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?

Depends where in Spain it is. Tourist areas are more flexible but remember they eat later out there.

YABU. If you are planning just to have dessert then you should check that is ok and explain you don’t plan to linger before being seated. Restaurants run on tiny margins and you might be stopping them seating a group that would be paying for a full meal and wine etc - i.e approx 4 times as much.

We’ve done this lots of times but we ask before being seated if it’s ok to just order drinks and pudding.

Surely this is what those amazing Spanish and Italian ice cream shops with fifty flavours to choose from are for?

In a seven night holiday you could try 21 flavours…..

YABU and yes, you were rude. €30 is nothing compared to a dinner that could get €€€s from.

Obviously up to the restaurant. Some more casual places would be OK with this, while you obviously wouldn't rock up to the Ledbury and just order dessert (I hope). Some places might be OK with it at certain times but not others.

And it's obviously not the norm so given the lack of hard and fast rule, what you should have done is ask before being seated rather than just expect the restaurant to serve you a reduced menu.

I've done this, but with drinks - was at an inconvenient half-hour loose end around 5pm, nearest acceptable pub was too far away, just wanted a nice glass of wine. Near-empty mid-range restaurant that seemed to lean into wine bar vibes as well - asked if it was OK if I just had a drink, they said it was. But I'd never have gone in, been seated and only then ordered a drink with no food.

I'm surprised you couldn't find a pastry shop or gelateria. Spain is not short of dessert-only establishments.

It's up to the restaurant if they allow this or not. You should have asked, rather than assumed.

I too have done this - but not during peak dinner time. And I always said before we took the table that we only wanted dessert and coffee. Most places were very happy to accommodate us, but one wasn't, so we just went down the road to somewhere else.

Can't understand why any restaurant would turn away an opportunity to make a sale. 🤷‍♀️
Although, tbf, I have asked up front to the hostess before being seated if it was okay to just order a starter and a glass of wine, or dessert and a coffee. I used to do that going out with girlfriends when we wanted to go out, but didn't have much money. We'd usually get seated in the bar area, which was fine, and were never rushed out. It was a great way to check out a variety of restaurants.

Because if it's dinner time they can use the table for a €100 worth of dinner instead of €30. The OP said they were tired and weren't going to stay late, but how were the restaurant to know that? They could have sat there for hours with one ice cream between them.

Exactly that - also people eat a lot later in Spain, so what the OP may have seen as end of the night is probably still peak dining time for many Spanish diners so the restaurant could be anticipating more walk ins wanting to eat a full dinner.

Also restaurant are entitled to structure their offer how they wish - some just aren't set up to be random casual dining places. We ate at a lovely and very good value restaurant in Toulouse recently. They just did two evening sittings - 7pm and 8.30pm and they had a set price menu of two or three courses and there were two options per course. That was it. That approach was how they were able to sell innovative and very high quality food for a reasonable price (32 euros for three courses!)

There was no way you would be able to walk in there and just order desert.

That is my favourite way to go to restaurants, especially if they serve chocolate gnache of any kind. Can't resist so lovely 🍰