- I've been to Palm Springs over 20 times and eaten at restaurants all over the area.
- Workshop Kitchen+Bar and Bar Cecil are my favorite fine-dining establishments there.
- When I want a more casual environment, I love sitting down for a meal at Rio Azul and Billy Reed's.
I've visited Palm Springs over 20 times, and finding great restaurants is always on my itinerary.
Palm Springs is famous for its mid-century modern architecture, vibrant hues, and relaxing energy. Its food scene is also top-notch.
I've taken three to five annual trips to Palm Springs since moving to Los Angeles eight years ago (it's just two hours away without traffic) and have enjoyed some of the best meals of my life there.
Whether you're looking for a fine-dining experience or a casual joint where you can stroll in wearing a T-shirt, shorts, and flip-flops (understandable since summertime temperatures can surpass 110 degrees Fahrenheit), there's a plethora of options.
Whenever someone asks me for dining recommendations, these nine places always make my must-visit list.
Workshop Kitchen+Bar is my favorite restaurant in Palm Springs, hands down.
At this point, I've lost count of how many times I've eaten at Workshop Kitchen+Bar.
Chefs Michael Beckman and Joe Mourani opened this farm-to-table restaurant in 2012, and it's been a mainstay of Palm Springs' fine-dining scene ever since.
Housed in the historic El Paseo building, which used to be a theater and city-council building, Workshop won a James Beard Award in 2015 for having the best restaurant design in North America.
The market-driven menu specializes in modern American cuisine and changes seasonally, so there's always something new and exciting to try.
My recent favorites are the duck fried rice (I dare you to resist putting in two orders), butternut-squash risotto, black cod, and diver scallops.
The cocktails are also top-notch. My favorites are the citrusy, vodka-based California Dreamin' and the pineapple-based Pisco Punch.
I celebrated my 40th birthday in Workshop's back room with a custom-created, family-style menu. There's also seating inside in the modernist, concrete dining room and outside in a tree-dappled courtyard.
Dining reservations at Workshop can be hard to come by, but I recommend trying to get one.
Hadley Fruit Orchards is an unassuming shop that makes the best date shakes in the area.
Hadley Fruit Orchards in Cabazon, California, is more of a general store than a restaurant, but it's the only place in Greater Palm Springs I go for a date shake.
I've found other date shakes sprinkled throughout the area, but none have been better than the one from Hadley.
No matter what brings you to Cabazon — it's likely the Cabazon Dinosaurs or the Desert Hills Premium Outlets — stopping for a rich, thick, and refreshing date shake at Hadley is a nonnegotiable.
Each one blends Hadley pitted Deglet Noor dates with milk and vanilla ice cream. If you don't drink milk, don't worry — Hadley also has a vegan option.
A small date shake runs at about $5.50, and a large one costs about $6.50. The small is my go-to order since this treat is definitely on the richer side.
Lulu California Bistro has a massive all-day menu and an affordable prix-fixe option.
If you like having a lot of choices, look no further than Lulu California Bistro, a restaurant in Palm Springs' central downtown area that's served California cuisine since 2011.
I tend to choose the $20 prix-fixe menu, which features three courses and has so many options that I always have a hard time pinning down what to try. However, standouts include the wild-mushroom soup, meat loaf à la Lulu, and flourless triple-chocolate cake.
The all-day favorites menu, which has everything from pizzas to sandwiches to cheeseburgers, makes it even more challenging to zero in on my selection.
The dishes that almost always rise to the top are the divinely tender braised short ribs, spaghetti Bolognese, and, of course, the hand-spun cotton candy, which is not only fun to eat, but also light and tasty.
The burger at Bar Cecil is picture-perfect, and it's also the tastiest one I've ever eaten.
Bar Cecil is one of the newer restaurants in Palm Springs, having just opened in 2021, and it's already so popular that reservations go quickly.
During my last trip to Palm Springs over New Year's Eve, I stalked OpenTable for reservations and put myself on the waitlist for every single day of my stay. Luckily, a 5:30 p.m. slot opened on the last night of my trip.
With restaurants this popular, I'm always a bit nervous that the food and drinks won't live up to the hype, but that's not the case at Bar Cecil, where my friends and I devoured everything we ordered.
Starters, like Cecil's bread rolls and the deviled eggs, perfectly complement the colossal shrimp cocktail, which is, as described, colossal and heavenly.
In addition to having a well-rounded cocktail and wine list, Bar Cecil also lets guests create their own martini.
The revolving cocktail menu includes espresso martinis along with my personal favorite, the Lost Horizon, named after Frank Capra's 1937 movie that was partially filmed in Palm Springs.
My favorite menu item is the Beaton burger, which pays homage to photographer and designer Cecil Beaton. The perfectly cooked 6-ounce patty is topped with aioli, onion, tomato, and lettuce.
The restaurant presents the burger in a miniature box alongside french fries and a pickle. The "XOXO" on the bun just adds to the perfection.
When I want delicious Mexican food, I head to Rio Azul Mexican Bar & Grill.
Palm Springs has a couple of incredible Mexican restaurants, but in my opinion, the best one is Rio Azul Mexican Bar & Grill. It has a relaxed, charming atmosphere, and I love sitting outside on the patio, especially on a cool desert evening.
I always start my meal with fresh guacamole, which comes with perfectly crisp, salted corn chips. It's always difficult to choose a main course since the menu is full of my favorite Mexican dishes.
I typically opt for sizzling chicken fajitas or the tacos de pollo asado, which have grilled chicken, cabbage, cheese, and pico de gallo. The tacos come with a side of rice and beans.
The Rio Azul Creations is also a safe bet. It gives guests an option that gives guests a choice of tacos, tamales, enchiladas, chile relleno, or mini burritos for between $13 and $17.
A meal there isn't complete without a margarita. I've tried the traditional version along with ones flavored with tamarind, cucumber, pineapple, and strawberry. They've all been refreshing and tasty.
Billy Reed's cinnamon rolls are the size of a small plate, and I have yet to find any that taste better.
To put it mildly, Billy Reed's, which has been open since 1975, is a lot. The exterior facade and the decor feel like a grand parlor, and the menu features elevated diner food. That's not a knock on it, because no matter what I've ordered at Billy Reed's, it's been good.
Billy Reed's served breakfast, lunch, and dinner all day, and I personally love having scrambled eggs with extra-crispy bacon, hash browns, and rye toast for dinner. The meal is perfectly cooked and leaves me feeling satisfied.
I usually come here for the cinnamon roll. These pastries are so good that I once walked to Billy Reed's to get one when it was 112 F.
Each cinnamon roll is huge, taking up an area that's about the size of a small dinner plate. It's moist on the inside, flaky on the outside, and covered with sweet vanilla icing. The treat is also less than $6 and large enough to share between multiple people.
Tommy Bahama Marlin Bar's central location is the perfect spot for a midafternoon pick-me-up.
If you want a good cocktail and an easy snack, Tommy Bahama Marlin Bar is just the place for you. The restaurant doesn't take reservations and can get crowded, but its fresh fare is worth the wait.
I love the ahi-tuna poke bowl, which comes packed to the brim with veggies, edamame, ahi tuna, and crispy wontons.
Guests can also choose between about 20 cocktails, many of which have island-inspired flavors. The blood-orange margarita is my favorite because of the fresh orange slice garnishing its rim.
Prices are also very reasonable, with most food items capping at about $17 and most cocktails ranging from $11 to $13.50.
When I'm in Palm Desert, I always sit for brunch at Wilma & Frieda.
Though Wilma & Frieda has a location in Palm Springs' downtown area, I prefer the one on Palm Desert's El Paseo Drive. Not only have I found parking easier at the Palm Desert location, but also the inside also feels roomier and a bit more modern.
The menu is so large that it's almost overwhelming.
I tend to choose between the meals under the menu's Eeny, Meany, Miny, and Mo sections, which offer a wide variety of breakfast options. If you're looking for something on the sweeter side, the churro waffle is not to be missed.
Wilma & Frieda also has lunch options, like salads and sandwiches, but I always crave breakfast when I visit.
No trip there is complete without a bloody mary, but if you're trying to keep your meal alcohol-free, the jug of Diet Coke is a great alternative.
Norma's serves some of my favorite brunch foods, like blueberry pancakes and yogurt bowls.
I've been to Norma's, a restaurant at the Parker Palm Springs, on three separate occasions, and my brunch was out of this world every time.
Before you even begin dining, you walk through the Parker, an exquisite, Jonathan Adler-designed hotel. The unassuming restaurant entrance is located past the reception desk, and the restaurant has both interior and garden dining areas. I've eaten in both and love them.
I love the menu, which has whimsical category names like "Mom Can't Make This," "Benny Sent Me," and "Eggs Cellent."
The blueberry pancakes, doughnuts, and chilled yogurt with fresh fruit are must-tries. I also recommend adding pecans and macadamia-nut granola to the yogurt.
However, the potato pancake is the standout. The James Beard Award-winning recipe creates an almost deconstructed potato pancake alongside homemade cranberry-apple sauce and sweet-carrot payasam, an Indian pudding.
You can also choose from a selection of classic brunch cocktails like mimosas, Bellinis, and bloody marys here. Every time I've eaten at Norma's, our server also gave us mini smoothies to kick off the meal.
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