Vegas dining etiquite

[vegaslover]

Going to Vegas next month and I want to treat the wife to dinner and a show.......We've made reservations at Olives @ Bellagio. We are planning to enjoy appetizers and a few cocktails. Is this acceptable etiquite or are we expected to order full meals???

[josephnl]

Please keep in mind that if you go to a busy restaurant, and you occupy a table that would ordinarily be occupied by diners having a full dinner, and you choose to have only drinks and appetizers, you could be costing not only the restaurant, but the servers significant revenue. I would personally sit at the bar, but unless the restaurant clearly serves only prix fixed menus at the tables, it is your right to sit at a table and order whatever you choose. Please though, if you do sit at a table during a busy dinner hour and order only drinks and appetizers, you should be very generous in tipping. Servers depend on tips for their livelihoods, and a 15% tip coming from a twosome sitting at a four-top ordering 2 drinks and sharing a appetizer is really bad news.

[vegaslover]

Are you kidding me josephnl??? I am not considered to be cheap and always take care of servers at restaurants!!! I'm quite sure the Vegas tourism industry will survive without my 200.00...LMAO " costing the restaurant significant revenue"...Please!!

[josephnl]

Please don't take it personally. I'm not talking about you or anyone in particular. My point is simply that if one sits at a table during a busy dinner service and only orders a drink and an appetizer, this can cost the server; therefore the kind, considerate, and appropriate thing to do in this situation, in my opinion, is to tip well. If you disagree, so be it. I think it's the considerate thing to do....although I would try to sit at a bar if it's clearly a dinner house and I only wanted a drink & a snack!

[16crab]

I would tend to err on this side as well - though I don't think there's anything wrong with ordering just apps and cocktails, I probably wouldn't do it myself during dinner hours. josehn1 what's your take on taking a table for a dessert tasting? We are going to vegas and I would like to do the Michael Mina dessert tasting after a show - so 10:00ish? (which I know is still dinner time for many). The dessert tasting is only $15 and not sure if it's shareable or we'd order 2 or one tasting and one full dessert. Maybe coffees but probably not after dinner alcoholic drinks - so with a bill that low I'm not sure if it's acceptable to take a table for that. And totally off topic, but should I make a reservation for dessert? Thanks!

[fogeylv]

While it's certainly true in theory that you should tip more when only ordering appetizers, it can be hard in practice if the server's attitude suddenly turns bad when he/she realizes your group isn't going to order entrees. (Happened to me a couple of years ago--boss decided our team should go for drinks and appetizers only after work. There were eight or nine in our group, and boss wanted to sit at a table. It was an uncomfortable experience for most of us, but not the boss, who ordered the beer sampler and had a great time. We did tip despite the server's attitude at the end.)

[josephnl]

Precisely why in this circumstance, sitting at the bar is usually a better option than occupying a table in the dining room at peak dining times.

[ttoommyy]

And again I just want to say that to me cocktails and appetizers are just more fun at the bar than at a formal dining room table. Just my 2 cents...which is worth exactly that! :)

[josephnl]

Couldn't agree more...indeed, at more casual restaurants we often prefer eating a full dinner at the bar than in the dining room

[vegaslover]

Thank you for the reply's...... Olives offers fountain side seating on a first come first serve basis for reservation holders...I know ...Cheesy right, but like a typical tourist I'd love to sit fountain side with my Wife

[ellenost]

You can certainly go to any of the more casual restaurants and order appetizers and a few cocktails, but you may wish to reconsider Olives since the food is pretty bad.

[CarrieWas218]

You can order just appetizers at any restaurant - there is no etiquette...

They are in the service industry and expected to accommodate whatever the customer desires - be it a single dish or the entire menu - with grace and consideration.

[ttoommyy]

Of course what CarrieWas218 says is correct, though sitting at a table for cocktails and appetizers would be wrong if a restaurant only offers a prix fixe and/or tasting menu.

In recommending that vegaslover sit at the bar I was thinking more of the fact that they could get in and out quicker, so they can make their show. Also, if I am not having a multi-course dinner I find bar dining so much more enjoyable and relaxed. Sitting at a formal dining table makes cocktails and appetizers seem stuffy, while sitting at the bar makes them more enjoyable. Of course, that is my take on it.

By agreeing with chrisdds98 I in no way meant that having cocktails and apps at a table was wrong. I can see where it may have been read like that.

[chrisdds98]

sounds perfect for sitting in the bar

[ttoommyy]

I agree.