I've had similar situations in many casinos and card rooms. The way around it (assuming they have a game going at the time) is to get a rack of chips and play for a few minutes. Pocket some chips and then cash out. The real reward in these instances is when you are forced to play to get chips, and as a result you not only leave with chips, but win some cash at the tables as well.

For me, there's not many things better then to have them pay you to take chips home.