What are the best restaurants in Palm Springs? The fun is in finding out.
The Palm Springs region has gained attention and cachet in recent years from food critics in Los Angeles and far beyond for the growing sophistication of its dining scene, and we can confirm that the buzz is well-founded and then some. (As Los Angeles Magazine cheekily put it: “A lot of Palm Springs’ most acclaimed food options rate high on the ‘big deal’ spectrum; i.e., expensive or requiring garments that cover more than half of your body.”)
And who can better recommend some five-star dining experiences in Palm Springs and beyond than one of Palm Springs’ finest five-star luxury lodging experiences, at our Palm Springs Boutique Hotel? The Willows Hotel Palm Springs was originally a millionaire’s private hideaway and was graced with a star-studded list of guests from Hollywood’s Golden Age.
It’s a classic ambiance that has never faded. Our guests love the sense of retreating into a lush, secluded paradise, spending time in our gorgeous terraced gardens, resting in our spacious guest suites loaded with luxury amenities, and gazing at the breathtaking desert-and-mountains panorama stretching for countless miles beyond our walls. And all within minutes of many of Palm Springs’ finest restaurants.
So plan a winter tour of bars and restaurants in Palm Springs, and start by reserving your room at our Palm Springs Boutique Hotel today!
Our Eight Favorite Restaurants in Palm Springs
There’s no shortage of “Best Restaurants in Palm Springs” lists from the experts. They include Los Angeles magazine, Eater Los Angeles, Forbes, Zagat, USA Today, Locale, Food & Wine, Travel + Leisure, and many others. But there’s no perspective like a longtime Palm Springs insider’s perspective, and we’re happy to share our special insights on great restaurants in Palm Springs.
As always, check before you go for each restaurant’s COVID-19 protocols and restrictions before you visit the best restaurants in Palm Springs.
- Le Vallauris tops our list of top restaurants in Palm Springs, and not just because it’s across the street from our Palm Springs Boutique Hotel. This bastion of French-Mediterranean cuisine will make you feel “as if you’ve entered the home of a French relative who wants nothing better than to make you happy.” Zagat gave Le Vallauris high marks for “exquisite” cuisine.
- Johannes. This restaurant offers “modern European cuisine with a casual, upscale ambiance.” Zagat’s complimentary review singled out the restaurant’s “perfectly crispy” roast duck and “very” good wiener schnitzel and lavished praised on the service and setting.
- Tac/Quila is more than a clever name. It’s a term the restaurant’s creators came up with to describe its blend of Jalisco-style cuisine with specialty tequilas and mezcals. (They also own Farm, which specializes in the south-of-France fare.)
- Sandfish is a “genre-bending” sushi-and-whiskey eatery created by Engin Onural, considered one of the world’s top sushi chefs after qualifying for the World Sushi Cup competition in Japan, an honor given to just 30 chefs.
- Workshop Kitchen + Bar is considered one of Palm Springs’ best farm-to-table dining venues, and simply one of the best restaurants in Palm Springs. A Zagat review noted its “innovate” fare and “unique” craft cocktails.
- Blackbook is your place if you’ve been craving Nashville Hot Chicken. This open-air bar and grill attracts a primarily gay clientele, and its loyal following earned it Best Restaurant honors in the Best of Valley 2020 competition conducted by the Desert Sun-Times newspaper,
- Rooster and the Pig is a restaurant serving “ambitious riffs” on Vietnamese cuisine. with a strip-mall location cleverly rebranded as “industrial chic.” Zagat named it as one of its “20 Reasons to Drive to Palm Springs.”
- Copley’s on Palm Canyon. Located on an estate that once belonged to Cary Grant, its delicious food and dazzling views from its spacious garden seating area make this one the most “wonderfully “classy, romantic” dining destination, according to Zagat.
Stay at Our Palm Springs Boutique Hotel When Dining Out
When you’ve had your fill of delicious gourmet food and drink at the best restaurants in Palm Springs, you’ll return to unwind within the peaceful oasis inside the walls of our Palm Springs Boutique Hotel.
You can relax poolside on our patio, on your private balcony or Jacuzzi tub, the verandah overlooking our 50-foot waterfall, or in our lush terraced gardens with some of the best-elevated views of Palm Springs and the rest of the sprawling Coachella Valley — just as Hollywood stars like Clark Gable and Carole Lombard did 80 years before!
You’ll get a good night’s sleep in one of our seventeen guest suites, loaded with luxury amenities like clawfoot tubs, oversized tile showers, king beds, and a long list of luxury amenities. Then wake up in sunlit splendor after a good night’s sleep and enjoy a gourmet three-course breakfast before doing it all over again.
So make your plans for a winter tour of the best restaurants in Palm Springs — and start by booking your guest space at our Palm Springs Boutique hotel today!
