TAKING THEIR SWEET TIME

At Tableau and Terrace Pointe Cafe, two of the restaurants at Wynn Las Vegas, Steve Weitman has noticed an exception to the Las Vegas-is-always-in-a-rush rule:

"If we have a wait outside of up to a half-hour, guests will still want to wait for a seat outside" rather than take immediately available seating indoors, said Weitman, the resort's vice president of food and beverage.

That would be because the outdoor seating at both restaurants overlooks one of the Wynn's pools. And if there's anything visitors -- and yes, even some locals -- like during the more pleasant months in Las Vegas, it's al fresco dining, poolside.

"There's nothing better than sitting by the pool," Weitman said. "There's great music outside, great atmosphere. It's just a different environment, whether it's morning or night time."

"Patio dining's great because it kind of takes you away from Las Vegas and all the gaming," said Brian Cochran, general manager of Bouchon, which overlooks the pool at The Venetian's Venezia Tower. "You're sitting out there and it's a little escape, a tropical escape from Las Vegas. Everybody wants to sit out on the patio, so that's the first thing that fills up."

"I think when people come to Vegas, they think of outdoors and warm weather," said Nicole Ramos, director of marketing for Border Grill at Mandalay Bay. Border Grill is around a corner from most of Mandalay Bay's restaurants, down a corridor near the convention area and Shark Reef. Its outdoor seating area, which seats 200, is surrounded by palms and bordered by the pool area. Special events are many, and include a Mexican carnival fiesta for Cinco de Mayo, May 5.

"We're kind of situated way back here, so you're not associated with the casino and all that traffic," Ramos said. "You can sit out there and feel like you're in a tropical setting. And you feel the energy at the pool while sitting at the restaurant. That was one of the things that appealed to Susan and Mary Sue (chef/owners surnamed Feniger and Milliken, respectively, of Two Hot Tamales fame) -- that they could have this great outside seating and patio area that wasn't offered by being inside" closer to the casino.

The same sort of potential appealed to representatives of Wolfgang Puck.

"I think it probably started from our restaurant in Maui," said Tom Kaplan, senior managing partner of the Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group. "We were just so enamored with overlooking the ocean and swimming pool."

The wheels started turning.

"In a way, most pools have a captive audience," Kaplan said. "Why not bring a fine-dining menu to the pool?"

They approached The Venetian with a bit of upgrading in mind.

"Why not take what was a snack bar and make it a fine-dining location?" Kaplan said. The 200-seat Riva -- which has only outdoor dining -- overlooks another pool at The Venetian and is in its second full year of operation.

Poolside dining was part of the design at Red Rock Resort, which opened last year. Especially in locals casinos "it's rarely done, but it was really important," said Lori Nelson, director of corporate communications for Station Casinos. "The pool area at Red Rock Resort was designed to be a theater in the round and to be enjoyed from different vantage points." Company chairman Frank Fertitta III and his brother Lorenzo, who is company president, "wanted to be sure all the different food and beverage outlets had a really great environment, and that's where that decision came from."

"Having the patio seating that overlooks the pool is a way to escape without escaping," Nelson said. "Just getting to overlook that pretty pool area, that's what Grand Cafe offers. At T-bones it's all about the atmosphere, ambiance and vibe. It's very romantic at night. There's a fire feature, the water, fountains, and you can see the sky lit up at night with the stars. It's very much enjoyed back there."

T-bones Chophouse is an upscale steakhouse, the Grand Cafe a cafe, of course. But while they represent two different parts of the poolside-dining spectrum, they reflect one shift in poolside dining: Leaving behind the window-fronted stands serving hot dogs and hamburgers (often pre-packaged), these are serious restaurants.

"It's not just a lot of bread and a half-cooked hot dog," Kaplan said.

But there have been a few adjustments.

"We have tried doing more esoteric items out at the pool, and surprisingly, people out by the pool are not necessarily interested in supersophisticated food," Kaplan said. A shrimp cocktail, he said, wasn't in demand, although a lobster club sandwich from the company's Postrio is popular.

"Making the menu too sophisticated was not what people wanted," Kaplan said. "They wanted a very good burger, or very good club sandwich. Quality ingredients, hand-crafted foods were what people were excited about."

At Bouchon, the sandwiches and salads have been upstaged a bit by panini and a charcuterie plate.

And there are other challenges -- of a logistical nature. Ramos points out that Border Grill is a good place to hear the concerts on the beach at Mandalay Bay, adding, "definitely between now and September or October, our patio is the hot spot to be." And that, of course, can be taken literally. Like most poolside restaurants throughout the valley, Border Grill battles the rising mercury with the use of a misting system and as much shade as management can create.

"We have misters and we have umbrellas," Ramos said. "It's amazing that people can go out there and sit out there when it's 100 degrees, but it's extremely casual and inviting."

"It's a nice outdoor environment that respects the pool area," Kaplan said. "We dealt with the environmental issues -- things like umbrellas and misters and allowing our servers to wear short pants, which Wolfgang wouldn't ever allow inside a restaurant."

Some of the poolside restaurants serve directly from the pool area, while some do not. And here's an insider tip: While the outdoor patio at Tableau can be accessed directly from the pool area only by guests of the Wynn's Tower Suites, others can dine there by entering through the indoors.

Seasonality varies with the restaurant. Border Grill's patio area is open year-round, as are the poolside dining areas at Wynn, though Weitman adds that service is "obviously dependent on the weather; mostly it's wind that impacts us." Same for the Red Rock Resort's restaurants, though the outdoor areas will close in periods of extreme cold. Bouchon serves outdoors from about the beginning of March until mid-October. Riva closes completely during the cooler months.

There are a few others challenges, as well.

"The birds," Ramos said with a sigh. "People are pretty gracious about that.

"I always try to explain it's just like being on a Mexican veranda."