The Best Restaurant in Joshua Tree National Park, California

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Dining options in the gateway towns around Joshua Tree National Park are extremely limited—you'll mostly find fast-food outlets and a few casual cafés in Yucca Valley and Twentynine Palms. The exception is the restaurant at 29 Palms Inn, which has an interesting California-cuisine menu that features lots of veggies. Still, you'll have to travel to the Palm Springs desert resort area for a fine-dining experience.

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Turns out you can go home again, and, sometimes, when you do, you also quit your day job and open up the kind of restaurant you'd like to hang out in—at least, that's the case with the ex-teacher behind this downtown den that promises (and delivers) "good eats, rad beer." In addition to having the best beer list for 100 miles (with 13 on tap and roughly 70 more in cans and bottles, plus a few ciders, hard kombuchas, seltzers, and wine) it also has delicious food created by a Swedish chef (for real) who worked in big-name kitchens in Copenhagen, New York, and L.A. and who makes falafel so moist and zesty that it will leave carnivores rethinking their stance on veganism.

73471 Twentynine Palms Hwy., Twentynine Palms, CA, 92277, USA
760-800–1275
Known For
  • Elevated, scratch-made comfort food
  • Experiments with pickling
  • Open mike, trivia, and live music nights
Restaurant Details
Closed Aug. and Sun. in summer

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