Trendy clubgoers pay premiums for velvet-roped booths. But this one is reserved for "Splash" owner Meshulam Riklis when he wants to dine among low-rollers at the Riviera. Photo by Craig L. Moran.

On a Strip where the velvet rope has become a powerful status symbol, you could argue this one represents the opposite. Perhaps, paradise lost.

It's the velvet rope protecting a special booth in the Riviera's food court. It guards one of the remaining pieces of former casino owner Meshulam Riklis' diminished empire.

Riklis, best-known to many as the former husband of Pia Zadora, bought the Riviera in 1973 when it still basked in top-drawer Vegas class (Dean Martin worked the showroom). When he lost it through bankruptcy reorganization in 1991, Riklis retained ownership of two things: the "Splash" show and the food court.

Both have stubbornly survived cataclysmic changes on the Strip. And the booth is still reserved for the one-time Fortune 400 lister whenever he gets a yearning for a Whopper or a burrito.

Some would say that's almost never.

"Maybe twice" said a two-year employee of the food court.

Is the rope ever violated?

"Yeah, but we get 'em out of there," the employee says. "You never know when the boss is gonna come. It's his table."

But the 82-year-old entrepreneur had a different story when he visited the hotel recently for the relaunch of "Splash." Riklis confirmed what "Splash" employees already had testified: "I use it when we have meetings."

One "Splash" associate had his job interview in the booth. Another has taken several meetings there with Riklis, in the shadow of the McDonald's and Stardust race and sports book across the street. "He sits there every time he's here during the day. During the night, not really."

Riklis, who attended his "Splash" premiere in casual wear of warmup pants and sneakers, also avowed, "We don't throw anyone out. When it's crowded, we take the rope off."

Sensible business from a man who introduced that evening's performance of "Splash" by thanking director Jeff Kutash for "coming within the budget that we set."