One of the best parts of living in L.A. is the ability to leave the city for a quick weekend jaunt. The desert called us in for the 13th annual Greater Palm Springs Restaurant Week happening now (May 31 thru June 9) in the Coachella Valley. After months of 60-degree temperatures, we were thrilled to zoom to this 90-degree oasis to soak up the rays, get a massage and chill poolside, AND eat our way through the desert palm tree landscape.

Lunch ($15, $20, $25) and dinner specials ($29, $39, $49) are offered at 122 restaurants all over Greater Palm Springs, which comprises of nine distinct cities in one destination. Depending on whether you are near Cathedral City, Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Indian Wells, Indio, La Quinta, or Desert Hot Springs, find a multicourse prix fixe menu that excites you. Check out the full list of menus at dineGPS.com.

For every reservation booked on dineGPS.com, a $1 will be donated to FIND Food Bank, the desert’s Regional Food Bank. One reservation provides 5 meals for those in need. This organization distributes 10+ million pounds of food assistance annually to an average 85,000 individuals each month across the Coachella Valley.

Not just a week, but actually for ten days, you can trEAT your heart out! Pick a restaurant near where you are staying, one that you have always wanted to try, or an expensive spot you have dreamed about. Sponsored by the Greater Palm Springs Convention & Visitors Bureau, Sysco™ and Agua Caliente Casinos, start planning your next food adventure and explore the area’s dining diversity.

Don’t miss some of our personal favorites offering Restaurant Week deals like Essence at Two Bunch Palms, Jake’s in Palm Springs, Copley’s on Palm Canyon, Melvyn’s at Ingleside Inn, Workshop Kitchen and Bar, Adobe Grill at La Quinta Resort & Spa, Citrus & Palm at Miramonte Indian Wells Resort & Spa, bleEmber at Omni Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa, and Pinzimini at The Westin Mission Hills Golf Resort & Spa.

This past weekend’s highlights included date burgers, stuffed dates, and date shakes at The Cafe at Shields Date Garden in Indio, margaritas at Fresh Agave in Palm Desert, Saigon Noodles at 533 Viet Fusion, smoked brisket sliders with Blackfin Lager at Babe’s Bar-B-Que, short rib beef ravioli at The Steakhouse at Agua Caliente Casino Palm Springs, AND the Miso Sake Scallion Chicken and Roasted Local Baby Beets Salad with tomato and goat cheese at 4 Saints Rooftop at Kimpton Rowan Palm Springs Hotel.

The Cafe at Shields in Indio

For almost 95 years, Shields Date Garden has made life a whole lot sweeter. Stop in for their beloved original date shake made with vanilla ice milk and date crystals developed in 1936 by Floyd Fields OR sample and take home their many different kinds of dates grown on the property. The Restaurant Week menu consists of a date burger, date salad, and a stuffed date with jalapeño, blue cheese, and prosciutto wrapped in bacon, among many more options. Dine outside in their garden behind the cafe, watch a 15-minute film on the romance/sex life of a date, and meander the biblical gardens filled with statues depicting the life of Christ.

See their $20 LUNCH MENU.

Babe’s Bar-B-Que & Brewery in Rancho Mirage

Beer, Barbecue and Babes. What more could you want? Admire the 3 pigs logo and the bronze statues. You may spot twenty-four-year-old Lucky Callender, the grandson of legendary pie maker and restaurant chain Marie Callender, who has ignited the retro brewery/restaurant by creating 3-4 new beers with the brewmaster. After 17 years of in-house beer making and keeping to the original brews, find a new seasonal Mexican Lager to add to their top-selling Blackfin Lager and Honey Blond Ale. Lucky even chose watercolor artwork for the new beer cans by finding the original watercolor artist (now in his 80’s) who painted the artwork in his father’s original Babe’s Restaurant.

Menu highlights include amazing steaks, hickory bbq, and sandwiches that rival the best gastropubs. For a $20 lunch from 11:30am – 2:30pm, choose from soup, any BBQ Sandwich or BBQ Salad plus a Dessert Flight. The $39 Dinner menu from 6pm – 8:30pm offers a Choice of Soup, House or Caesar Salad, Choice of any Dinner Menu Item, plus Churros with Chocolate Dipping Sauce.

4 Saints Rooftop at Kimpton Rowan Palm Springs Hotel

Head on up to the top of these sleek sexy new hotel rooftop hugged by the mountains and sunset glow as you share seasonable healthful and indulgent menu items or small plates inspired by the fresh, clean spirit of Mediterranean cooking amped up with flavors and techniques from around the globe.

The $49 dinner menu from 5:30 -10 PM showcases 3 courses with options like charred broccolini, baby beet salad, steelhead salmon fish and spring vegetables, and wine-infused apricots with white chocolate mousse.

The Steakhouse at Agua Caliente Casino Palm Springs

The elegant fine dining restaurant in town offers an extensive wine list to pair with an impeccable menu of aged prime cuts and delectable fresh seafood. The $49 Dinner Menu with suggested wine pairings boasts 3 courses – Palm Springs Salad with dates, a Frenched Pork Chop or Short Rib Beef Raviolis with Roquefort Crust or Grilled Salmon with Strawberry Jalapeño Salsa, plus Wild Berry Cobbler.

Need a place to stay?

Rates are often quite lower in the summer months, so snag a deal at Agua Caliente Casino and Spa in Rancho Mirage where they are also offering lunch and dinner Restaurant Week specials at the casino’s 360 Sports and Water’s Cafe. No need to leave this four-diamond resort with spacious modern clean rooms, gaming casino, pools, and world-class entertainment at the resort’s premier venue, The Show. You can also choose from cabaret shows, piano and jazz bars, and intimate dinner clubs.

Air is recirculated to keep the bad air out, while it is even pulled up and out in the Pivat Cigar Lounge, which offers over 100 hand-selected labels, some rare and limited edition. Cocktails can be matched and paired with your cigar. Try the smoky glass domed Old Fashioned with apple. The 360 Sports bar is one of the only curved contiguous screens flush into the wall showing every game imaginable with lounge chair movie seating in part of the bar area. Sample elevated bar food like a wagyu burger or sliders or get in on the $20 Restaurant Week Menu or $29 Dinner Menu. 

The on-site 10,500 square foot Forbes Four-star award-winning Sunstone Spa at Agua Caliente offers lavish massages like the 50-minute indulgent Swedish massage complete with oil and heated rose quartz stones to unwind your tense body and soothe your soul for days to come. Their very own quiet spa pool with spa cabanas is a nice way to spend an afternoon relaxing with a magazine or drink after your treatment. Don’t miss the eucalyptus steam room, dry sauna, and indoor whirlpool too. A fitness center is also available plus full-service nail and hair salons.

Take advantage of Restaurant Week in the Greater Palm Springs area.