Michele StuevenDuring Greater Palm Springs Restaurant Week, a record 80 restaurants will offer prix-fixe menus with lunch priced at $15, $25, or $35, and dinner menus at $29, $39, $49, or $59. In addition to prix-fixe selections, some venues feature exclusive special offers only available during restaurant week, and it will be a fish feast for pescatarians with a wealth of seafood options in the Coachella Valley.
First-timers to this year’s food festival include the new upscale Mexican restaurant Mole in Palm Desert, which will feature a $49 dinner menu that consists of a choice of a creamy chipotle Caesar salad or chicken fideo soup, braised beef enchilada or an achiote chile basted snapper filet and house-made tres leches cake for dessert.
Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken’s Alice B., located near downtown Palm Springs inside the lobby of Living Out, a luxury resort-style LGBTQ+ community, will feature its popular cornmeal cheddar drop biscuits with cardamom honey and sesame seeds and the wonderful seeded chicken cutlet with apple radish salad. The $35 weekend brunch will include a choice of market fruit, yogurt and granola, or biscuit of the day in addition to brioche French toast or a breakfast burrito with crispy smashed potatoes and scrambled eggs.
Alaskan halibut at Trio (Michele Stueven)
Palm Springs staple Trio will offer an expanded restaurant week three-course menu with a wide selection of choices including a juicy, locally sourced heirloom tomato salad that goes way beyond the burrata. It’s nestled in creamy mozzarella, chile, arugula, farro, cilantro and basil, and served with garlicky grilled sourdough. The famously best crab croquettes in the Coachella Valley are also on the menu, as well as Alaskan halibut and wild mushroom pasta made with local Canyon Creek mushrooms. Three dessert choices include sticky toffee pudding made with local dates.
The Azure Palm Hot Springs & Day Spa Oasis in Desert Hot Springs, which features five flow-through mineral pools surrounded by blooming desert foliage, has breakfast and lunch deals in the cafe, including a $6 breakfast burrito stuffed with organic eggs, roasted onions, diced tomatoes, organic baby spinach, cheddar cheese, avocado and a smoky house-made Fresno Salsa. For lunch, the $29 menu includes a choice of taro chips and hearts of palm dip or hummus and pita, a sesame seared wild caught tuna bowl with spicy Thai almond sauce or avocado chicken wrap, and a choice of beverages, like their signature fresh pressed juices.
Sponsor Agua Caliente Casinos will feature four dining outlets, including Café One Eleven at Agua Caliente Casino Cathedral City, 360 Sports at Agua Caliente Casino Palm Springs, The Steakhouse at Agua Caliente Casino Palm Springs, and Waters Café at Agua Caliente Resort Casino Spa Rancho Mirage. The Waters Café is a bright spot with a beautiful outdoor patio overlooking the pool that will serve a generous $39 three-course menu, including baked sea bass with mojo verde and an apple tart for dessert.
View the full list of participating restaurants at dinegps.com where you can also search by price or location and make reservations. For every reservation made through the DineGPS website, either $1 (most reservations) or $2.50 (restaurants located in Rancho Mirage) will be donated to the area’s regional food bank, FIND Food Bank.
Tuna bowl at the Azure Palm Hot Springs & Day Spa Oasis Cafe in Desert Hot Springs (Michele Stueven)
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