Best Restaurants in Palm Springs, California for Every Appetite

When people try to compare breakfast restaurants in Palm Springs, they need something early and dependable, which is why they should choose Elmer’s. Their menu is American through and through—pancakes, omelets, hash browns, burgers, and comfort meals—and their variety and early opening time make them a great choice for families.

Billy Reed’s continues the tradition of the American-style diner offering good portions, baked goods, booth seating, and American classics. You can have your slow breakfast there, have lunch yourself with a sandwich in the middle of the day, or enjoy some comforting food in the evening. All that variety is what makes it famous locally.

Cheeky’s earned its name because it focuses on brunch cooking, not because of its extensive menu. For travelers comparing Palm Springs brunch places, Cheeky’s offers seasonal items, their home-made goodies, egg dishes, and their popular bacon flight. It has a vibrant atmosphere and a laid-back California vibe.

Copley's offers a guesthouse at what used to be the home of Cary Grant. This restaurant is characterized by refined service and a cozy atmosphere that combines outdoor and indoor ambiance. When it comes to romantic places to dine in Palm Springs, Copley's has the best seafood, steaks, duck, lamb, and internationally inspired appetizers.

Melvyn's is a restaurant offering a traditional-style meal, cocktails, and table-side service in its elegant atmosphere of the historic Ingleside Estate. This restaurant specializes in providing traditional dishes such as steaks, which makes it perfect for dining on an occasion.

Spencer's is located next to the San Jacinto foothills, and it gives a sense of seclusion while being just near the downtown district. The restaurant serves breakfast, lunch, brunch, and dinner featuring eggs, seafood, steaks, and European-inspired food. The main point about this place is its patio.

FARM creates a French countryside ambiance out of the small La Plaza courtyard, particularly in the morning. The restaurant receives accolades in downtown Palm Springs for its crêpes, croques, pastries, salads, and seasonal dinner dishes. The outdoor garden atmosphere lends itself well to brunch, a relaxed lunch, or dinner at a more sedate pace.

A comparison of Italian restaurants in Palm Springs would show a classical style at Johnny Costa's, where red sauce specialties coexist with seafood, veal, steaks, and pasta, with taste being valued above trends. Established menus and hospitality give the dining room a classic feel rather than something artificial.

The Tropicale combines a colorful retro decor with an eclectic dinner menu, borrowing from American, Asian, Latin, and Mediterranean influences. The bar and patio add to the social atmosphere, while the kitchen is still offering hearty entrees. The restaurant is particularly good for groups that want variety at their table.

Las Casuelas Terraza unites the classics of Mexican cuisine, live entertainment, and spacious courtyard on South Palm Canyon Drive. Those who wish to compare different Mexican restaurants in Palm Springs will find the classics, such as fajitas, enchiladas, tamales, grilled meat, and fresh guacamole, in Las Casuelas Terraza. The festive atmosphere of Las Casuelas Terraza is of almost equal importance to the food itself.

At Felipe’s, everything is easy-going since one can enjoy the Mexican cuisine cooked in a family style, combination plates, seafood, soups, and weekend breakfast. Such a menu suits perfectly for a company that is interested in having all the best: tacos, chile rellenos, enchiladas, and other specials.

The cozy and comfortable restaurant Jake’s reminds me of a dining room in the neighborhood rather than of an enormous destination restaurant. At Jake’s, one can have brunch plates and salads first and then move to starters, seafood, and comfort food for dinner.

Miro’s menu combines ingredients from the Mediterranean and Central and Eastern Europe. This makes it distinctively different from other restaurants located in the area focused on California cuisine. Guests can order burek and cabbage rolls or switch to seafood, duck, lamb, and steak. The decor here is stylish but not too formal.

Purple Room is more about dinner and entertainment than a regular meal. As a supper club, it serves American cuisine dishes, cocktails, and shows in a venue that has been influenced by the entertainment culture of Palm Springs. Weekdays' dinners are served in a traditional way, while weekends might have dinner hours dictated by performance tickets.

Trio offers a vibrant restaurant experience to North Palm Canyon Drive visitors. It provides a wide choice of dishes from small plate options to seafood and steaks as well as modern comfort food in a style appropriate both for casual dinner and for celebration.

Thai Smile comes through reliably when the need arises for something other than yet another American meal—Thai noodle dishes, curries, hot salads, and aromatic soups. The menu is full of both traditional Pad Thai and other types of seafood and duck dishes—most are adjustable to heat level.

The south-side El Mirasol restaurant specializes in Mexican food based on family recipes. Their menu has a good variety of mole sauce, pipián, chile verde, carnitas, and even seafood dishes—the menu has more than just combination plates and should appeal to those looking for authentic sauces.

Johannes focuses on European cuisine through the Austrian perspective—Wiener Schnitzel is the dish to order here, along with seafood, steak, and some seasonal dishes. This is a great place to go if you’re trying to find alternative Palm Springs French restaurant options or just European alternatives.

Dining at Le Vallauris means enjoying the food within a historical villa that has a garden patio, which is nearly as memorable as the meal itself. It is one of the French restaurants in Palm Springs where seafood, lamb, beef, classical sauces, and elegant desserts are served on a special occasion.

The Workshop restaurant offers both an eye-catching industrial dining area and seasonally based cuisine driven by products available. Its menu changes smoothly from crudo and vegetable dishes to fish, pork, burgers, and homemade pasta, while on Sundays, it is brunch. If you care about design, the food there equals the building.

For dining at Eight4Nine, you get a well-lit room with good interior design together with accessible American cuisine. So, you can eat there both for brunch and dinner. The combination of seafood, chicken, pasta, burgers, and composed dishes will please the diverse company, while the North Palm Canyon location is ideal for Uptown dinners.

Mr. Lyons plays to the classic steakhouse theme with dark, tailored decor, large cuts of beef, seafood, and standard sides. Of all the steak places in Palm Springs, Mr. Lyons is one for birthdays, anniversaries, or just plain steaks in general. It’s sophisticated but not too formal, although reservations would be prudent during busy weekend nights.

Birba features an outdoor patio, pizza cooked in a wood oven, handmade pasta, and vegetable-based appetizers. Though the menu is not very long and offers not many items to choose from, it is still varied enough for sharing among the company. It is a nice option for those who prefer to have an Italian meal in the relaxed atmosphere of the café rather than a restaurant.

Sherman’s is the right place for high-caloric sandwiches, hearty breakfasts, desserts, soups, and other comfort food all day long. The atmosphere here is heavily influenced by the Jewish-Deli cuisine, though there are more options besides such traditional dishes as pastrami and corned beef.

Lulu can be found right on the main drag, providing solutions to the “something for everyone” issue with a very varied menu. People flipping through Palm Springs restaurant listings will find everything from salads, pastas, seafood, and steaks and burgers to weekend brunches there. The patio makes this place nice for people-watching, particularly when the heart of downtown is bustling.

Maracas is the place where a relaxed cantina atmosphere meets the downtown center with its patio, margaritas, and a rather traditional Mexican menu. Fajitas, burritos, tacos, enchiladas, carnitas, and seafood make this place perfect for group dinners that should be laid-back.

Rick’s is an informal and simple place for breakfast and lunch where there is a mixture of American dishes and Cuban influence. Such foods as omelets, chilaquiles, chicken-fried steak, sandwiches, and desserts will be enough for comparison between Palm Springs breakfast places. Early opening helps tourists have their meal before heat during the day.

With Sammy G’s you get your standard Italian American food with pasta, veal, seafood, steaks, and appetizers designed to fill you up. The atmosphere of the dining room is a bit more classic than modern. The place is handy for people looking for a more traditional style of Italian cuisine and table service.

King’s Highway transforms the once popular roadside cafe into a place where one can have breakfast or lunch any time of day. Breakfast burritos and waffles give way to such dishes as ceviche, pasta, salmon, and steak, as well as others, which are not too fancy. The casual room is good for both a fast morning breakfast and a relaxed dinner near South Palm Canyon.

Bar Cecil is a tiny restaurant that is reservation-only and aims at glamour by combining a bar and bistro-style cuisine. With a variety of seafood, steaks, frites, appetizers, and desserts, this is the place where people would appreciate an elegant evening that has some playfulness in it.

Those travelers who search for dog-friendly restaurants in Palm Springs should check out Boozehounds. The outdoor area as well as the interior of this restaurant features Southern California cuisine blended with Filipino and wider Asian touches, including longanisa hash, karaage, and noodles. The ambience is trendy and stylish and yet very comfortable for customers traveling with their pets.

Rooster and the Pig offers some Vietnamese cuisine with a California twist in an intimate dining area. Crispy rolls, dumplings, shaking beef, noodle bowls, curry, and seafood make this place perfect for sharing. No special ceremony is required, only great taste and a limited dinner menu.

Paul Bar/Food appears to be the sort of local bar but with a serious approach to the dinner menu. The dinner menu includes hummus, salads, burgers, steak frites, schnitzel, salmon, pork chops, and vegan curry without any confusion in the menu.

The concept behind The Heyday is that its menu is kept simple on purpose, offering only smashed burgers, fries, wings, some modifications, and drinks. In terms of being able to provide an easy-going contrast to the dining experience in the city, the menu at The Heyday fits perfectly well.

On the other hand, Maleza provides colorful and fun Mexican food throughout the day in the Drift hotel. The menu includes ceviche, aguachile, tacos, tortas, flautas, whole fish, and others to ensure that the dishes remain connected with Mexican coast cuisine, as well as street food. It is also available during brunch on weekends.

As for Lola Rose, it offers its guests the opportunity to create their menus based on Eastern Mediterranean dishes, mixing dips, raw seafood, grilled meat, vegetables, and more. The morning menu includes shakshuka and Turkish eggs. The atmosphere of the restaurant is polished thanks to its proximity to the rooftop area of the hotel.

Crudo Cervicheria offers a narrow way through cold seafood, citrus, chili, and the coastal flavors of Mexico. The ceviches, aguachiles, oysters, shrimp cocktail, and other interesting seafood dishes prevail in the menu. And the small menu is perfect for a light lunch in North Palm Canyon.

LOW DESERT serves contemporary Mexican cuisine in a casual and quick way but still keeps the comfort of tacos, soups, and nachos. This place feels just right among the casual restaurants in Palm Springs as the roasted vegetables fill the menu and carnitas take care of the meat options. Everyday opening hours make it comfortable for lunch and an early dinner.

Being on top of downtown, 4 Saints makes use of the location by offering the dinner that revolves around seafood, prime cuts of beef and lamb, and composed appetizers. Looking for restaurants in Palm Springs with a great view will get you there. The dinner experience requires some planning.