Rancho Mirage / Palm Desert area - best family restaurants?
 

Hi everyone,

Can anyone give me some recommendations for the best family restaurants in the area? We'll be staying at the Westin Mission Hills Villas this weekend.

We'd like good food... but not ultra pricey or dressy places. The kids are 16 and 12. We like Steakhouses, Italian, Mexican, Asian... pretty much everything.

Should we eat one night at the Westin?

Thanks.

Carole

Anyone have recommendations?

I have read a couple of threads on the topic of restaurants in Palm Springs and surrounding areas, but I think most were high end places. Any good middle of the road places?

Thanks for your help.

Kaiser Grill in downtown Palm Springs is a good moderately priced restaurant. They have early bird specials if you're looking to keep the cost down. Las Casuelas is always a popular choice. There are multile locations throughout the valley, including downtown Palm Springs and in Rancho Mirage along Hwy 111.

Kalura Trattortia is a good choice for moderately priced Italian food in downtown Palm Springs. There is a local chain called Mario's which is popular for Italian. Devane's Italian Kitchen (located in the Albertson's shopping center at Monterey & Country Club) is also good. Papa Dan's is in a center on the opposite corner - a casual Italian choice with good pizza.

Thai Smile is a good choice for Asian food. There's a location in Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage and La Quinta.

The River is an entertainment center in Rancho Mirage. It will be a good choice for the entire family. There's a movie theater, Borders and a variety of restaurants, including Cheesecake Factory, the Yardhouse and PF Changs.

If you're in downtown Palm Springs around lunch time, Tyler's is a favorite. The sliders and potato salad are top choices.

Enjoy the desert this weekend. It's supposed to be in the mid 70's most of the weekend.

Thanks sightseer. We'll bring the list with us!

Carole

Try Billy Reed's for a casual family place, varied menu. It's in Palm Springs, not far from entrance to the tramway. Guess you could call it a glorified coffee shop, but it's pretty good. Well known for their caesar salad.

Billy Reed's sounds great. Thanks Andeesue!

We too have enjoyed billy Reed's and Kaiser Grille. In Cathedral City, check out Don & Sweet Sue's Diner specializing in big hamburgers, comfort food (chckn' n dumplins) and homemade desserts. Stop in just for dessert if nothing else!

Everything recommended sounds great. We'll most likely skip the chain restaurants (we have lots of those here in San Diego)... but the others sound wonderful.

We leave tomorrow morning... I'm glad to have the restaurant planning out of the way!

Thanks for your help... I needed it with such a busy week.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Agree with Thai Smile. Also might be fun to go to the Marriott and take the boat that runs to the restaurants to one of them that appeals to you. We liked the Japanese and Mexico places.

I heard the Marriott is really nice with the boats... will consider that as well.

We're in Palm Springs as we speak!

Thanks again.

Carole

Thanks again, everyone... for the 2 nights we were there, we ended up at Kaiser Grille and Billy Reed's. They were both good, but in different ways... service was excellent at both.

We actually tried to get into Las Casuelas on Friday night but it was packed. We also drove by Don and Sweet Sue's several times... but never at the right time for dinner or dessert. Oh, well... next time. Thai Smile is on our "next time" list too.

For the Rancho Mirage area, the best family restaurant is Piero's Acqua Pazza at the River. It has the largest kid's menu and a huge variety of food for adults too. They have a full bar with a fabulous drink list. Great choice for all!

What a strange first post! And in the middle of July, too. Piero's is okay, but for some reason I don't think of it as a family restaurant.

Especially with a Cheesecake Factory next door.

In the same complex (the River) the Japanese place (Maki Maki) isn't bad for the bento box lunch. There's also a branch of Baja Fresh chain. It's one of the California type that features freshly prepared items, not so much the cheesy gloppy type.