Restaurants in Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Dec 2008

We just came back from the Palm Springs/Desert area and were there over the Christmas holidays. We had several good meals. Christmas eve we ate at the Cork Tree in Palm Desert. 74950 Country Club Dr. Palm Desert, CA 92260 (760) 779-0123‎ It was very busy, but the staff handled the crowd with only a small glitch or two. I had a soup and an appetizer and it was sufficient as a meal (artichoke/mushroom ravioli, delish!) Others in our party had sea bass and scallops, both quite good.

On Christmas day we had lunch at the Renaissance Esmeralda Hotel, La Cava restaurant in Indian Springs

44-400 Indian Wells Lane

Indian Wells CA 92210-8708 Phone:760-773-4444 They were having a huge buffet lunch that was very expensive and not what we were wanting.It looked good,though. We ordered from the menu. The best item was the Thai chicken lettuce wraps, it was enough to serve as an entrée, well spiced with two sauces. We went back a few days later and ordered the same thing again.

A casual lunch was at Las Casuelas Nuevas 70-050 Hwy 111, Rancho Mirage, California tel: 760.328.8844 for Mexican food. Reasonably priced and large portions. The food and the service were good. I think they have a second location in Palm Springs.

Finally, we ate at Thai Smile 651 N Palm Canyon Dr. Palm Springs, CA 92262 (760) 320-5503. They were out of almost all the beers on the drinks menu, so there were only 1-2 choices there, but the service was attentive for a busy night. The food good but not outstanding. The best was the Pad Thai. We ordered mildly spicy and there was hardly any “heat” at all. Next time I will kick that up a notch. This is a casual, neighborhood, family run place.

Restaurants in Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Dec 2008

We were at the Cork Tree in November, it is a very busy restaurant, to service all the condo%26#39;s and hotels in the area on Country Club Dr. We%26#39;ve had good meals there since they opened.

There are four Las Casuelas in the desert. We%26#39;ve tried them all, lots of food there.

Sounds like you had nice meals.