Top 10 Restaurants In Palm Springs You'll Love

Image Courtesy of James Restaurant
Image Courtesy of James Restaurant
Andrew Stanley

Featuring gorgeous hotels, luxurious bars and poolside villas, Palm Springs is one of California’s best resort cities. With a dining scene to match, we revisit Palm Springs’ cultural eateries and bring you a new take on the 10 best restaurants in the city, from gourmet French flavors to some of the hottest venues in the USA.

Palm Springs

Le Vallauris

Le Vallauris, located in a restored historical landmark which features furniture designed with the era of Louix XV in mind, as well as luxurious Flemish tapestries, is an haute cuisine establishment serving French cuisine. Falling in line with the setting, the menu offers French specialties such as sautéed foie gras, crab cakes, a roast rack of lamb, or tender veal chops with Grand Marnier soufflé to finish. In addition to its decadent interiors, Le Vallauris also has outdoor seating in the lush garden surrounded by lupe ficus trees and fresh flowers. Owner Paul Bruggemans is lauded all over Palm Springs for his expert knowledge of French cuisine and adherence to its bountiful tradition.
Le Vallauris, 385 Tahquitz Canyon Way, Palm Springs, CA, USA, +1 76 0325 5059

Tropicale

Open Table’s Diner’s Choice Award winners in 2009 and 2010, Tropicale serves fine cuisine in an elegant setting of dark, sophisticated hues and dim lights, embraces by a chic ambiance. The menu focuses on Pacific Rim specialties with plenty of seafood and fish options, from the Thai shrimp curry to the Chilean seabass, as well as several well-curated nibbles, and the sushi Sunday special. Outside, there is also a lush patio where cocktails can be enjoyed under the desert, star-lit sky. Recently voted one of the hottest restaurants in the USA, Tropicale is the perfect venue for the hip crowds of Palm Springs.
Tropicale, 330 East Amado Road, Palm Springs, CA, USA, +1 760-866-1952

2. Native Foods Cafe

Restaurant, Vegan

Native Foods Cafe, Palm Springs
Courtesy of Trio
Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, Native Foods Cafe has enjoyed a rapid increase in popularity due to its healthy image. This vegan restaurant serves only fresh homemade food, which is 100% plant-based – vegetarians are in for a treat, while carnivores are bound to experience something new. The seasonally changing menu means that the café not only uses flavourful, fresh ingredients, but also updates its dishes on a regular basis. For something out of the ordinary, try their Native chicken wings, which look like the real deal, but are actually made completely from plants.

Trio

Trio is most notably known for its wonderful architecture housed in a landmark building, which was once an Old Las Palmas bank. The interior is a mid-century space composed of several dining halls, and adorned with extravagant chandeliers. Among the signature items on the menu are the lamb shanks braised in Burgundy, rosemary and garlic, and served with lentils, but the restaurant also serves wonderful local craft beer on tap and has weekly specials which can be can examined on their website. Owner Mark Van Laanen and his partner Tony Marchese not only manage the venue, but also organise music and charity evenings; thanks to the success that Trio has enjoyed Mark and Tony have now decided to open another restaurant in Palm Springs called The Purple Room.
Trio, 707 Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, CA, USA, +1 76 0864 8764

Courtesy of Trio

Workshop Kitchen + Bar

Awarded the 2014 Diners’ Choice award from Open Table, Workshop Kitchen + Bar is innovative in both its décor and culinary offering. The menu revolved around seasonal ingredients sourced from local farms and producers. Chef Michael, who received his training at the Paul Bocuse Institute in Lyon, operates the kitchen using instruments such as wood-fired pizza ovens and grills, as well as custom-made stations. To add more spice to the mix, the bar focuses on using unusual ingredients to create experimental, unusual drinks and cocktails. Located in Uptown Palm Springs, an area known for its modern architecture, Workshop Kitchen + Bar fits in with its surroundings, with Manhattan-based Soma Architects designing the restaurant with a modernist feel, featuring various historical, eclectic and contemporary elements.
Workshop Kitchen + Bar, 800 Palm Canyon, Palm Springs, CA, USA, +1 76 0459 3451

Courtesy of Workshop Kitchen + Bar

Cheeky’s

Cheeky’s, a café popular with celebrities, has successfully attracted a large amount of publicity due to its healthy image. Located between the San Jacinto Mountains, Cheeky’s is all about seasonal, locally grown, organic food. With only breakfast and lunch on offer, the kitchen changes its menu on a weekly basis depending on the freshest produce available at the local markets that week. In addition to its gourmet menu, the café also makes healthy drinks such as watermelon agua fresca, or antioxidant smoothies with acai berries. For those who prefer something more substantial and less guilt-free, Cheeky’s also has an array of pastries baked fresh by pastry chef Deb Menduno.
Cheeky’s, 622 Palm Canyon, Palm Springs, CA, USA, +1 76 0327 7595

Cheeky’s

Mister Parker’s

Nestled within the Parker resort in Palm Springs, Mister Parker’s serves excellent-quality bistro food in a beautifully decorated setting, which features artworks and paintings, luxurious carpeted floors and mahogany chairs and tables, lending the restaurant a dark, seductive feel. This atmosphere is mirrored in the menu options at Mister Parker’s, which include the likes of red wine-braised short ribs with white sweet potato puree, Loch Duart salmon filet with braised leeks, manila clams and young coconut cream, Szechuan cumin-crusted duck breast with braised turnips, roasted mango, confit baby fennel and Madeira thyme reduction. In addition to these gourmet delicacies, the dessert menu is a complication of decadent flavours.
Mister Parker’s, 4200, Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, CA, USA, +1 76 0770 5000

Copley’s

Opened in December of 2004 in the heart of Palm Springs, Copley’s soon became one of the most acclaimed and popular restaurants in the city, gaining both local and national recognition from the likes of Zagat and The New York Times. An informal venue with both indoor and outdoor seating, Copley’s menu is all about American dishes with plates such as sesame seed-crusted tofu over a bed of Wasabi potato and asparagus with citrus ponzu sauce, or slow-braised veal cheeks with Maine lobster served over a bed of garlic potato, sautéed wild mushrooms and asparagus.
Copley’s, 621 Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, CA, USA, +1 76 0327 9555

Courtesy of Copley’s

Spencer’s Restaurant

Spencer’s Restaurant has been lauded for many of its features, including Palm Springs’ most romantic restaurant, best outdoor dining and best Sunday brunch, making it a very special place for those who value quality. Nestled at the base of San Jacinto Mountains, the restaurant serves various classics, such as Chinese-style kung pao calamari, pan-fried Lake Superior white fish, and a New York strip steak with parmesan-truffle fries. Visit for lunch when the sun is out and dine on Spencer’s lush garden patio.
Spencer’s Restaurant, 701 West Baristo Road, Palm Springs, CA, USA, +1 76 0327 3446

Courtesy of Spencer’s Restaurant

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