SO.PA

This place is a WOW! Seating is 100% outdoor in charming garden setting. You might think– what? Eating outside in desert, in the SUMMER? Yes! It was lovely! The misters in the space keep it cool. Our server, Jeff, was attentive And wonderful. Both entrees were excellent. Vegetarians elate. the squash and noodle meal was flavorful and interesting. The steak was the best we have had in the desert. Loved it! Green light!

Having heard amazing things about this restaurant from several friends, we were exited to try it out. The space itself is beautiful, and we had fairly good service. That’s about the only positive things I can say about this restaurant.
Four of us had dinner and not one of us enjoyed our food. We had to send one fish appetizer back as the fish was inedible and stale. The other appetizers were bland at best.
The duck tasted like spam, the crab ravioli was cold, and the short ribs were disgusting.
We’ll never go back again, and we were truly hoping to love it.
Save you money and eat somewhere else in the desert!

Saw this place listed as one of the best restaurants in the area so I gave it a try…
I wanted so bad to like this place! Michelin chef I think, so I was expecting the greatest food I’ve ever eaten.
The food, was very tasty. I’ll give them that. However, a few things:
1) I like salt, but a few dishes were a tad saltier than I would expect. Not a deal breaker though, the food was still delicious.
2) Extremely small portions for the $$$$. But again, this is not a deal breaker, as we all know these expensive places serve little food.
3) The issue I have with this place, that made it 3 stars and not 4, is the service. Bordering on the horrible side. Especially given how few tables were full at the time. When I pay $ 30 for 1 mushroom, I expect great service… Did not happen. Some of these complaints will be small ones and some will be larger, but again, service at these places should be spot on. Get some lessons…
A) We finished our drinks, the waiter never asked if we wanted another one. Had to wait forever and then ask for it ourselves. Never leave an empty glass if you can help it. Huge problem.
B) Waiter asked if we were having wine, we said no, waiter said ok but never removed the big wine glasses from the table… Had to ask.
C) Extremely slow service
D) Waiter never asked if we were ready to order just kept walking around. Had to ask. We gave our order, waiter walked away. Had to ask him to take the 5 menus off the table when he came by 15 minutes later.
E) Finished meal, waiter said would you like dessert, we said sure we will look at a menu. Waiter said ok, never brought a menu… Doesn’t make sense. 10 min went by and I asked the hostess for a dessert menu, she went and got one.
Try it if you want, just expect the above. Or maybe it was an off night, but it was Friday night at 8pm. Good Luck.

Interesting menu, food tasted good and service was very good. The major problem is the restaurant is outside under trees that kept dropping leaves on me and my food. In addition it was very hot with no provisions for even circulating the air which by the end of the dinner it was extremely uncomfortable.

Let me preface this review by saying I am a huge foodie and appreciate fine dining/​cuisine. None of which you will find at SO​.PA.
The whole evening was a disaster from start to finish.
First, we had a 9pm reservation, and called a couple hours early asking if we could come early to our reservation. We were told no, yet when we got there, literally half the tables were empty.
We sat down to our table (ambience is beautiful) and began a journey with one of the worst server experiences I have ever witnessed. Guillaume (who was ridiculously rude all night), informed us that every dish (even entrees) consist of just a few small bites, so each person should order 5 dishes… we’re talking $ 250 per person easy. Despite us sharing that we had already had appetizers and weren’t too hungry, he persisted in reminding us all night that we would only get «few bites». And he wasn’t kidding! The beet salad had 3 tiny pieces of beet. The root salad had a few small pieces of root vegetable. The portions were almost laughable.
But Guillaume had only gotten started. My friend asked for sparkling water. Guillaume proceeded to pour everyone sparkling water except the person who had asked! I have a dairy allergy and asked if they could remove the crème fraiche from the tartare appetizer. Guillaume’s response was first, you should include the crème fraiche, and when I explained I couldn’t he told me he would have to get special permission from the chef?
Meanwhile the food was not on point. Everything was super salty, especially the root veggies where I think the turnip fell in a bowl of rock salt. Portions were laughable.
It’s too bad as the location/​ambience are fabulous. But we had far better meals and experiences over the weekend, so just can’t recommend So. Pa!

When we walked in to the restaurant we were so excited because the setting was beautiful. Very lovely garden with hip and stylish décor. The menu also was terrific with lots of good choices. Unfortunately the food did not fit the setting and service. We were very disappointed. The forgot the mousse on my mushrooms and the greens had no flavor even after they added the mousses. My ravioli were Cold and dry.

Here is the letter that I wrote to the management after our dinner at
. It kind of says it all. I, after 3 days of no response, called them again and got Michael on the phone. He said that he had just received the email. He was nice and apologized and said that they are working out the kinks with the new chef. But, I still feel like my anniversary was hijacked by the chef. I am giving 2 stars because of the beautiful atmosphere and good service by the waitstaff.
Anyway, here ya go:
Dear Nathan and Michael:
I am reaching out to you to tell you about our experience last Saturday night at
. First… a bit of background. This is hard to do without sounding snobby or ridiculous. So, I apologize. But I am hoping that it simply helps you take our feedback more seriously. My husband and I are both very well traveled. We live in the Bay area. I am from New York. We love food (foodies…hate that word) and have eaten all over the world in all types of restaurants. In other words, we believe that we know a bit about food.
We were so excited when we entered your beautiful restaurant. We had read great things about it online and the menu looked wonderful. The space is glorious! We loved the calm lighting. big candles and the warm breeze blowing through the patio. We were greeted by the lovely and welcoming hostess. Our waiter (sweet, big guy with the beard) was also welcoming and an amazing server. We were celebrating our wedding anniversary so it was a special night for us.
We read the menu and the waiter started a lengthy explaination about the «bites». Telling us that a main course was a few bites… apps 1 bite, etc. After sending LOL texts to my sister (a private chef) about the 20 dollar root vegetables with carrot «air». I was hoping that we were not in fact going to be paying for «air». hmmmmm? I started to get concerned that it was going to be long and hungry evening.
We started with a beautiful glass of Rose and the nice bread bowl. And things slipped downhill from there. Here’s what we ate:
the shrimp appetizer. Very precious. Very light. okay. Not knock-​your-​socks-​off
Root vegetables and carrot «air». Yep… paying 20 dollars for air. Almost a joke with the plate ½ empty. one kale leave and a teeny-​tiny portion of very tasty root vegetables. The cost of these ingredients is minuscule and so was the portion. Seriously at that point I wanted to run into the kitchen and beg for food. (the one bland shrimp bite was not doing anything for me)
ceviche: I returned it. It was so bitter and sour that I couldn’t taste the hamachi. And when I did, it was rubbery and not sweet and smooth as good hamachi should be. Terrible dish.
short ribs: We wound up ordering 2 of these, almost out of hunger panic at this point. These were delicious!
ravioli: tasted like «smoke». Really disappointing: meager portion and simply not delicious to either of us.
Duck: Just okay. Also a bit rubbery and just not wonderful. Portion was not what I would call a «main course». And the dish was quite one-​note.
desert: Beautiful presentation. I don’t even remember what the desert was. All I remember was that it said it came with gelato. We shared it and it was literally ¼ of a teaspoon of gelato on the plate and 2 bites of a desert. At this point I wanted to run into the kitchen and yell at the chef and just say «GET over yourself! This is not an art project. This is our meal!»
I love and appreciate beautifully presented food. I am a designer for my work. So of course I do. But I also love great food. Isn’t precious and self conscious food completely dated? Does anyone want to eat like that anymore? Pay hundreds of dollars for a meal and go home feeling hungry and ripped off?
I just want to mention that we have had many tasting-​menu restaurant experiences that have been wonderful. It is not the concept that bothers us. Restaurants where each dish came out, perfectly timed and unique, beautifully presented and fabulous.
is an example of that.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read through the details of our evening.

This isn’t the worst restaurant in the world. Basically the food is interesting but not really great, and the portions are tiny. Two people spent $ 140 (with a cocktail each) and left feeling hungry. The setting is beautiful. We won’t be going back or recommending this place to others.

A nice gem in the middle of Palm Springs. I thought the dining area was very nice, inside out seating makes this place a wonderful spot when the weather permits. The following dishes where all great and the service was friendly and efficient.
1.)Olives Home Preserved Olives, Valbreso Feta, Salted Marcona Almonds.
2.)ROASTED SPANISH OCTOPUS
Smoked Squid Ink Paint, Crushed Potatoes, Parsley Pesto, Roasted Baby Tomatoes, Aglio Croocante, Secret Octopus Seasoning and Urfa Chillies.
3.)BLISTERED SEA SCALLOPS CARPACCIO
Fermented Cream, Pickled Blackberries, Baby Chioggia Beets, Salmon Caviar, Confit Grape Tomato, Preserved Lemons, Smoked Sea Salt Dust.
4.)5.)ALASKAN STEELHEAD SALMON TROUT
Kaffir Lime Spiced Beluga Lentils, Gelled Egg, House Strained Yogurt.
CONFIT DURHAM RANCH POUSSIN
Seasonal Apple Pureé, Red Wine Gastrique, Baby Artichokes, Celery Salt

More like a 4.5 star review here. First one nit-​picky thing that don’t warrant giving this place a 4 because the food was that good and the setting stunning. When we sat down our table was covered in things falling off the trees and nobody brushed them away, which they did for other tables when the sat.
But, the food makes up for it. And the fact that they have Badoit sparkling water, hard to find outside of France and one of my favorite finds when I was there! Cocktails were inventive and really creative. My salmon dish was brilliant. The quinoa dish we had was simple but really memorable. The oxtail was good, but not a must-​have if I came back. The squid was on par with some of the better squid that I have had, but I expected something a bit more unique given how inventive the rest of the menu is here.
I get that they want to give guests privacy, but it is too bad that you can’t really check out or even see the rest of the hotel from the restaurant.

THE most horrible bad food I got ever served!!! Their fantastic chef from the opening month last yr August, whose food was a real Michelin Star treat, left! and now as they say they are in some” transition”??? Shocking bad!!! Not even eatable! We 3 send each and every of our dishes back!!!

Yuck.
First of all, we called 3 hours before our reservation (for 5) asking if we could make it 6 as a friend wanted to join us. They not only declined, but had a serious attitude about us even asking. Low and behold, we show up and you could very comfortably sit 8 at our table. And more or less shoot a cannon through the restaurant.
Now that you mention it, their tables which we sat at (booths), were uncomfortable as fuck. Hot as hell, no ventilation, and light beaming in your face.
Appetizers come, oysters in Palm Springs? Probably not our best decision; however this is a nice place, they must be able to accommodate, right? Wrong. Gross oysters, and not even on some ice (it would be useful since it’s so hot, and hot oysters are disgusting)
Entrée: Risotto. Undercooked, bland, and a huge plate for a small dish. Hardly a $ 30 dish.
Side notes: asked for salt 3x during meal, never came.
Anyways, you can find something better.

Unfortunately, while some of the service staff try hard, the efforts are not consistent and the results completely underwhelming.
Things started well, our confirmation call from the restaurant was very pleasant, much more than the usual «we have you at 8 PM for two.» Also took note that it was my husband’s birthday. Nice.
Arrive, greeted, sat promptly. All good. Space is pretty and pleasantly quiet and serene.
We are reading through the menu and comparing notes on what we’d like to order. Discover we have different dinner menus. Flag down the hostess and she replaces one of our menus. Weird
It was my husband’s birthday, and we brought a favorite bottle of wine, which we often do. They inform us there is a corkage, yes, that’s fine, and it’s $ 45. WHAT? We live in SF and have a place in Palm Springs, dine out often and have never run across a corkage that high.
So, we opt to order wine. Their list is primarily in the range of $ 45 to $ 65, not much more than the inflated corkage (though there is a reserve list with pricier wines– an affectation for a restaurant with fewer than 20 wines of each type of wine).
We ordered a 2010 Cab Franc. A 2013 Cab Franc arrives. I note that it’s a different vintage. The waiter goes off to investigate, comes back and says the wine distributor changed the vintage and this is what they have. Fine. It’s a pet peeve of mine to list the wrong vintage on a list. If you’re not going to manage a wine list well enough to keep the vintages up to date, then don’t list the year.
Wine is good, but a bit over proper serving temp. Waiter offers to chill it without question (perfect).
Cheese course arrives. Very nice. The dates were a beautiful addition to the board. Enjoyed it very much.
A long wait for the next course, oxtail, which we again shared. Had to ask when the next course would arrive.
Finally arrives. Oxtail is fine, but just fine. I make oxtail at home often and one of the best parts is the sauce that is made with the braising liquid-​beautiful sauces wth the velvet mouth taste from the connective tissue that melts into the liquid– totally missing
Finish oxtail and entrees are served nearly as soon as the oxtail was cleared. Really fast. Oddly fast.
So I discover why. They both appear to have sat in the kitchen for some time as both entrees, lobster and veal cheeks were cold when served (even the plate was cool to the touch). Flag down the waiter and explain both meals are cold. They are quickly cleared with a promise they will be remade.
Entrees return. Better, but it’s still odd that they don’t warm serving plates.
Hostess comes by to apologize (owner?), she is gracious.
Desserts were nice. Play on pineapple upside down cake was good as was the banana themed dessert combination
Meal ends and we ask for check. Server notes the restaurant removed the entrees and one dessert from our bill as an apology– much appreciated. We look over the bill, while the entrees and one dessert had been removed, they HAD added the corkage fee of $ 45 to the total. Get the servers attention and he takes the bill to go correct it. We pay and leave with a shrug.
Valet parking attendant asks how our night was. We say just «okay». He asks a few questions and encourages us to give them another try. He’s very nice, but why we should give a consistently disappointing restaurant another try? I expect the best any time I step into that restaurant and have no expectations that things will be better on another time.
And, while I appreciate the gesture of removing the entrees and dessert from the bill, I’d be happy to pay for what I ordered if it met the standards that the price point indicates.
Alas, I see no reason to spend my time and money to give them another try. It’s frankly too expensive of a gamble to take. Wouldn’t I be better off spending the same money at a place where I’ve had a better experience?

I’m seeing the other reviews of SO. PA and cannot understand what I just experienced as opposed to some other reviewers experiences?
My party had a stellar lunch in a absolutely beautiful environment.
I mean everything was great even down to the Valet parking — how strong is that! The lunch menu read like a Michelin Star restaurant and the service was equally impressive.
I had an delicious hot roasted turkey sandwich, or SO. PA’s take on a turkey club. It was as good a club sandwich as I have ever had. My wives had a Quinoa Salad that was also excellent! Our friends had a local heirloom tomato sandwich and another had a red pepper salad with a naan type bread. They were both crazy good. I mean there were five happy diners at my table. For any restaurant that is as good of a testament as you can get.
This very upscale, hip, trendy hotel on Palm Canyon Blvd. has so many good things going for it that it only makes sense the restaurant would be GREAT. And it was!

Typical pretentious, we’re too good to serve you with respect or show you any kind of good service, because we’re just too good. Well guess what, they weren’t. Food was just ok. Service just stunk. Attitude was arrogant. Just stay really far away from this place unless you have some morbid obsession with being arrogantly treated in a mediocre food setting

I wanted to fall in love with this restaurant, we desperately need perfect pretty things in the desert. Unfortunately, SO*PA is not the answer. I’ll preface by saying I had a party of 13, yet it literally took 7 phone calls beginning 3 weeks in advance to book my reservation. Until the day of, I never received a call back (when I actually got two) but was hung up on twice by the front desk boy.
Ambiance, as expected. Good effort. The «new» chairs at the communal table are horrifically uncomfortable and too low.
The bottles of wine from the by the glass menu are all around $ 45, then the reserve list picks up around $ 110… I mean… There is literally nothing on between.
But let’s talk about eating, our waiter did seem to try his best. At no point in time over the course of 2.5 hours was there more than 3 dishes served to our entire table at one time. We were also the last table in for the night, perhaps they had a rough day, yet while our weightier did continually apologize for the kitchens slowness… I would have expected a manager or chef to have at least come to make an apology or comp something. Even a call the next day would have gone a long way.
There was no dish that blew anyone away, sadly.
In closing, go anywhere else. I’m sad to say, I will never return after this experience.

What a lovely place tucked in the L’Horizon hotel. 100% al fresco, so they were actually closed because of rain the first time we tried to go. But I’m glad we came back!
The ambiance is amazing with the trees and fires. The service was impeccable (despite our waitress was totally overwhelmed by the rush, but she was always super nice and perky).
The food was good, not amazing, but honestly, you’re going for the ambiance. Definitely check it out!

I was recently contacted by someone at this restaurant berating my review. Telling me my review was fucked up.
Well it is my review to which I am entitled to. if this is the way you treat customers you won’t be around long
Will never go back or recommend !
Thanks jasmine for your insight

I really wanted to like this place more than I did. I found the food to be on the average side. There were a few dishes that stood out more than some, but I can’t say it was worth the money as the portions were on the small side.
The garden patio setting is beautiful. Especially at night where it’s lit up and made cozy with heaters and blankets.
I will say the cocktails were quite good. I’m really over the whole mixology craze and option for a gin gimlet that was fabulous. I could have had a liquid dinner with that and been satisfied.
Excellent service by all and they brought us a comped birthday dessert which was very thoughtful. I can’t say that I would come back.
3 stars for ambiance and service and, of course, the gimlet.

4.5 stars. We celebrated my husband’s birthday here during labor day weekend and was so glad we did. This is, hands down, the nicest restaurant in PS.
Pros:
— beautiful space and the all-​outdoor dining is genius
— excellent service, right from arrival, where one of the staff members greets you, takes your car and escorts you inside
— complimentary valet
— impeccable food from a michelin-​starred chef
— great cocktails
— although not really a restaurant to bring kids, the staff welcomed my toddler
— reasonably-​priced
Cons:
— liked the caviar service but wish it came complete with all the accoutrements
I’ve found my PS spot!