8 top-rated Palm Springs restaurants you must try

Whether you’re looking for authentic Mexican fare, twists on American classics or creative plant-based dishes, we’ve rounded up eight Palm Springs restaurants that serve some of the best food and drink in the Coachella Valley. 

Casa de Silvia (Indio)

This family-owned, no frills Mexican restaurant is a local favorite known for its chilaquiles divorciados and barbacoa as well as its tamales which won a well-deserved first place award at the Indio International Tamale Festival. Place your order at the counter and prepare to enjoy the best northern Mexican food in the Coachella Valley. If you need something to cure a hangover, on the weekends the restaurant serves menudo rojo made with tripe and hominy.

Service isn’t particularly attentive here, so you might need to get up to flag down a server but the food is worth it and everything is made fresh from scratch. On hot summer days, the iced cajeta coffee and horchata iced coffee are sweet refreshments that are guaranteed to perk you up.

Find it: 82720 Miles Ave., Indio, CA 92201

Azúcar (Palm Springs)

Adults-only Azúcar is a bohemian chic foodie destination that consistently serves delicious food and drink utilizing the freshest, seasonal and local ingredients. Sip a blood orange margarita on the restaurant’s rooftop while enjoying sunset views of the San Jacinto mountains before heading downstairs for dinner in the flirty and fun dining room adorned with portraits of Frida Kahlo staring enviously at your plate. We don’t blame her — the rainbow-hued lettuce wraps, local halibut tacos topped with guacamole and dungeness crab stuffed poblano peppers are simply delicious.

Try to save room for dessert — the homemade flan with dulce de leche is the perfect sweet note to end your meal.

Find it: 339 S. Belardo Road, Palm Springs, CA 92262

4 Saints (Palm Springs)

Chef Ysaac Ramirez, who grew up in California, recently debuted a brand-new menu at 4 Saints, a dinner-only signature rooftop restaurant at Kimpton The Rowan Palm Springs. Ramirez’s new menu reflects Southern comfort and Latin influences, reflective of his Latin heritage and culinary training in Memphis, and features dry-aged steaks, fresh seafood and seasonal vegetables presented with bold, smoky flavors.

Dishes like charred maitake mushrooms with jimmy red grits, morita glaze and green apple; Marsh Hen Mill cornbread with sorghum, pecans, crispy chicken skin and cultured butter; or Flannery New York strip steak with celery root, nira chive chimichurri and garlic blossom have complex, layered flavors and are so beautifully presented they rival the rooftop views of the Coachella Valley from seven stories up.

Find it: 100 W. Tahquitz Canyon Way, Palm Springs, CA 92262

Chef Tanya’s Kitchen (Palm Springs, Palm Desert and La Quinta)

Chef Tanya Petrovna has been pioneering plant-based dining in Palm Springs since she opened her first restaurant MT Plate — the first all-vegetarian restaurant in the Coachella Valley — in 1990. She also founded Native Foods, which is now a national plant-based chain, before opening Chef Tanya’s Kitchen in 2017 to continue spreading her love of healthy and delicious vegan food.

Petrovna operates three locations for takeout salads, burgers and sandwiches made with plant-based deli meats. Eggless egg salad with tofu and turmeric is a favorite, along with Moroccan roasted cauliflower with roasted sweet potatoes and chickpeas. The take-and-bake lasagna is a great choice if you’re staying at a rental with a kitchen, and vegan desserts like Mexican chocolate pudding and key lime parfaits feel positively virtuous.

Various locations here.

The Pink Cabana (Indian Wells)

Settle into pink velvet banquettes against a backdrop of banana leaf wallpaper and vintage photos at this charming restaurant inside Sands Hotel & Spa. Chef Ethan Brown serves up a Mediterranean menu with Moroccan touches including housemade yogurt and fresh na’an bread off the grill. Snack on a colorful selection of mezze and quinoa carrot tabbouleh before digging into a macrobiotic tagine with adzuki beans, quinoa, pickles and harissa.

The garden club sandwich is a staple here too, paying homage to Indian Wells’ tennis club and stuffed full of organic turkey, bacon, lettuce, tomato, avocado and Swiss cheese.

Find it: 44-985 Province Way, Indian Wells, CA 92210

Wildest Restaurant + Bar (Palm Desert)

Pasture-raised meats, wild-caught seafood and creative plant-based dishes like jackfruit stuffed chile relleno and king oyster mushroom “scallops” with crispy chickpeas and Okinawa sweet potato make Wildest Restaurant + Bar a great choice for all diets. The wine list here is also one of the best in Palm Springs, and knowledgeable sommeliers will help you find the perfect pairing to your meal — even pouring a taste of something new for you to try along the way.

The restaurant often hosts winemaker dinners and has an excellent happy hour menu available daily from 4:30-5:30 p.m. Weekend brunch includes bottomless champagne and live music with indoor and outdoor seating in the restaurant’s elegant courtyard.

Find it: 72990 El Paseo, Suite 3, Palm Desert, CA 92260

Ruben and Ozzy’s Oyster Bar & Grill (Palm Springs)

It always feels like a party at Ruben and Ozzy’s Oyster Bar & Grill, and the downtown location attracts a mixed crowd of visitors and locals looking for the best seafood in the desert.

The restaurant is named after the two brothers who opened up shop in 2012, and the menu’s oyster shooters, fish tacos, crab enchiladas and campechanas — or Mexican seafood cocktails — highlight the brothers’ Mexican heritage. You’ll also find clams casino, oysters Rockefeller, shrimp tempura, cioppino and other classic seafood dishes from around the world alongside a nice kids menu. If you’re a seafood lover, you won’t go wrong here.

Find it: 241 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, Palm Springs, CA 92262

Trio Restaurant (Palm Springs)

This historic, mid-century bank building in Palm Springs’ Uptown Design District has been serving up bold, old-school Italian food along with lighter contemporary American classics for more than a decade.

Start with Coachella Valley dates accented with gorgonzola and applewood smoked bacon before diving into a heaping plate of Tony’s rigatoni with lemon herb ricotta and Italian sausage. This dish is named after owner Tony Marchese, and it’s a childhood favorite family recipe. Murals by local artists cover the interior walls, and the outdoor patio is a popular place to gather with friends and people watch along Palm Canyon Drive. Many locals say Trio’s happy hour is the best in town, with $6 house wine and $10 martinis available daily from 3-6 p.m. 

Find it: 707 N. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, CA 92262