la.foodblogging

Am going to continue to stretch the geographical boundaries of LAFB by reporting on a recent trip to Palm Springs. KT set the precedent with a wonderful report on a Central Coast trip.

Me, I’m crazy. Its broiling hot in LA so where do I go? Where it is even hotter!

Anyway, all these years in LA , I’ve never been a tourist in this little oasis a mere 2 hours drive away. Thus, I had no idea where to eat and on this occasion, I did not research food options in preparation for the trip.

Thus, my question for our dear gentle LAFB readers is this: how do you decide where to have a meal in a town where you don’t know anything about the options?

Ask a local

Was in the mood for fish and there are plenty of swanky upscale places that would have fish on the menu but what about something more affordable?

I was told to check out Fisherman’s Market and Grill.

The quality of food to price ratio was very good. As you can see the setting isn’t fancy but it was cool which is what you are looking for when it is 90F+ outside!

One can order any number of fresh fish on the chalkboard and have it grilled. I asked the lady at the counter to suggest something and she liked the fish tacos and that is what I ordered.

Fisherman’s Market and Grill
235 S. Indian Canyon Drive
Palm Springs, CA 92262
Phone: (760) 327-1766
Fax: (760) 416-8641
Mon-Sat 11:00 am-9:00 pm
Sunday 12:00 pm-8:00 pm

After dinner, I walked up Palm Canyon Drive to check out the downtown Villagefest. It was their weekly street fair which occurs every Thursday night. There were many arts and craft vendors, food carts and musicians.

If I hadn’t had the delicious fish tacos, I would have had some of the grilled meat from this vendor below …

The crowd wasn’t very large as the sun was still out. I went back to walk by all the booths again when the sun went down and the crowd was much larger. All the tourists ventured out from their air conditioned hotels and lot of the local kids were buzzing about in packs of their friends.

What to have for breakfast?

Ask a local

Plenty of hotel dining options but why not get out and away from the main hotel and restaurant row? The local recommendation I got was Rock Garden Cafe.

I bet this locale with ample outdoor seating is really packed when it isn’t broiling out! But even with the misters going, most people went inside for breakfast/bunch that morning.

I enjoyed the omelette!

And reasonable prices too.

Rock Garden Cafe
777 S Palm Canyon Dr
Palm Springs, CA 92264-8126
(760) 327-8840

Unfortunately, for the next two other places, I didn’t bring the camera.

Where to go?

One can go where there is a huge crowd… they must know something!

Had a wonderful burger from Hamburger Mary’s. It is more expensive (variable up to $10) than your typical fast food burger but it was really good and good sized (bigger than your typical fast food burger) with all the fixings. Also, the fries were terrific!

Hamburger Marys Bar & Grille
415 N. Palm Canyon Drive
Palm Springs, CA 92262
Phone: 760-778-MARY
Fax 760-322-7466

Go where there is a modest sized crowd

It was a Friday night and some of the restaurants had people spilling out into the streets. Didn’t want to wait forever for dinner. Some restaurants looked way too swanky inside for my budget. Came across Backstage Bistro which was somewhere between overflowing and empty. I suppose everyone was inside the showroom for the evening event so the streetside dining was not too crowded. The prices on the display menu showed most entrees in the teens as far as price. Go for it.

Olive oil and balsamic vinegar was provided for dipping the pre-main course bread. Bread was good. Good sign! Bread is often a good indicator of things to come in my experience. I had a delicious salad with cheese and fruit. But, I must say though that the slices of beef layered on top were a tad overcooked.

Backstage Bistro
200 S. Palm Canyon Drive
Palm Springs, CA 92262
(760) 864-9293

One observation I have to make about all the restaurants I visited was that I found the customer service to be a bit under-whelming. It was not the most attentive nor friendly. But I wonder if the fact that it was 90F+ at 9pm and 100F+ the rest of the time had anything to do with it? With that in mind, all us diners should cut them some slack?

For those who know Palm Springs well, what are your recommendations?

To see a post that includes tourism aspects of my Palm Springs trip, go here.

By Rene (see more of his posts). You can find more of Rene's writing at his own website Rene's Ramblings