The Cafe at Shields Date Gardens

Great atmosphere outside! My BLT was good but for some reason they put a chipotle aole on an American BLT. Not good at all. Loved sitting under the palm trees. Mom & I enjoyed it. Onion rings were not edible at all! Terrible, cut large but & mostly skins that neither of us could chew. I told management about it, but they did nothing & those dang things are expensive‼
One of the last places we ate at before she passed.

I had brunch with 2 friends. The food was really good, the service was excellent, the setting was beautiful – on the terrace outside. Not expensive, and the store inside is a gem.

1. Quirky, kitschy shop.
2. Yummy date shakes (albeit really inconsistent: mine was delish, my friends had wayyyy too much dates).
3. Vast variety of dates.

We really enjoyed a healthy and delicious lunch here. Loved sitting out on the patio and received good service.

This place is amazing and delicious. My aunt took us there for breakfast and will return. We had the nicest waitress. The atmosphere is beautiful and if the weather had permitted we would have walked the grounds.

Dates are super fresh! Nice samples so you can make your choice. Cool café in the rear of shop.

We always have Adam as our server, he reccomended the bacon wrapped dates as appetizer which were fantastic. We all ordered blue cheese bacon burger and tuna poke food was awesome. Adam was very courteous and friendly thank you so much for the awesome service. Your new friends Jaime, Miguel and Marissa.

Nice hidden gem in the Indio locale. Who knew so much mahout dates — not this guy!
Plus they offer great drink deals during Coachella — you have to wear your wrist band for $ 3 drinks. Cool.
I’ve only been here for breakfast, but it is a great tranquil garden to relax for a change of pace.
Breakfast was brought out in a timely manner, and I highly recommend the signature date pancakes! Just perfect.
There is a cool store and gift shop next to it too.
I’ll be back and you should go!

Foodies come hither! Farm to table! Best breakfast in Indio. Shield’s offers a wide variety of freshly baked breads, including their world famous Date Bread. Try one of their one of a kind Date Pancakes, the decadant $ 12 oatmeal, or for the adventurous: Huevos Rancheros con Nopales (cactus) y Frijoles. The eggs benedict is served with a delicious chipotle hollandaise sauce with a kick!
The patio seating is delightful during the season, and is the optimal way to experience The Café. You are surrounded by acres of date trees, garden walkways and fountains. It is truly an exotic oasis in the middle of a dusty, desert landscape.
The service is impeccable, and the waitresses are pleasant and friendly. Whenever we need a refill they are quick to respond, and are very knowledgable of the menu and different products available in the store.
My wife and I enjoy dining here at least once a month, and this is always on the itinerary when friends or family are visiting from out of town.
The later menu offers a host of delicious burgers and steaks, but breakfast is probably what they are known for.
Before entering the Café in the back, you get to preview/​browse an entire gallery of gourmet foods, collectibles and curiosities. Watch the movie: «Sex Life of the Date» to learn about the history of the farm and the agricultural methods they have developed.
There is also a beautiful, meditative garden walk that can renew the spirit — particularly for those who find inspiration in the Passion account.
This is a MUST SEE for anyone coming to the Coachella Valley, because almost all of the dates produced in the United States are produced right here.

What a great restaurant. Very cute outdoor dining. The date burger was AMAZING! Service was great Loved it here and will be back soon

We were quite disappointed as the quality of the food was quite poor. I had a Caesar salad and the dressing tasted off. My husband had the Denver Omelet had no filling other than a slab of cheese on the top. The hash browns were fair.
Our grandson had the Mac and cheese which tasted like the Kraft Mac and cheese from the box.
The prices were too high considering the poor food quality.
On a positive note, the service was good and timely.
We will never return.

What a hidden gem! We stopped at the Date Farm to check out the shop and gardens, and ended up staying for lunch as well. Beautiful patio seating with a canopy of palm trees to shade everyone. Very relaxing ambiance and terrific food and service! Totally not expecting a café on the side of the rode to be as nice as this. All around great experience.

I’ve always loved this spot. The atmosphere outside is very enjoyable when dinning. We made it right in time today for brunch. They seriously have a great variety of breakfast & lunch items. Their salads are incredible. We also ordered their bacon wrapped dates that are stuffed with blue cheese!!! Absolutely delectable. This desert gem is certainly worth checking out.

«I’m up in the woods, I’m down on my mind
«I’m building a still to slow down the time»
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In A Sentence™
Eggs, pancakes, dates: all taken in on a gorgeous patio? (Victory.)
Quick Review™
+ Get dates on everything.
+/​-​Parking is difficult to come by during festival season. There is an additional dirt lot adjacent to the garden.
— N/​A: it’s hot as fuck; however, Shield Date Gardens does not control the weather.
KEY:
+ Positive observation
+/​-​Neutral note
— Negative observation
Employee of Excellence™
N/​A. Everyone was professional. I believe my server or busser was an amputee; and, that has always stuck out in my memory in regards to the employees of excellence. Name unknown.
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This review is for the restaurant, not the shop/theatre/‘Jesus Walks’ walk/​whatever. The shop –
– has an absurd amount of overpriced tourist junk and is reviewed separately. This is exclusively for the café.
Don’t come here hungry. The wait will be long — especially if you demand not to be seated in the sun (I would never do such a thing, so my wait was cut significantly lower) — therefore come only moderately hungry.
Food
Adequate: eggs, pancakes, girly lemonade.
Service
Adequate: once one acquires a seat.
Restrooms
Adequate: inside.
Parking
Adequate: hard to come by; however, it’s free, so whatthefuck.
Tourists
Lots of tourists here — naturally — especially since, you know, Coachella®.
Kids
Not good for kids! I’m kidding: feed your progeny date fruits so that their diets won’t continue to be absolute shit. FLOTUS approved.
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Rating: Three-​stars, «A-​OK.»

We had one of the best breakfasts
We are locally foodies and love it here
Date pancakes heavenly
Eggs and omelettes amazing
And calamari scrumptious
Sweet potato fries and for this watching their figure spinach salad with dates walnuts and apples yummy.
Service excellent– they listen to what you want and how you want it and deliver

OMG! The patio is huge & gorgeous! It would be beautiful with the lights at night!
Alex is an awesome server! She is so sweet, knows her menu, timing, & doesn’t rush her customers.
Food was great! My friend had a burger. She loved it. On another trip, My dad had a Blue Cheese Date Burger. He absolutely loved it! It was huge & steaming! Looked so yummy! I had one of his shoestring fries & it was tasty & crispy… seasoned well.
I had omelettes both trips (Ratatouille & some Chile one) — both so yummy! Also, the rainbow country potatoes were baked & had a flavorful seasoning of Rosemary Salt. They consisted of several types of potatoes to get the various colors. Yum! I tried the date toast once, it was ok. The next time I ordered the whole wheat toast… that’s more like it!
Oh, try ordering the freshly squeezed juices like grapefruit & orange. I mixed them & it was so delicious! They get the grapefruit from their trees! Carbon Footprint… What?! Haha
Definitely will return for more yumminess & pretty patio seating under the umbrellas & palm trees… ;)

Dates, dates, dates!!! They have anything with dates you can think from cheese stuffed date wrapped in bacon to date shake (which is bomb) to date pancakes!
Came to visit some friends from Indio and they recommended this place to us. Great place for brunch. The patio is very spacious. Great for baby showers and special occasion events.
You need to try the cheese stuffed dates wrapped in bacon!!! Can’t leave here without trying some of these! It’s — but pricey as they are about $ 4 each but it’s so good! It’s not too sweet. Naturally sweet from their organic dates from the tree!
The food that we ordered is pretty good as pictures can show the goodness of it.
Service was good. Friendly and very helpful if you need anything or have any questions.
Don’t forget to check out the beautiful garden! Free admission when you dine in! :) just ask the server and bring the receipt to the store and they will guide you through. It’s a nice walk after your meal to burn some calories. It’s about a 15 – 20 minute walk or however you want to take. Feel free to stop and take pictures. The garden is really peaceful with their waterfall and different fruit tree that they sell in their store!
Before you leave check out their store also! They got their different kind of organic dates from their garden, jams, snacks with dates, date bread, date cookies and so much more! Pictures below!
Try their date shake! Wow this stuff is good!!! So thick and creamy with real dates inside! Definitely gonna come back next time to try other items on the menu and buy some of their dry fruit dates and bread!

Not into dates so my option of this place is not that great but I did try to keep an open mind about the place.
The place had the look of a 50’s shake shop with stools to sit on so you can drink what you order at the counter.
I had the root beer float there and I was not impressed. They served the ice cream in a paper cup and gave me a can of A&W root beer float soda for $ 4.50. Where’s the chilled glass mug with the foam of the soda ready to spill over.
If you love dates the store have dates of various favors and whatever way dates can be prepared. The store also had a lot of nick nack products you would find in a gag shop.

When in Rome, do as the Roman’s Do!
When in Date Garden, Do as the Dater’s Do…
Order food containing Dates… That is where this restaurant excels.
You are on a DATE FARM here.
The Date Pancakes that come with a side of Date Butter and Dates Sprinkled on Top (13.00) was a clear 5 of 5. These will be the best pancakes that you will ever have. We were craving them for the next 24 hours. We dreamed Dates over these.
The Egg White Veggie Omelet was a 2 of 5 – They apparently only know how to make date food. The omelet was dry, flat, tasteless. I make better at home and at most other restaurants. The side of fruit (no dates) containing cantaloupe, cherries, watermelon was 1 of 5 – Just Plain Awful. They should have tested the fruit before serving it to us – some was rotten. We sent it back for a side of breakfast «rainbow potatoes.» The Potatoes were 3 of 5 – Okay, not the best breakfast potatoes we have had. The sweet potato portion of the rainbow potatoes was a 5 of 5 – delicious.
Table Water – very good taste.
Service – Very good.
Atmosphere – Outside seating in the courtyard – One of the best of any breakfast venues. Scenic, Romantic, Relaxing. You can impress your Ritz friends here.
After the meal head inside for Date Testing at the counter. They have multiple varieties and they sell them all. Delicious! Reasonable prices.
Watch out for any jarred foods in the store – some had a label on it from New Jersey! (and some chemical ingredients.)
Just one more time – The Date food is the best – skip the rest. If you come here and order non-​date foods at the restaurant – don’t complain to me.

I came to the Café at Shields Date Garden because a sign for date shakes beckoned to me from the side of the road. Unfortunately its 7am on the Saturday of Stagecoach and the gift shop (which sells the shakes wtf?) doesn’t open for two more hours. :-(
Anyhow, I am hungry and this place is open. After getting over my date shake unavailability shell-​shock I order a ratatouille omelet with hash browns. The omelet is tasty with zuchini, onions, eggplant, mushrooms, feta cheese, and basil. The hash browns are toasted to perfection while not burned nor greasy. I added ketchup because that is how I like them.
Janette, my server, was gracious and attentive to my needs. The café was spotless — probably because I was the first customer of the day. My meal showed up minutes after I ordered it. The rest of the staff were hospitable. While eating, I overheard the witty banter between the waitstaff and you could tell they enjoy the job and the restaurant they work at.