Diners' Choice: Best Overall restaurants in Palm Springs / Palm Desert Cities

OpenTable

Updated September 05, 2024

Looking for the best overall restaurants in Palm Springs / Palm Desert Cities? You’re in the right place. Each month, OpenTable analyzes nearly 2 million global diner reviews from the past four months. We sort the results by location and category to help you discover new favorite restaurants. It's a great partnership: you reserve, eat, and review. We listen...and deliver the results for all to benefit. Enjoy!

Canopy Wine Lounge

5.0

5 (84)

$50 and over

Wine Bar

Palm Springs

About the restaurant

Canopy Wine Lounge is a driving source for wine & community no matter where your palate takes you. To curate this lounge, a partnership formed between longtime Palm Springs local Noah Mamet and the owner of our 15 unique winery properties around the globe. Our decor is a modern take on the popular design of the 1950's, using clean lines, pops of color, and various textured fabrics and fixtures.

To accent our wine bar, we have a custom-built clay amphora where our in-house winemaker will be fermenting and ageing a Californian rosé. Glowing fireplace features highlight our meticulously curated selection of desert plants. Our food bites are meant to be paired with quality-driven wines and lively conversation between friends.

Top review

Ashley

Dined 4 days ago

Jen was our server for the night. She surprised us in our greeting for the evening. She was very pleasant and warm. The vibe and ambiance of the place was great. Decor was epic. Highly recommend.

Chez Pierre Bistro

4.8

4.8 (1525)

$31 to $50

French

Palm Desert

About the restaurant

Chez Pierre Bistro is an authentic and most charming French bistro that everybody wished they had in their neighborhood, where Chef Pierre develops his profound love for creative and innovative ideas in his kitchen.
The ambiance is intimate, friendly, his staff always very professional and his charming wife Esther watches over the dining room.

Chef Pierre has the extensive knowledge, passion and respect of the best ingredients from local farmers markets. His cuisine is superb and his daily specials are impressive, unique and follow the seasons.
In the winter you can find his famous cassoulet, in the spring, shad roe and soft shell crabs, in the summer, paella in addition to a selection of wild fish.

It is no surprise that Chez Pierre Bistro has been voted Best French restaurant of the Desert for the past 10 years and nominated among ”Best Chef of America” by his peers.

Top review

STEVEvip

Dined 5 days ago

Genarally ,always a enjoyable dining experience at Chez Pierre. Introduced some friends to the restaurant this night with good results. Everything went well altough the server knowledge of the food preparation prevented one of our diners to change their side dish to veggies of choice due to allergies, All in all ,a pleasant Saturday date night.

Mélange Restaurant & Bar at the Chateau Lake La Quinta

4.6

4.6 (1295)

$30 and under

American

La Quinta

About the restaurant

The only lakeside dining in the greater Palm Springs area, Mélange, located in the luxury boutique hotel, the Chateau at Lake La Quinta, offers exquisitely prepared food using only the finest ingredients procured from small California family farms. Classic dishes prepared with a contemporary flair with lighter more flavorful sauces infused with fresh herbs, grown in the herb garden at the Chateau, Mélange offers modern cuisine for those who enjoy eating and living well. A remarkable new desert experience!

Reservations Recommended

Top review

Bobvip

Dined 6 days ago

Beautiful setting on the water - Food was excellent

Oceans

4.8

4.8 (1363)

$31 to $50

Seafood

Cathedral City

About the restaurant

Oceans a Mediterranean is fine dinning style seafood restaurant at its location since 1995.This intimate European restaurant brings the Oceans to desert offering fresh seafood prepared in classic Mediterranean and Californian styles. Dishes like bouillabaisse, paella, abalone sea bass, sand dabs, shrimp, scallops, lobster, salmon, swordfish, tuna, oysters are served every day. Not a fish lover? Oceans offers meat specials for meat lovers 16 oz veal chop, rack of lamb and steaks. Oceans serves premium spirits and an extensive wine list. Do not wait and jump to Oceans.

Top review

Cheryl

Dined 2 days ago

Ocean’s is one of my favorite spots for lunching. The food is consistently delicious…Sand Dabs being my favorite. The staff is friendly and attentive. I highly recommend this small, hidden gem.

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Coral Sushi & Sake Bar

4.9

4.9 (132)

$30 and under

Sushi

La Quinta

About the restaurant

NOW OPEN!

Coral Sushi and Sake Bar is excited to be serving the Coachella Valley. We are a Sushi Bar with a Korean influence in the menu, proudly serving our signature rolls and amazing sake and wine list. Join us for an appetizer and drinks or for a special night out.

Top review

Kimberly

Dined 1 day ago

We had a wonderful dinner at Coral Sushi. The decor is beautiful and upscale ..loved the Coral upholstery in the booths. The menu is extensive and dishes are expertly presented with delicious creative taste bites for everyone's taste . The menu is extensive. My favorite was , sashimi , and Chicken appetizer. Many wonderful beers and sake, wine and softy drinks. We can't wait to go back and try some more. The only suggestion is to give a little more sushi rice with the sushi. We will be back soon.

Jillian's

4.7

4.7 (983)

$50 and over

International

Palm Desert

About the restaurant

Romantic. Inviting. Original. Uncompromising quality.
Superb cuisine graciously served in an extraordinary atmosphere, is the unique inspiration of proprietors Jay and June Trubee.
Guests will experience a masterful Eclectic cuisine. Our menus are designed to include seasonal local ingredients, classic Jillian’s dishes and, of course, your preferences. To accompany your meal, we offer an extensive selection of fine wines from around the world.
Whether you choose one of our distinctive dining rooms or the inviting outdoor courtyard, enchanting garden or private terrace, every detail will be attended to, every need met. With everything from the menu selection to the wine pairings and flower arrangements that can be custom-designed for a most memorable occasion.

RESERVATIONS FOR 5 GUESTS OR MORE.......CALL (760) 776-8242

Top review

AmyS

Dined on May 23, 2024

This is a locals favorite so it's often tough to get a reservation in peak season but we lucked out. I had the special halibut and it was one of the best halibut dishes I've ever tasted. Highly recommend.

Counter Reformation

4.8

4.8 (228)

$31 to $50

Wine Bar

Palm Desert

About the restaurant

Bar seating and ledge-leaning is the rule of thumb -- think Paris tabac or the zinc -- the heat of local life, crowded with regulars at the counter waiting for their vin rouge. Here you'll find our Cave à Manger, an eclectic curation of wines by the glass offered with a menu of small plated savory delicacies created for this tasting smorgasbord. More than an amuse-bouche, less than a serving. Range, variety, exploration and discovery are the point...........................................
RESERVATIONS ARE RECOMMENDED BUT, IF YOU DON'T SEE ANY AVAILABILITY, JUST WALK-IN FOR THE NEXT SEAT AVAILABLE.

Top review

Tyler

Dined on Aug 3, 2024

Great food and really good wine! I would definitely go back.

Freddies Kitchen at the Cole

4.9

4.9 (200)

$31 to $50

French American

Palm Springs

About the restaurant

A modern French Bistro serving fresh, French California cuisine with global flavors in a casual, social, and welcoming atmosphere.
Chef Frederic takes the best locally grown and sourced food, mixes it with his creativity, and re-imagines it into perfect bites prepared with love.
Located at the remodeled Cole Hotel, a place to gather in Uptown Palm Springs.
We look forward to serving you!

Top review

Dr.Harryvip

Dined 1 day ago

Though we never looked into his kitchen, it must be amazing (if not magical), in that the dishes were were served that originated in it were marvelous! Freddie, himself, is an affable and enthusiastic full-of-life character who seems to enjoy hospitality as much as he enjoys the freshest and highest-quality ingredients into marvelous combinations and creations that have attracted many repeat customers -- quite a testimony with restaurants in this town on every corner, it seems, and many others lining the blocks between them. The dining room is spotless as well as well-decorated and convivial, and everything is conducive to the celebration of life, itself, including a great menu and very reasonably priced wine list. Chef Frederic Pierre's notable industry accomplishments have enabled him to bring his skills and expertise to the Palm Springs community, and we are very much graced by the presence of him and his restaurant. This was our first visit to Freddie's, but it will not be our last. Already, we are looking at our calendar to plan our next visit to Freddie's wonderland of culinary delights. We can't wait!

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Popular dish

Peppered Elk Medallions

Popular dish

Wild Mushroom Strudel

Arnold Palmer's Restaurant

4.8

4.8 (4509)

$31 to $50

American

La Quinta

About the restaurant

CLOSED FOR SUMMER FROM JUNE 2ND THROUGH SEPTEMBER 18TH

Arnold Palmer’s Restaurant features Progressive American cuisine, including fresh seafood, steaks, and some of Arnie’s great comfort foods. This one-of-a-kind restaurant features many indoor dining options, including multiple private rooms, a beautiful bar and lounge, and an impressive wine room that houses 2,500 bottles with a large table for special events up to 20 guests. The extensive newly remodeled patio (awarded 2022 top 100 outdoor dining restaurants in the country by open table diners) offers live entertainment every night featuring Mark Linford with stunning views of the Santa Rosa Mountains and breathtaking landscape.

Top review

BrianH

Dined on Jun 2, 2024

This was our first trip to Palmers and we loved it. Food was great, service was fantastic and the bar had a very relaxed and comfortable vibe.

Johnny Costa's

4.8

4.8 (2131)

$31 to $50

Italian

Palm Springs

About the restaurant

From the classic Italian music to the candlelit tables, the nostalgic atmosphere at Johnny Costa’s Ristorante feels like traveling back to midcentury times. It’s no wonder Frank Sinatra was once a regular at this fine Italian restaurant, which has been honored by Palm Springs Life as best Italian restaurant for 10 consecutive years. The Costa family continues the legacy of late chef-owner Johnny Costa, who was pals with Sinatra when he moved to Hollywood from New York in the 1960s, and a decade later served as the singer’s personal chef at his desert home. Costa’s pedigree lives on in his legendary recipes, including his classic cioppino. Open for dinner at 5 p.m. Closed Sunday & Monday

Top review

Joevip

Dined 2 days ago

Good service and the veal picatta is quite delicious.

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