ones until you find one that is fine with it.

No, but I’d have told them before they took us to a table that we just wanted dessert. The same as I do if I only one drinks.

Yes you should have checked before sitting.

What time was it?

I love a Korean dessert cafe for this very purpose. If it's a normal restaurant, I'd ask first before settling in.

in Spain we used to go to ice cream parlours for dessert and/or coffee. Do they not have that option where you are?

Unless you have asked them before being seated, of course you can't do this!

A restaurant can't make a profit on people coming in just for dessert and lingering over coffee. Especially during peak tourism season; every table must make a decent profit to sustain them through off season.

There are dessert-only places, ice cream bars, etc if you want sweets only. You definitely can't expect a full restaurant to give you a table for dessert only.

I don't think it's an issue unless it was right on peak meal time where they might be hoping to attract people ordering meals. I do think it is kind of foolish to turn down a group in the hope that a better table come along though, unless like I say it was still early and they were likely to pick up more customers.

I don’t get why you’re so taken aback. It’s not a dessert-only restaurant. If you want to do this in future, check first before you’re seated, depending on time, business, and how far from the end of service they are, some will be fine with it, others not.

I think it would likely have been prime dinner time for them and they couldn’t prioritise a table just ordering dessert and coffee. It’s not surprising to me that they didn’t want it but I would love to have that option! I grew up in the states and it’s much more common to have desert focussed places - I miss that as I’m not much of a drinker and would rather meet my friends for yummy cake.

As PP said I would have said when asking for a table that it was for dessert only, allowing the restaurant to refuse a table if they wanted. They may not have known that you intended to eat and leave quickly, it wouldn't be unusual for people to linger over dessert and coffee and of course if it was peak dining time they're missing out on someone who would be buying main course plus dessert.

It's fine but was also fine for them not to want your business.

Different places have different rules. In bars and coffee shops it’s fine to just have dessert and a drink, in the uk there even dessert cafes but if it’s principally a place to serve main meals and it’s the time of day for eating said meal many will have a minimum cover charge, a requirement to order a main meal or something similar even if not prominently displayed. They can’t risk you sitting there for an hour with cake and a drink for €10 when another customer would spend €30+. Now if they weren’t busy it may seem shortsighted however people tend to eat very late in Spain so perhaps they were hoping for more lucrative customers!

I think that’s fair enough for peak tourist season, some places have to make a lot of money in a few months because they often close over winter. You could have been sitting around for hours. You should have asked as you arrived.

We do this all the time, usually abroad as well, Starter in one restaurant, mains or some more starters in another and then dessert in another

However we do always say 'can we just have coffee and cake'.

Spanish/Italian/French people are quite rigid about food and what you serve and when you have it and what you have it with.

You are taking up a table. They expect you to eat more than a dessert. They are not a fast food outlet. I am not surprised she asked you to leave. They would take it as an insult. And think you were being odd.
Service in much of Europe is very different to the American style. The unwritten rules and approach to dining are not the same.

I think it's fine to go to a restaurant for just a dessert, or just a starter or whatever. But it's also fine for the restaurant to only want customers who are ordering at least a main meal.

I would always check with the person who greets you at the door.

Yes I've had this experience before. I find if it's a fairly touristy place then you need to ask what you want before they seat you as some will expect a 3 course meal and I've had the same reaction as you when I say I only want coffee and desert

YABU.

I actually had this in the UK a couple of years ago in Zizi’s. Just wanted a dessert and a couple of cocktails but go told we needed to order a main too. Odd as a couple of cocktails and a dessert alone would have been the price of one of their cheaper meals

I think it is pretty odd to go to a restaurant in prime evening service time for just a dessert. They were perfectly within their rights to refuse you a table.

As others have said most Southern Euroepan towns and resorts in summer have cafes and ice cream parlours open until late in the night if you wanted to get something sweet. Also it's Spain, surely there were a few late night churros stalls?

It's up to the restaurant- maybe there isn't so much profit in dessert and coffees only, but it's up to the business.
They are under no compulsion to serve you at all-they can refuse service if they just don't like the look of you, which is why the court cases on this subject usually turn around beliefs religious/political- you have a right to your beliefs, but even then they usually lose , because you have no right to be served.

What time was it? Peak dinner hour? Or when most would have been on dessert anyway?

Is there a peak dinner hour?

Of course there is! In Spain this is generally 9pm - 10.30pm.