Palm Springs for Gay Men: Restaurant Guide
Want to know where to go to do lunch or have dinner? Tired of seeing everything getting rave reviews? Like to get your money's worth? This is the place, gay man!
Just like any restaurant, this page has several tables. The first table shows the very best meals (with the top rating first). The second table shows the meals that are most worthy of your money (with the best deal first). The meals in these two tables are all culled from the third table, which includes all the restaurants we have visited (in alphabetical order). The tables are followed by a section of reviews, where we give you a word or two on each restaurant -- the human touch behind the mathematics.
Each entry in the tables shows you how good (or bad) the restaurant is, and also if it is overpriced (or underpriced -- Eureka!). You should first read how we come up with our ratings, but when you come back next time you may skip the talk and go directly to the tables by clicking on one of the buttons below.
We appraise the restaurants we visit -- not praise them as most reviewers do: A recently departed reviewer in the gay press here never found a restaurant that wasn't the very best one, and he loved every morsel they threw at him. We do it differently. We don't let them know that we review them, so we don't get any improved meals or special service, and we carry no advertising, so we can say what we really think -- that should give you a more reliable help in choosing where to go to be happy.
In the Total Rating column we rate how good the place is, disregarding the cost of eating there, and in the Worth Your Money? column you see if you get what you pay for. We have never seen restaurants judged in this manner -- we think you'll appreciate this approach!
The list started small, but now we are approaching two hundred eateries. It will continue to grow, but it'll never be "complete". We have visited each restaurant that we review. Of course, the list is subjective -- there is no evaluation committee at work here, just us trying to help you.
Different people may look for different things in a restaurant. Here is what we require to give the top rating in each category:
| FOOD QUALITY: (Ratings 0 to 4) The menu doesn't need to be long, but there should be something for every palate. Well cooked, fresh tasting, and presentated in a tempting way. Yes, the food should really be a bit more complicated than we could prepare at home. And it should be bountiful, so we don't have to go across the street and finish off the meal in another restaurant. |
| AMBIENCE: (Ratings 0 to 4) We like to be casually dressed and still get a warm welcome and be seated without a big fuss. The table should be set in advance, complete with tablecloth and linen napkins. The room should be nicely lighted and the colors pleasing. We like the openly straight guests to accept our presence with equanimity, if not ecstacy. And no valet parking trap. (Valet parking is quite OK if they offer you self-parking as a choice.) |
| SERVICE: (Ratings 0 to 3) We like to be waited on when needed but otherwise left alone. When the food arrives, no food auction, please ("...and I have a salmon; who is that for?..."). We don't want to be asked how we enjoy the food we are just eating -- most restaurants interrupt their guests by asking this; however, it isn't done by very good places (they don't need to ask) and very bad ones (they don't dare to ask). The service should remain on the table until everyone has finished, unless the kitchen is running short of plates. If they try to cheat (faux food, imaginative billing, whatever) we regard it as no service at all. Buffets and cafeterias also get no service points -- you do serve yourself, right? |
| GAY PRESENCE: (Ratings 0 to 3) The more gay guys we see as patrons the happier we are. |
| PRICE LEVEL: (Ratings 0 and up: higher rating = higher price) Of course we want all this for nothing! Now that that's impossible, we still find a low cost for the meal most appreciated. For the cost calculation, we use the average price of all the items that are top ranking on that menu: The burgers in a burger place, the chateaubriands (but not the burgers) in a fancy restaurant. We use the selections and prices from the regular menu, but if they offer a promotional meal ("Special Lunch Menu", "Early Bird Special", etc), we may provide an additional listing with the applicable day and time specified. |
The Price Level subtracted from the Total Rating gives you the Worth Your Money?. If you pay the right amount for what you get, it'll show as a zero. If it's a plus value, then you get more than what you pay for, and conversely you get less than you pay for if it's a minus value. (Why are there so many pluses and so few minuses? You know, we've probably instinctively avoided the dogs, but we'll get to them all in due course...)
Since we don't run to restaurants every time we are hungry, it takes its good time to compile a list like this one. While our impression should be valid forever, you may want to know when we were there. The Year column will give you a rough idea. You may notice that most reviews date from 1999, 2000, and 2001. These days we don't go out quite as much, so there are fewer recent additions. But all the evaluations we have seem to remain quite valid and should remain so.
You may look at the Detailed Rating Criteria if you care to know in detail how we arrived at each number in the tables.
Our towns: CC = Cathedral City, DH = Desert Hot Springs, IN = Indio, IW = Indian Wells, LQ = La Quinta, PD = Palm Desert, PS = Palm Springs, RM = Rancho Mirage, TP = Thousand Palms.
An (af) after Meal Judged means 'al fresco' = we chose to sit outdoors.
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Let us have your comments and suggestions. Your help will make this a better guide!
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Click on a restaurant name for a brief review
(and then come back
to the same restaurant in the main listing by clicking on RATINGS after the review).
| Sequencing: 1) Total Rating, 2) Worth Your Money, 3) Food Quality, 4) Year |
| Sequencing: 1) Worth Your Money, 2) Total Rating, 3) Dinner-->Brunch-->Lunch, 4) Food Quality, 5) Ambience, 6) Year |
| RESTAURANT_____NAME |
TOWN |
TELEPHONE |
MEAL_________JUDGED |
FOOD QUALITY |
AMBIENCE |
SERVICE |
GAY PRESENCE |
TOTAL RATING |
PRICE LEVEL |
WORTH YOUR MONEY? |
YEAR |
| Charisma |
IW |
773-4444 |
Prom 5-7 PM Mo-Th |
3 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
11 | 3 |
+8 |
04 |
| Shame on the Moon |
RM |
324-5515 |
Dinner |
4 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
14 | 8 |
+6 |
99 |
| Pablo's |
RM |
862-4581 |
Dinner |
4 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
12 | 6 |
+6 |
03 |
| Cedar Creek Inn |
PS |
325-7300 |
Brunch |
4 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
12 | 6 |
+6 |
00 |
| Al Dente |
PS |
325-1160 |
Lunch (af) |
2 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
10 | 4 |
+6 |
00 |
| Shangri-La |
LQ |
777-0203 |
Lunch |
3 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
9 | 3 |
+6 |
99 |
| Rock Garden Cafe (see note!) |
PS |
327-8840 |
Buffet Brunch (af) |
3 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
7 | 1 |
+6 |
98 |
| Sequencing: 1) Restaurant Name, 2) Meal Judged |
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Adobe (67670 Carey Road): Located in the Villa Resort. Great food served in a nice, very crowded dining room. And the crowd is all gay! RATINGS
Alaskan Grill Twisted Fish (105 South Palm Canyon Drive): The location in the busiest spot in Palm Springs allows very little space, but the table is big enough for a small lunch. Everything is fish-based. The meal was plain but satisfactory. RATINGS
We were totally surprised to see it close in 2004; it seemed always to pack'em in. Never heard a harsh word. Hmmmm.
Al Dente (491 North Palm Canyon Drive): Delightful terrace setting for a pleasant Italian meal. RATINGS
Alfredo's (155 South Belardo Road): An unexpectedly pleasant Holiday Inn restaurant. Maybe the lighting was a tad gloomy, but the meal was hearty and very good. RATINGS
In 2001 we found the dinners costing some 60% more than before! They realized how good they were... And in 2003 there was no Holiday Inn any longer - and with it no Alfredo's either.
Applebee's (32400 Date Palm Drive): Predictable to the point of sterility, service when they got around to it, piped-in music that obviated -- no: precluded -- conversation, everything the very young, straight Generation Y crowd could ask for. RATINGS
Atlas (210 South Palm Canyon Drive): Delightful lunch dishes served on a nice, if sometimes a bit windy, verandah. Pleasant but at times forgetful service; the impression was, however, seriously damaged by an intentional shortchanging of -- 33 cents. How petty! RATINGS
Baker's Square (1596 North Palm Canyon Drive): Pleasant looking diner food, but then you find that it is all so greasy, even stir-fried vegetables! With all that grease, no wonder all their patrons appear so -- how shall we say it? -- well-rounded. Huge assortment of pies: another reason. RATINGS
Banducci's Bit of Italy (1260 South Palm Canyon Drive): Great, rich Italian meal with all the trimmings, served in a simple, comfortable room. The waitress was nice but too rushed. Quite popular place, and deservedly so. RATINGS
What a shock to see this Palm Springs Institution gone! Some things you expect to remain forever, because they have always been. We have no clue why they closed - they seemed always to be packed. Farewell to the good old days.
Beach House (70115 Highway 111): The indoor "Garden Room" is extremely pleasant and the champagne brunch food superb. But .. valet parking trap, the bill before offering coffee, double charge for one entree ("Oh, it's a computer glitch, we know about it"), and $2.50 for a non-alcohol alternative to the free champagne .. how unnecessary! RATINGS
Oops!! Closed "until the fall". Was it our review that made the Beach House close for "remodeling" in the beginning of April 1999, the very peak of the season? And the modeling wasn't at fault; it was everything else! -- Later update: "Remodeling" meant "going out of business" as it always does.
Bella Cucina (72355-C Highway 111): Good Italian fare enjoyed (1) indoors in a pleasantly decorated utilitarian room and (2) outdoors in spartan surroundings on their shopping center sidewalk facing a huge parking lot. RATINGS
Billy Reed's (1800 North Palm Canyon Drive): Hearty servings of good home cooking in a spectacular 90's (oh .. 1890's) setting. RATINGS
Bit of Country (418 South Indian Canyon Drive): No pretentions of any kind in this basic diner, just good food and plenty of it. Packing in locals. RATINGS
Black Angus (69640 Highway 111): The log cabin atmosphere stuns you when you step in: what a great steakhouse! But from that point on everything is mediocre to bad. Cheap cuts of meat (prepared OK), an inedible appetizer, a simple (but big) dessert cake, a befuddled waiter. Your table is surrounded by smoked glass walls separating you from other parties, and with nice company you will be well filled and hopefully happy.RATINGS
Blame It On Midnight (777 East Tahquitz Canyon Way): After all the disasters there, who could have guessed that this forlorn site at the end of the courtyard could ever succeed? Well, it has, and it was packed the midweek summer night of this review. Good mix, younger and older, gay men and women, cozy though huge, great food, good-looking service, and a bit too noisy as a night club should be. RATINGS
Blue Angel (777 East Tahquitz Canyon Way): Berlin and Marlene and the 30's right here in town! Stylishly perfect art deco barely lit by blue neon, live jazz singer loudly projected on many TV screens. Therefore, this place is a hyperelegant antithesis for someone who relishes subdued warmth. Great food, but not tops, great service, but not tops, and all gay. RATINGS
It couldn't make ends meet, it seems, and closed in early May 2000. In 2001, Blame It On Midnight opened here.
Blue Coyote Grill (445 North Palm Canyon Drive): Excellent Mexican food in a very comfortable place, most seating al fresco. RATINGS
Boomerang Bistro (394 North Palm Canyon Drive): Nice food from a very limited menu, but oh so little of it. No ambience at all: concrete walls with built-in echo, bridge chairs from the closet, and glass and formica and green and gray all the way.
RATINGS
We were surprised that they could make a go of it for so long, but it finally closed late in 2002, being replaced by a Thai restaurant
Burger Factory (333 South Indian Canyon Drive): Bland burger on a sawdust bun, plastic chairs, self-service, hostile attitude, the works. RATINGS
They left the premises in 2003, missed by few.
Cafe des Beaux-Arts (73640 El Paseo Drive): Well-prepared sizeable portions of not exclusively French food, nicely served in a pink-toned, pleasantly understated milieu. RATINGS
Cafe 285 (285 North Palm Canyon Drive): Be warned: This place has "eat-and-leave" chairs for quick customer turnover. The comfort of a happy outdoors cafe is totally absent, in spite of food that is good for what it is. RATINGS
Cafe Veracruz (494 North Palm Canyon Drive): Colorful place with very friendly staff. Nice Mexican food. RATINGS
Caffe Italia (2500 North Palm Canyon Drive): Appetizer-sized portions of good pasta dishes in a small, white-tiled, utilitarian room. RATINGS
California Pizza Kitchen, two sites:
1) In PD: (73080 El Paseo Drive): Bright and airy. On the other hand: Mostly dry pizza dough with exquisities on top (how about Duck and Shrimp and Portobello?), in-your-face cooking, bimbo waiters, and no-armrest Breuer chairs throughout.
2) In PS: (123 North Palm Canyon Drive): Between kitchen clatter and baby blabber, a decent meal served in great haste by many hands. RATINGS
Canyon Bistro (415 North Palm Canyon Drive): Pleasant French restaurant serving excellent Italian food. Haphazard service .. at least five men were involved serving our table and still no napkins until requested. RATINGS
Capri (12260 Palm Drive): Standard fare Italian restaurant without personality. The soup appeared canned. RATINGS
Carlo's Italian Deli & Rest (119 South Indian Canyon Drive): Small portions of simple, basic Italian fare. Service almost non-existent. RATINGS
Carrow's (1243 East Palm Canyon Drive): Good standard diner food in a pleasing environment. They know how to cook, so it is very busy at dinner time. Open 24 hours a day. RATINGS
Casa Comargo (1480 South Palm Canyon Drive): Overdecorated, comfortable small Mexican place (seven tables in all), very friendly. Simple but good dishes. RATINGS
Thos little restaurant disappeared in 2002, and another restaurant is there now.
Castle City Grill (82530 Highway 111): Impressive building: a medieval castle! But it's one of those places that try to go upscale by adding "luxury" items to the decor (plastic velvet and the like) and by including a few nice-sounding dishes on the menu. It's a diner in disguise. RATINGS
C C Inn on El Paseo (73445 El Paseo Drive): Chi-chi lady food, and not particularly tasty at that. But the gazebo-like outdoor patio is quite nice. RATINGS
Cedar Creek Inn (1555 South Palm Canyon Drive): A top quality place! Large helpings of delicious food. Beautifully decorated room with rustic wood tables and comfortable armchairs (but the seat is soft plastic, which is not so nice). Perfect, attentive service. For brunch, same comments (but for a short meal we didn't even notice the plastic seat, if any). The most civilized restaurant we have found. RATINGS
Charisma (44400 Indian Wells Lane): In the top echelon resort hotel The Esmeralda, you descend a Hello Dolly staircase and find this wonderful restaurant that offers superb fare at any price. But its clincher is the promotional menu; if you watch your calendar and clock and accept choosing from only three entrees and two desserts, you have found the restaurant most worthy of your money in this entire valley. Super-friendly service, top class ambience, everything you could ask for. RATINGS
Cheeky Monkey (475 South Sunrise Way): British pub, very authentically appointed, which includes a high degree of gloom. Traditional English food, with their time-honored breakfast an option all day. RATINGS
Some people liked it, but too many did not; it closed in early 2001, and in 2003 the building became a huge parking lot
Chef (356 South Indian Canyon Drive): Fine atmosphere but somehow not relaxing. Great cooking but somehow too little of it. Good service but somehow no alacrity. The chef came around and said hello: a nice touch. All prices quoted in even dollars (no $14.95's): an even nicer touch. RATINGS
Demise occurred early in 2000 and now you find Schnitzel Haus in the same place and with the same phone number. Who knows -- maybe the same people?
Chen Ling Garden (787 North Palm Canyon Drive): Good Mandarin and Szechuan food. Although a bit gloomy, the place has more Chinese ambience than most, even authentic Chinese piped-in music. They offer free delivery within Palm Springs. RATINGS
Closed in late summer of 2001; now there is Thai Kitchen II".
China 8 (31855 Date Palm Drive): Good dumplings try in vain to rescue a less than mediocre beef dish in this barren dump, and smiling faces are just not enough. RATINGS
China 8 Buffet (2355 Tahquitz Canyon Way): Select from over a hundred buffet dishes. No gourmet dining, but interesting and mostly quite good. They make you feel welcome. RATINGS
China Garden (73196 Highway 111): Pleasant Chinese lunch, simple stylish room, and nice enough service. RATINGS
China King (295 North Palm Canyon Drive): Filling meal at a totally undistinguished Chinese eatery. RATINGS
Churchill's Fish&Chips (665 South Palm Canyon Drive): Quite authentic London East End pub, with its decor on the cheap and deep-fried food, mostly fish, with French fries, as it should be. Someone just may like it. RATINGS
Coco's (1901 East Palm Canyon Drive): Good, filling food in a typical diner. RATINGS
Coffee Dot Com (241 East Tahquitz Way): Outdoor lunch: Pleasant sidewalk cafe, albeit with not very comfortable chairs, serving a good sandwich lunch that is not big enough. Indoor dinner: Sitting in what could be taken as a bus station waiting room, you get a superb homestyle meal; no luxury, but done right throughout. Large portions of everything, and regardless of your appetite you eat every last morsel. The walls are crammed with art, but the food is what counts. RATINGS
Let's face it: it was an art gallery that also served food, and that is a tough proposition. They finally had to close in early 2003 and gave room for Spike's bar.
Continental Cafe (42490 Bob Hope Drive): Elegant little restaurant, a surprise for a plain shopping center. Excellent food, maybe a tad small servings. RATINGS
Burned to cinder together with several other businesses on Leap Day 2000. Let's hope they'll recover.
Crosswalk Cafe (370 North Palm Canyon Drive): Not bad food for a quick meal. Well, quick -- You know those people who run, run, run and never get anything done. The
owner/waitress ran among the tables, delivering a fork here and saying "The food will be out soon" there, and we just sat and sat and sat... RATINGS
Cyrano's (664 North Palm Canyon Drive): Really high quality French kitchen, very much like being in Paris, even down to the less than comfortable chairs. Exquisite service. And in spite of all this, the place is not stuffy at all. RATINGS
Sad to see Cyrano's go, but it closed in late summer of 2000.
Daily Grill (73061 El Paseo Drive): Really great food in an understated, first-class bar type of restaurant. RATINGS
Dakota (73260 El Paseo Drive): Western style menu, and the food is quite good. Service perfect: attentive and not intrusive. RATINGS
Damo's Pastaria (256 South Palm Canyon Drive): Yes, Virginia, there is a gourmet lunch in Palm Springs! This is not a "Pastaria" at all -- they serve a delightful full meal, indoors (a little bit spartan) or on the sidewalk terrace (quite pleasant), and don't mind the confusing whiteboard menu (What comes with what?), just enjoy everything! RATINGS
Another good restaurant has closed, this one by January 2000. It could be a result of its name -- pastaria sounds more like a pastry shop. Now Pom' Frite is there.
Davey's Hideaway (292 East Palm Canyon Drive): If you can read the menu in the dark, you will order a delicious meal. Subdued, efficient service, quiet, comfortable, discreet, a real hideaway. RATINGS
Delhi Palace (1422 North Palm Canyon Drive): Tasty, interesting food of India, presented in a gloomy, formal elegance. RATINGS
Denny's (1201 North Palm Canyon Drive): Diner all the way, but with some really good dishes. Open 24 hours a day. RATINGS
Desert Museum Cafe (101 Museum Drive): Delightful salads and sandwiches either indoors with art on the walls or outside in a sculpture garden with moving waters. A real oasis, and you don't have to pay the museum entrance fee for just the cafe! RATINGS
Desert Palms Inn (67580 East Palm Canyon Drive): We reviewed it (favorably) years ago, but then came bankruptcy, killing the good goose. The place virtually died, and we removed our review. Now, on revisiting it under new management we found it again offering a high quality meal and pleasant by-the-pool seating (but without the alluring crowd of hunks in and around the pool of yore). RATINGS
Please help us to keep track of when this restaurant is open. The latest reason to close was a fire in 2002. What next?
Don Diego (74969 Highway 111): Upscale Mexican cuisine; outstanding salsa for the chips. RATINGS
Don & Sweet Sue's (68955 Ramon Road): Good, wholesome food, extremely pleasant service, you feel at home. RATINGS
88 Bistro (69620 Highway 111): Very nice lunch dishes, mostly Chinese, in a subdued setting. Service excellent if a tad overbearing. RATINGS
It closed almost immediately. Why? Ask not.
Elmer's (1030 East Palm Canyon Drive): Big, wonderful servings of "home" cooking that really satify a hungry man, but then that gloomy lighting -- why??? RATINGS
Enzo's (254 North Palm Canyon Drive): You need something extra when you serve Italian fare; Enzo's is fair -- but no flair. Service friendly but too many misses. RATINGS
Erik's Kro (356 South Indian Canyon Drive): Wildly varying European national dishes, albeit kind of diminutive. 100% gay clientele when reviewed. Friendly, with its Danish chef appearing from his kitchen -- a nice touch. RATINGS
Another casualty of this horrible location. Who will be the next to open and then close?
Europa (1620 Indian Trail): Burning candles, low wooden ceiling, roaring fireplace, great intimate feeling. Great but distinctly unremarkable dishes. Nice enough service, but with food auctions and repeated satisfaction inquiries. RATINGS
Fisherman's Market & Grill (235 South Indian Canyon Drive): One would expect that a fish-and-seafood-only cafeteria style eatery with barebones seating would offer such excellent fare that everything else would be overlooked for the joy of the palate. Not so - it was all too salty and bland (so you had to gulp down a lot of beverage from your styrofoam cup). RATINGS
Fuji Buffet (69600 Highway 111): Decent buffet selection of plain but tasty Japanese morsels in huge 1950's diner style room, complete with aluminum edges, formica and naugahyde. A screaming reprimand (in Japanese) of the personnel served as entertainment. RATINGS
This restaurant died in the winter of 2001
Gila Steaks & Seafood (74950 Country Club Drive): Excellent kitchen! Eat there -- don't drink (Margarita without a trace of tequila, cranberry juice diluted by tons of ice). Industrial space sectioned by office dividers (nicely done, but a bit rough for an upscale restaurant). Service absolutely impeccable. RATINGS
Grand Palms Buffet (32250 Bob Hope Drive): In the Agua Caliente Casino, so get your free Club Paradise card for a $1 meal discount. Impeccably clean, roomy and airy and bright, pleasant service for the little they do in a buffet setting, rich selection of varied dishes but monotonous desserts (38 different cakes, that's it -- yikes!) RATINGS
Great Wall (362 South Palm Canyon Drive): At lunch very small portions of tasty Chinese food in a diner type of locale. RATINGS
Hacienda Blanca (2330 North Palm Canyon Drive): Two meals (one dinner, one lunch), two years (2004 and 2003), two very different reviews, and two names (it was Casablanca the first time). 1) Dinner in 2003: The Adriatic Villa hotel is such a gorgeous replica of a real Italian pensione that one expects its restaurant to be a treasure. Not so. It is simply a mediocre dive. Routine Mexican fare in a locale a half-step up from a diner. And they shortchanged on the bill. 2) Lunch in 2004: Good Mexican food of the standard variety, a nice and airy decor bringing it a step up from looking like a diner, friendly service. RATINGS
Hamburger Hamlet (123 North Palm Canyon Drive): The first thing you notice is the atrociously slow service (ordering, serving, paying). The second thing you notice is the hurt from sitting on black metal strips with no padding (painfully elegant). You don't notice the food at all -- it is made with all noticeable flavor elements meticulously removed, so that nobody's taste buds are ever offended.
RATINGS
It quietly died in the summer of 2004, sorely missed by the hapless tourists who didn't know any better. A notice on the door invites us to their remaining outlets in Los Angeles and Washington DC. Yeah, sure.
Hamburger Mary's (415 North Palm Canyon Drive): Food: adequate. Comfort: so-so. Fireplace: cute. Conversation: impossible. The relentless hammering of the powermusic (reminiscing of the gym) is what lingers when the taste of the huge hamburger is long gone.RATINGS
Here's the Beef Steakhouse (68784 East Palm Canyon Drive): After an uninspired salad, great steaks in very cramped, New York sized quarters. Good service, but far too much "How's everything" (even the chef emerged inquiring). RATINGS
Hometown Buffet (72513C Highway 111): An enormous buffet selection of nice food; clearly a place to fill up most pleasantly. RATINGS
International Cafe (67778 Highway 111): Fine American dining with some Mexican dishes as well. Generous servings of delicious food, but the place needed more warmth: the ambience by more textiles and the service by more smiles. RATINGS
Int'l House of Pancakes, two sites:
1) In PS (471 South Indian Canyon Drive): Standard diner. Good selection of pancakes. Often noisy babies on board.
2) In RM (34199 Monterey Avenue): Standard diner. Good, hearty omelettes, and a good selection of pancakes. RATINGS
JJ's Mexican Oasis (1550 North Palm Canyon Drive): Well prepared Mexican dishes served in a simple, homey room. RATINGS
Johannes (196 South Indian Canyon Drive): A minimalist European style gourmet restaurant. The absence of the standard paraphernalia, the discreet background music, the faultless service, and each enjoyable bite of food made this into a most relaxing experience. To be sure, we were the only clients. RATINGS
John's (900 North Palm Canyon Drive): As exciting as the cafeteria at a freeway rest stop -- in fact, a true copy of the real thing. RATINGS
John Henry's (1785 East Tahquitz Canyon Way): Great reputation, due more to quantity than quality. Mostly al fresco, and no place to wait for your table -- wherever you stand you're in everybody's way. Don't even try to understand the confusing menu! But all is forgiven after the enormous dessert. RATINGS
Kacoon's Oasis (73405 El Paseo Drive): Nicely done dishes, but oh so little of it (and the mandarin wedges in the greenery were fermented). Service very slow. RATINGS
Kaiser Grille (205 South Palm Canyon Drive): Excellent, courteous service. Rich, well-prepared, and well-presented dishes. Tasteful, comfortable seating (even outdoors, in December!). One of the very best lunches anywhere. RATINGS
Karla's (143 South Farrell Drive): Plain, a bit gloomy, but very popular diner. RATINGS
Kiyosaku (1420 North Palm Canyon Drive): Well-prepared Japanese food, but the servings were so small that they affected our food rating. Very traditional atmosphere: chopsticks, kimonos, paper lamps. Service was minimal: "More tea, please". RATINGS
La Casita (411 East Palm Canyon) (411 East Palm Canyon Drive): Improved diner setting with live music entertainment. Pleasant Mexican dishes. RATINGS
La Casita (100 South Indian Canyon) (100 South Indian Canyon Drive): We finally found thoroughly bland Mexican food! And you can get a decent Margarita for $1.50! Relish this place now before they locate the spice cabinet. RATINGS
La Fonda (611 South Palm Canyon Drive): Decent Mexican food in a plain room with cafeteria style ordering and then table delivery. Based on your luck you may get it served on paper plates! RATINGS
Closed in 2002, and has been replaced, and replaced, by other versions of Mexican food.
La Provence (254 North Palm Canyon Drive): For special occasions (such as when you don't have the time to hop over to Paris) this is as perfectly French as you can get. There is such a thing as haute cuisine with good-sized portions, and here it is! With soft Edith Piaf and Maurice Chevalier in the background, and service that is attentive and discreet, far superior to anywhere in France. A meal at La Provence and you are in heaven. RATINGS
It is very tough to run a restaurant on the second floor, particularly with a steep staircase to negotiate. Sadly, in 2002 the restaurant had to walk down the stairs itself.
Las Casuelas Nuevas (70050 Highway 111): Perfect Mexican/American buffet in a delightful garden; could not be better. Any faults at all? The mariachi band was too noise when too close (but the moved around), the buffet room a tad too dark (but anything you picked up was so good anyway). RATINGS
Las Casuelas Original (368 North Palm Canyon Drive): Just imagine Mexican food that doesn't taste anything... RATINGS
Las Casuelas Terraza (222 South Palm Canyon Drive): What a wonderfully quaint Spanish style decor throughout -- and if you ask to be seated in the "Ramada Room" you'll be transported right to the fabulous full-wall mural's Mexican village corner! But the food is average and the service is slow and uninterested. RATINGS
LaTablita (68369 East Palm Canyon Drive): Mexican food served in a slightly improved basic room. For brunch a hearty but not elegant buffet selection. For dinner pretty much standard Mexican fare. Great wine Margarita! RATINGS
Left Bank (Palm Springs) (150 East Vista Chino): Just superb all the way! Elegant, yet comfortable place with live piano, attentive serving of exquisite French dishes with all accoutrements. RATINGS
After steadily sinking in quality over the years, this Left Bank restaurant was sold and became Uptown Grill in 2003.
Left Bank (Rancho Mirage) (70065 Highway 111): Excellent, attentive service, wonderful food, what a pleasant place for a nice Sunday champagne brunch! But one wishes that they would not charge extra for the coffee that a designated driver takes instead of the price-included alcohol. RATINGS
Leon's Bar & Grill (1800 East Palm Canyon Drive): Had it not been for the sad Clam Chowder, this place, inside Ramada Inn, would have gotten full food credits! Pseudo-patio furnishings and poolside ambience (but safely tucked inside). The live musician and the table service tried very hard. RATINGS
Le Peep (2665 East Palm Canyon Drive & 73725 El Paseo): The P S location is brighter and roomier than the P D location. But both serve good portions of usually well prepared lunch dishes. Specialty coffees. Busy on Sundays. RATINGS
Very quietly, both restaurants disappeared at some time during 2003. Strange, because they did have their faithful following. After an empty year, the Palm Springs property came to house Manhattan in the Desert.
LG's Prime SteakHouse (255 South Palm Canyon Drive): Huge juicy steaks served by a snippy waitress in a nondescript room with uncomfortable chairs (we were seated in the section in the rear). But the biggest feature is the pricing system: a steak is a bare steak and everything else is a la carte: Salad ($8.75), fried potatoes ($3.95 or $6.50), sauteed onion around the steak ($1.95), creamed spinach ($3.50) -- on and on. Way to make money! RATINGS
Livreri's (350 South Indian Canyon Drive): Very good Italian dishes with emphasis on shrimp and calamari, simple but enjoyable desserts, but the plain salad is nothing to remember. Indifferent service and bland decor makes you focus on the food, and, yes, it is indeed good. RATINGS
Louise's Pantry (44491 Town Center Way): Generous portions of hearty dishes from a long menu in an old-time eatery in its new quarters (they moved from Palm Springs not long ago). We had a very nice waitress -- maybe we were lucky, but we had a delightful lunch. RATINGS
Lyons English Grille (233 East Palm Canyon Drive): Authentic Ye Olde England ambience, old-fashioned dishes, and old-time patrons throughout: you'll enjoy great comfort here. (But before that joy, you'll be trapped into valet parking!) RATINGS
Macaroni Grill (72920 Highway 111): The feeling of an authentic trattoria in Rome, serving an unusual, excellent fare. Service was a bit inattentive and music a bit loud, but that food... RATINGS
Magie's (333 North Palm Canyon Drive): Comfortable Italian place; you get good food served deep down in the bottom of a mixing bowl (or so it appeared). RATINGS
Manhattan in the Desert (2665 East Palm Canyon Drive): As a former Manhattanite, your Webmaster can verify that the food is even more like a great New York deli than the real thing. From chopped liver and corned beef on rye to egg cream (with neither egg nor cream, exactly as it should be). On the other hand, in crowded Manhattan everybody sits on top of each other, while here it is a spacious desert locale. Please, don't miss the bakery counter! RATINGS
Marie Callender's (69830 Highway 111): Big portions of well prepared dishes in a nice atmosphere. And then those pies! But (in Rancho Mirage) "Please Wait to be Seated" -- and nobody there, and nobody to be found, hellooo, anybody home??? RATINGS
Mario's Italian Cafe (42418 Bob Hope Drive): Big servings of simple, well-prepared standard Italian dishes. One real plus: all the little children were quiet and well-behaved. RATINGS
Melvyn's (200 West Ramon Road): You love to dress up? Here's your place. Even the busboys wear white tuxedoes, and most women appeared in strapless, full-length dresses. In our usual review outfits (shorts), we were accepted in their midst, but we still felt that we were in the wrong place. The pretentiousness, together with valet parking and too loud music (yes, a jam-session!), lowered the ambience rating. The food was superb, and so was the service. RATINGS
Michaels Cafe (35955 Date Palm Drive): The old Michaels from Highway 111 moved to these new quarters when their building was torn down -- and the gay clientele seems not to have come along. As before, good diner food. Their not all that hot service collapsed when they double-added on the bill. RATINGS
Ming's Chinese Cuisine (35300 Date Palm Drive): Quite average Chinese dive. Long wait raised expectations unduly. The owner was nice. RATINGS
Mirasol (140 East Palm Canyon Drive): Really nice and well prepared (and large) Mexican dishes under desert murals and paintings in a pleasant little Southwestern restaurant. RATINGS
Miro's (1555 South Palm Canyon Drive): Goulash and wienerschnitzel and baklava, with a live accordion player -- oh, how well it transports you to Prague or Budapest. If the food were a bit spicier, the service a bit faster, the setting a bit less formal, and, of course, if there were more of us, then it would be just perfect. But then it would not be Central Europe. RATINGS
Mountain Dunes Clubhouse (49499 Eisenhower Drive): Wonderful, high class restaurant/bar in a golfing clubhouse at La Quinta Resort & Club. Basic but well-prepared diner type of food. Peace, comfort, a whiff of the good life. RATINGS
Muriel's (210 South Palm Canyon Drive): A high-class nightclub that also serves a great dinner. But the nightclub features disturbs the dining up to a point: six floodlights in your eye and a six man band in your ear. Perfect service, great comfort, and excellent food. RATINGS
Closed in the spring of 2002, and was replaced with Atlas soon thereafter
Mykonos (139 East Andreas Road): Very good Greek food in a pleasant enough closed-in yard.RATINGS
New Hongkong (35875 Date Palm Drive): Great little Chinese hole-in-the-wall with extensive menu of well-sized fair dishes. Delightfully grumpy waiter (the owner?) provided all the service needed with great charm. A place to come back to. RATINGS
News Cafe (198 South Palm Canyon Drive): Intimate diner. Corner of Arenas Road, but no particular gay presence. RATINGS
And suddenly, in mid-2004, there was another restaurant, with white tablecloths, and no more News Cafe
Oasis Buffet (401 East Amado Road): In the Spa Resort Casino, so get your free Club Paradise card for a $1 meal discount. Impeccably clean, reasonable selection of varied dishes but monotonous desserts -- almost only cakes. RATINGS
Oceans (67555 East Palm Canyon Drive): Sea-oriented kitchen serving its fabulous creations masterfully in a great setting. But why plastic chair seats? And how could the waiters spill food three times on their patrons in the time span of one single meal? Can this world never be perfect? RATINGS
Olive Garden (72225 Highway 111): Very good Italian food preceded by a fantastic salad. But sit inside! There, you are seated comfortably in air conditioning and you get attentive service. Out there, you sit, unprotected from the sun above, on small, wiggly plastic furniture, with occasional waiter visits ("How you people doin'?" NINE times during the two hours it took us to brunch). RATINGS
Olympia (42434 Bob Hope Drive): The music and the looks transports y