Dining Around The Desert

Dining Around The Desert: Jackalope Ranch, Indio

Jackalope Ranch Is Big, Really Big!

Jackalope Ranch is the largest restaurant/bar in the desert, by far. It spans 6.5 acres, which can be a positive or negative, depending on what you’re looking for. Restaurant reviewers on Tripadvisor.com gave Jackalope Ranch an average rating of 3.5 out of a possible 5 stars. I completely agree. Jackalope does have several positives and a few areas it could improve upon such as improved service during peak hours. To me, a real attribute of Jackalope Ranch is its atmosphere and outdoor patio setting.

$30 Million Investment

Don Callender, founder of the Marie Callender’s restaurant chain, is said to have invested over $30 million into Jackalope Ranch, and it shows both inside and out. This was to be Don’s flagship restaurant and he truly loved the place; he also built Babe’s in Rancho Mirage at The River. Sadly, Don passed away just before Jackalope’s completion. Jackalope Ranch is now operated by the Kaiser Restaurant Group which also owns the Hog’s Breath Inn, Chop House, Grind Burger Bar, and, of course, the Kaiser Grille.

Jackalope features an indoor saloon, outdoor palapa bar and patio, and evening entertainment including ‘Two Step Tuesday’. My husband, Bill, and I visited the restaurant for Happy Hour one recent evening. The joint was jumping (to say the least) and service was somewhat hit and miss. We sampled four small plates that were very tasty including a BBQ pulled chicken sandwich, Spicy Ahi tuna tacos, fresh guacamole with chips and, of course, their margaritas; one was great and one was not.

Tamale Festival Winner

Jackalope Ranch features fresh tamales daily, including their Pulled Chicken Verde and Pulled Pork tamales. In fact, Jackalope’s tamales are so tasty that they took first place in 2010 and 2011 at the well-known Indio International Tamale Festival.

If you’re looking for a fun place to enjoy some drinks while you munch on BBQ or small plates, give Jackalope Ranch a try. Jackalope is what it is and that seems to be fine with most of the regulars.

Jackalope Ranch is located at 80400 Highway 111 in Indio, just west of Jefferson Street. (760) 342-1999

Dining Around The Desert: Solano’s Bistro, La Quinta

We reviewed Solano’s Bistro in La Quinta (one of our favorite spots) in April, 2011 but want to give you an exciting update. Just last month, Solano’s moved into its new, much larger location in Old Town La Quinta. In addition to its expanded dining area, the new Solano’s includes a separate lounge area and a much larger patio deck. The décor is tasteful and clean.

The menu and many of Solano’s wait staff made the move, which in this case is a good thing. My husband, Bill, loves the stuffed chicken with Parmesan risotto while I prefer the Huckleberry Salmon, Sea Scallops or Italian Sausage Fettuccini. Solano’s offers a variety of salads, appetizers and soups, as well.

The new lounge and adjacent patio is a great place to hang with friends and family or just relax at the end of a busy day of golf, tennis, work or vacationing. That said, Solano’s new location has become so popular you should make a reservation ahead of time, and avoid dining there during prime time on Friday and Saturday evenings. Solano’s is open for lunch and dinner and is located at 78-075 Main Street, La Quinta in the heart of Old Town. (760) 771-6655.

Dining Around The Desert: Okura, La Quinta

We’ve been enjoying the Okura Robata Grill and Sushi Bar for two years now and, frankly, I don’t know why I’ve taken this long to post a review. Even if you’re not someone who enjoys sushi, Okura’s offers a number of cooked entries including steak, seafood, spareribs, tempura vegetables, chicken and many more, that are sure to please your taste buds.

If you’re like me, you likely re-order some of your favorites after you’ve visited Okura a number of times. My husband, Bill, and I continue to enjoy our two favorites from the sushi menu. If you like just a little spice try the Dyno-Mite Rolls prepared with sweet scallops flash fried with Tobiko, cucumber and aioli sauce. Another favorite of ours is Okura’s Volcano Roll. It consists of a California Roll topped with baked salmon and spicy tuna. Or, try the Baked Alaskan Roll, another version of the Volcano Roll with a sweet Miso glaze rather than the spicy salmon.

All You Can Eat Sushi Is Another Option

While we order ala cart from the menu, you might consider Okura’s $29.95 ‘All You Can Eat’ sushi menu. Basically, you are given one hour to eat all the sushi you can. To take advantage of this offer, everyone at your table must order this option and finish all of their food.

Okura features a nice little lounge area, a sushi bar, dining room and a small patio out front. In summary, Okura bridges the gap nicely between a hardcore sushi restaurant and a trendy first-class dining spot.

Okura Robata Grill and Sushi Bar is located at 78370 Highway 111, La Quinta in the Point Happy shopping on the northwest corner of Washington Street and Highway 111. (760) 564-5820. Okura has a second location at 105 South Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs.

> View ALL Desert Dining Suggestions Here

Dining Around The Desert: La Spiga, Palm Desert

Our recent dining experience at La Spiga Ristorante Italiano started with an email from one of my clients. “You always do such a nice job reviewing local restaurants and I am interested in your opinion about La Spiga Ristorante Italiano in Palm Desert,” Julie wrote.

The truth is, my husband, Bill, and I stopped in one evening a couple of years ago when driving by. La Spiga was packed and - without having made a reservation (highly recommended!) - we went elsewhere and frankly forgot about coming back. You see, La Spiga is a hidden gem that’s tucked away from highway 111 in Palm Desert and, in our case, it became one of those “out of sight out of mind” cases.

Wonderful Patio Dining

Thank you, Julie, for jogging our memory. We simply loved La Spiga! La Spiga is a Tuscan-style villa that’s surrounded by rose gardens, herb beds and fruit trees. The patio wraps around the entire building, offering a lovely view of the nearby mountains. We highly recommend that you enjoy La Spiga’s patio (or deck as some refer to it) to maximize your dining experience. Last night, most of the diners were, indeed, taking advantage of the lovely outdoor dining opportunity.

Our server, Aubrey, was fairly new to La Spiga, having been there just two months. But we could tell she was very well trained. It is indeed rare in this day and age for a restaurant to actually invest the time and effort to thoroughly train their wait staff. Aubrey’s service was spot-on and friendly.

Calamari Worth Going Back For

For starters I ordered Calamari Fritti. It was crispy and served on a bed of marinated, julienned cucumbers, with a green tomatillo reduction. Bill and I agreed that this was one of, if not the best, calamari dishes we’ve ever tasted. The calamari was prepared perfectly. It was not oily or greasy, nor was it chewy. What really set this dish apart, though, was the chef’s use of cucumbers and reduction sauce. Aubrey suggested that we take the chef’s recommendation and mix the elements with the calamari. In one word, superb!

Bill’s chose the artichoke with mascarpone soup of the day for his appetizer. The flavor blends were perfect and, frankly, we passed our starters back and forth between each other several times since they were both delicious.

Bring On The Pasta!

For his main course Bill choose the Pappardelle Con Ragu Di Buffalo. This entrée featured pappardelle pasta with Bolognese style in house-ground buffalo tenderloin with red wine reduction. Bill likes the health aspects of buffalo compared to beef, and this dish, again, was enjoyed from start to finish. A real highlight was having leftovers for lunch the next day!

Bing partial to seafood I choose the Risotto Al Pescatore. This dish featured an abundance of seasonal seafood with just the right amount of tomato sauce. Perfection for me personally would have been just a bit more risotto, but the abundance of seafood and wonderful flavors more than made up for it.

I think you’ll agree that La Spiga’s wine list offers a wide selection of wines across a wide array of prices. Enjoy a glass with your Italian dinner or, better yet, share a bottle around the table; you won’t be disappointed!

In summary, the atmosphere and service at LaSpiga’s was top notch. We will definitely be returning to La Spiga several times during the season.

Chef owner Vince Cultraro and his wife/hostess Connie Cultraro, can certainly be proud of La Spiga.
La Spiga Ristorante Italiano is located at 72-557 Hwy 111 in Palm Desert. (760) 340-9318.

> View ALL Desert Dining Suggestions Here

Dining Around The Desert: Cork Tree, Palm Desert

Previously I wrote about one of our visits to Cork Tree in ’09. Since then my husband Bill and I have returned numerous times. Cork Tree remains one of our top suggestions for clients and friends.

Cork Tree offers a bar and lounge menu featuring small bites and appetizers as well as a full dinner menu. On our recent visit we enjoyed Mini Duck Tacos and Smoked Tuna Sliders from the appetizer menu in the lounge. I enjoyed a wonderful Summer Salad with mixed greens, sherry-honey vinaigrette, haricots verts, strawberries, and crumbled feta for my main course. Bill ordered a fabulous Roasted Jidori Chicken Breast with ricotta-artichoke ravioli, sweet and spicy peppers, and a vegetable medley. They were all excellent.

Cork Tree is known for California Cuisine and offers a summer price fixed menu at $28 for a delicious three-course meal. Don’t pass up the soups and crab cakes!

The lounge at Cork Tree offers music most evenings and diners can enjoy the patio deck just off the lounge. Reservation tip: The tastefully decorated booths in the dining room are popular for romantics or diners looking for a fun social evening. If you enjoy people watching try dinner or small plates in the lounge.

Cork Tree California Cuisine is located at 74950 Country Club Drive, Palm Desert at the corner of Country Club and Cook Street. (760) 779-0123

> View ALL Desert Dining Suggestions Here

Dining Around The Desert: La Brasserie, La Quinta

Chef/Owner Emmanuel Janin & his family

Brasserie, the French term for brewery, refers to an unpretentious restaurant that serves drinks and classic Parisian bistro food. Newly opened this year, La Brasserie is a welcome addition to the La Quinta restaurant scene. Chef owner Emmanuel Janin and his wife Kara have succeeded in bringing a traditional French bistro to La Quinta and offer friendly service, reasonable prices and tasty food.

While my husband Bill and I find a few of the French dishes on the heavy side, we enjoyed some of the lighter fare over the course of our three visits. The Graved Lax from the appetizer menu is worth a repeat visit as is the Artisanal cheese platter with fig compote, honeycomb and seasonal garnish.

Bill enjoyed the six-hour brine pork chop with Chipotle mashed potato, grilled asparagus and Coachella Valley date chutney. That said, Bill still rates Lavender Bistro in La Quinta as serving the best pork chop in the valley to date.

The La Brasserie menu offers a good selection of meat, fish and poultry as well as several wonderful salad choices. Their Seafood Bar offers a selection of oysters and shellfish with a variety of sauces. We found the extensive wine list to offer reasonably priced selections, as well.

> View ALL Desert Dining Suggestions Here

La Brasserie Bistro & Bar is open year round and is located at 78-477 Highway 111 in La Quinta at the corner of Washington Street and Highway 111 and adjacent to the Beer Hunter. (760) 771-4400

Update on 2011-10-22 20:51 by Sheri Dettman

Two return visits this month to La Brasserie. And now that the weather has cooled a bit we enjoyed dining on the patio which featured a pianist on the nights we visited.

Dining Around The Desert: The Venue Sushi Bar, Palm Desert

The patio entry to The Venue - Photos: Bill Dettman

Please see our update at the bottom of this article.....
Don't Miss The Venue Sushi Bar & Saki Lounge, Palm Desert

I enjoy discovering new dining experiences in the Palm Springs area many times via recommendations from friends and associates. Before going to a new place I’ll usually take a quick look at online reviews on Yelp. If things look positive and/or interesting we are a go!

We discovered The Venue Sushi Bar & Sake Lounge from our friend Eric Brooks at Land Rover, Rancho Mirage. My husband Bill was out ‘kicking tires’ and had mentioned to Eric that we were going out for sushi that night. Eric recommended the newly opened “The Venue”. The Yelp reviews looked positive so off we went.

Tucked Away Amongst The Shops of El Paseo

The Venue has been open about four months and is tucked away just off El Paseo. A small patio out front is set back from El Paseo. The inside space is both stylish and sleek. From the moment we walked in we felt welcomed and very looked after by owner Engin Onural and his staff.

We sampled three sushi dishes; Bosphorus (shrimp tempura with crab meat, avocado, cucumber and gobo); The Venue (spicy tuna topped with seared salmon, spicy mayo, teriyaki sauce, micro greens and tobiko); and The Spider (crab meat, deep fried soft shell crab and avocado with spicy mayo). The verdict? All three were wonderful! In fact we re-upped on a second order of “The Venue.”

Most of the sushi we enjoyed was topped with a small piece of fresh fruit chosen to compliment each item. What a wonderful and refreshing idea! The Venue features an awesome staff and attentive service, a hip lounge style atmosphere and we plan to return a second time later this week. And please let us know what you think about The Venue or other suggested Palm Springs area dining via our "Post A Comment" button up top.

The Venue is open for lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday and is located at 73-111 El Paseo, Suite 103 in Palm Desert. Reservations suggested. (760) 346-1500

> View ALL Desert Dining Suggestions Here

Update on 2013-04-29 17:14 by Sheri Dettman

We are sorry to say that numerous friends and clients have told us that the Venue Sushi Bar of today is not the Venue many of us came to enjoy last year. My husband Bill and I recently dined there after hearing this, and the food and service was below par. Dissapointing.