Get to know Greater Palm Springs through unique dining experiences

The Greater Palm Springs food scene is hotter than ever. Greater Palm Springs Restaurant Week (June 3 – 12, 2022) may be over but this annual event, now in its 14^th year, is not the only way to discover new amazing dining deals and experiences in the desert.

From now until September 5, the Summer Eats Pass features even more ways for food lovers to get out and savor discount restaurant offerings. Find the free mobile pass here. Looking for a place to stay? Check out our favorite new boutique hotel, Azure Sky.

Explore the 9 cities with a new foodie destination or entertaining night out.

For speakeasy cocktails, try The Tailor Shop

Instead of beloved festive Bootlegger Tiki in Palm Springs, try The Tailor Shop, the new swanky moody dimly lit speakeasy just behind Bootlegger with old-school cocktails and new expertly crafted medleys.

Come for an intimate date or to start the night with your choice of poison from the inspiring menu of options. Guests can also share a favorite spirit and flavor profile and voila, a magic potion arrives sometimes made tableside thanks to the creative minds behind the bar.

Enhance your imbibing with some bar snacks at the wrap-around marble bar or a cozy table while you might just wonder if you are in LA or Palm Springs.

Sip: The Dressmaker concocted with Tantea Jalapeno, ginger beer, prickly pear, and lime, or the Peak Lapels with Woodford Reserve Rye, demerara, and bitters.

Share: Fruit and cheese plate, the olives and almonds, or cucumber salad

Dessert: Chocolate cake, Semifreddo, or an Apricot and Peach Tart

For breakfast, try Grand Central Palm Springs

Instead of enduring the long wait time at Cheeky’s, try California brunch fare outside or indoors with AC at Grand Central in the buzzing downtown area. Spot the original clock in this historical building, a former department building from 1936 that sat empty for 12 years.

In this renovated artsy industrial space that took 4 years to redesign and open, admire original design elements like stamped concrete floors and brick walls donned in fun art as a rotating art collection is available for purchase. Also, an art-filled room called the “gallery” in the back is often used for group dinners and public and private events. Come for brunch, lunch, mid-afternoon nibbles and bites, dinner, and all-day coffee and tea. We suggest brunch:

Sip: Iced lattes or a mimosa flight

Share: House-made biscuit or Palm Sugar Waffles

Eat: Breakfast Burrito with scrambled eggs, bacon or sausage (chicken or pork), potatoes, and cheddar cheese on a spinach tortilla with fruit

Dessert: If you have room, indulge in the Crème Brule Cheesecake with a Graham Cracker Crust

For an epic sunset dinner, try Vue Grill and Bar

Instead of the rooftop restaurant and bar atop the Rowan Hotel Palm Springs, venture to Vue Grill and Bar at the Indian Wells Golf Resort for 360 sunset views over the golf course surrounded by mountains.

We were impressed by the price points and a Happy Hour is offered from 3 – 6 PM. All produce originates from local farms in a 70-mile radius. Check out their Shareable Menu offered during Happy Hour Wednesday – Sunday.

Ask for the table outside to the left of the bar or inside to the left of the bar to watch the blazing colors melt across the landscape dotted with palm trees. Enhance the magical scenery by ordering the following:

Sip: The Sticky Hog with Woodford Reserve and whistle pig maple syrup accented with a slab of candied bacon.

Share: Watermelon and Feta Salad

Starter: Coconut Fried Shrimp with apricot chutney

Eat: 8 oz. Grilled Filet topped with crumbled onion, bacon, mushroom and a skillet of whipped mashed potatoes or truffle mac and cheese

Dessert: Profiteroles (cream puffs) with various ice cream flavors, berries, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream

For a casual lunch and the ultimate deli sandwich, try J’s Deli

Instead of Sherman’s Deli in Palm Springs, try J’s Deli for incredible delicatessen dishes offered all day long plus amazing breakfast items served all day too. There is something on the menu for everyone at this Jewish/American Deli. Happy Hour is 3-6 daily. Check out early dinner specials from 4-6 PM.

Opened in March 2022, Jay and his wife Vanessa are capturing our hearts with their friendly welcoming service and amazing selection. Upon entering you may think you stepped into Lovey’s in Calabasas where Jay came from, but no, you are in Palm Desert at this brand-new gorgeous clean light-filled space consisting of a café, bakery, bar, salad menu, and deli options, of course. Everything is made in-house (even the sauces and dressings) except the bread. In cooler months, a beautiful outdoor covered patio awaits, along with an indoor/outdoor bar and many booths and tables for hungry diners.

Don’t be surprised to see Jay coming over to make sure you are happy with your meal and his wife as the host seating tables. “You are as good as your last meal,” Jay reminded me. If he only knew how much I believe in that statement.

Order from the smoked fish plate menu, burgers, wraps, triple-deckers, milkshakes, desserts, and more. It’s hard not to leave with a few things to take home like the parmesan garlic bagel crisps or succulent cakes. We will be returning for pastrami and corned beef sandwiches with Parmesan crusted sourdough.

Sip: Chocolate Milkshake with chocolate drizzle and whipped cream

Share: Free pickles and bagel crisps that arrive tableside

Starter: Matzoh Ball Soup

Eat: The Reuben or The Deli Melt with turkey, avocado, and cheese on Parmesan crusted sourdough with a side of potato salad, the French Dip, or the Chicken Pot Pie

Dessert: The milkshake may be all your need or find room to take home apple pie or caramel cheesecake

For a bachelorette party or a Girl’s Night Out, book a dinner show at Asia SF

Instead of drag queen brunch at Roly China Fusion, book a fun night out at Asia SF next door to Bar Cecil in Palm Springs. This diva drag queen show came to the desert from the uber-popular San Francisco location about 6 months ago. Like a sliver of Vegas and Hollywood, enter the red door to this glamorous dinner show venue showcasing the Ladies of AsiaSF, transgender women who entertain, serve, and delight guests with their graciousness and top-rated live cabaret lip sync performances. Apparently, over a million dollars went into the renovations.

Dine on a 3-course Cal-Asian cuisine with options you select. A luxurious sidebar lounge makes a nice space to mingle before or after the show while weekend shows extend on with dancing in the adjacent club. Brunch shows will be coming soon.

Sip: House-made seasonal Sangria or Signature Cocktails like Domanique’s French Doll with Stoli vanilla vodka, Chambord, and pineapple juice

Starter: Blackened Tuna Sashimi or Grilled Shrimp and Herb Salad

Eat: Orange Lamb (or Tofu) or Miso Glazed King Salmon

Dessert: Trio of ice cream scoops or sorbet or a Menage of Treats

For an old-school show, take your parents to PS Underground

Instead of the old school supper club, the Purple Room, try PS Underground for a surprise 4-course family-style dinner with new friends and paired with one of their legendary shows bringing the formers stars and history of Palm Springs to life through music. Expect unique themes and unexpected twists as this ever-evolving supper club adventure.

We witnessed the latest production of Starstruck, showcasing the starlets of yesteryear. For ten years, PS Underground performed secret pop-up shows all over the desert but since 2019 this underground entertaining show has their own space right across from the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs.

Guests at our table had experienced this changing show 10-20 times over the years, recounting memories of a time when this underground show performed a Titanic rendition at the Marriot and everyone dressed the part while cruising in on the hotel’s on site boat to the entrance of the show.

The unique menu changes regularly and we appreciated how the chef came out before each course to explain what was being served while the wine flowed freely all night as part of the cost.

Sip: Wine is unlimited so choose from red or white

Share: “Retro Fondue” – fruit, shrimp, sausage medley platter with shrimp coconut vinaigrette

Starter: Cream of Arugula Soup with onions and garlic topped with shaved green onions and pine nuts

Eat: Sous Vide Chicken

Dessert: Olive Oil Citrus Cake with orange sauce, whipped cream, and candied mango

For Italian, try Mimmo’s

Instead of Birba in Palm Springs, try this 10-year-old popular Italian haunt that has had such success they expanded with a whole side wing featuring a bar and outdoor patio area. The entire restaurant was packed shortly after our arrival at 5 PM. In this relaxed old-world Italian spot tucked into a small shopping center of Highway 111, we sat in the white table cloth room but there are a multitude of seating options. Friendly attentive service with the freshest ingredients prepared with simplicity in Mimmo’s Sicilian motto as their roots originate from Bagheria, Sicily.

Mimmo’s uses top-quality local produce, high-quality meats and fish, fresh-picked herbs from their garden, organic eggs, sugars, and whole grain flours. All of their sauces, ravioli, dressings, tapenade, breads, and desserts are made daily in our kitchen.

Mimmo’s logo of the lemon and lemon flower, or zagara, is a symbol of Sicily’s rich history of growing and exporting lemons, and a reminder of Mimmo’s many memories of lemon picking in his grandfather’s groves.

We suggest no matter where you sit, order the following:

Sip: Limoncella Martini

Share: Homemade Italian sausage with honey mustard dip

Starter: Mushroom soup with truffle oil

Eat: Osso Bucco with mashed potatoes and spinach or one of their pastas

Dessert: Bumba Spumone drizzled in chocolate

For lunch at a casino, try Waters Cafe at Agua Caliente

Instead of lunch at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, try Waters Café at Agua Caliente Resort Casino in Rancho Mirage. On cooler days dine on the bright outdoor patio overlooking the pool or choose a table near the light-filled window with air conditioning after admiring the music memorabilia around the bar. Similar to a Hard Rock Café, check out Adam Levine’s framed guitar, a signed Moody Blues guitar, a signed BoyzIIMen or Train record and billboard from performances right here at the casino. A Happy Hour Menu is served at the bar.

Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner as well as late-night bites and weekend brunch, the grand American comfort food menu comes with classics, light California options, and some Asian and Hawaiian twists thanks to the Executive Chef developing dishes with distinctive flavors of her Hawaiian island upbringing. Don’t miss this excellent restaurant.