Shame on the Moon

Four of us went to dinner;early rez. Service was great, food delicious. We had pork, calves liver, steak. and all were really good. A great mainstay here in the valley.

This has been my family restaurant since I was a little girl. We come here for all our big occasions (graduations, birthdays, holidays). The staff are all so friendly and the restaurant is managed amazingly. The food is outstanding. Some of my favorites include; the salmon, the filet (for when I used to eat red meat), and the duck. Most recently, I had a really tasty fish for Valentine’s Day when I went with my husband. I have had nothing but good experiences here.

Need to get there at opening to get a bar seat. Dave the bartender is great. Came back a few days later for dinner. Had the liver. It was wonderful.

Meh, is right. We were seated and helped right away but our wine wasn’t brought out without a gentle reminder to the server. The Ahi was bland and the crab cakes were just okay. We always split an appetizer, salad, and main course. We were charged $ 10 for an extra plate and $ 8 extra for a split salad. It was my husbands birthday and they put a cheesy card on the table. No little dessert, no taste of ice cream. This place nickel and dimes their patrons to death. There are so many wonderful restaurants in the Coachella valley that we’ll give this one a pass next time we’re out there.

Last night was the BEST! Great food and waiter! Shrimp and Scallops were GREAT! Thank you…

Always good food, great ambience. Fun place to go to to relax and enjoy a nice dinner with friends

This was our second visit to Shame on the Moon.
The Caesar salads were generous and tasty (comes with the dinner entrée).
The veal pot roast was very tasty and tender. I did not like the macaroni side that came with the entrée. My wife’s mushroom ravioli needed to be a bit more flavorful.
They had a very good wine by the glass selection.
This is a nice old school style establishment that is quiet, but not stuffy. The price point is very reasonable, and overall the food portions are generous and tasty.

Oh pleasssse.
SOTM came highly recommended.
1. We are seated quickly. No menus, no drink orders for close to 10 minutes.
2. I order salmon. I get shrimp — fine — a misunderstanding. Jake brings me salmon. As I unearth it from the ¼″ of bread crumbs I noticed they brought me the sashimi (kidding). So it goes back and arrives again after they stick it under the broiler and now it’s cooked but the bread crumbs have formed a semi-​burnt crust. I mention this to Jake who now offers to take it back a 2^nd time. Nice but when you’re paying $ 25 or so for a piece of fish you should not have to ask?
3. Bill comes and there’s no offset for this entrée. Again, one should not have to ask. I call over the manager (Robert) who was mildly confrontational but seems to get it and takes the charge off. This is the only bright spot of the service.
Wife’s veal meat loaf and daughters shrimp were reasonably good but, and I know I’m in the desert, both felt like offerings from a 1950’s dinner house. I can’t explain it — the texture, blandness… maybe it’s just how everything is kind of brown.
Corn chowder was good and arrived hot else this place would get a goose egg.

As we waited for our guest of honor to arrive we were entertained by Dave the bartender who made an amazing blueberry Chambord lemon drop. It was dangerously smooth.
Shame on the Moon has been in this location in Rancho Mirage forever and there’s a comfort in knowing that somethings never change. Like a time warp we meet each year for a wonderful friend’s birthday. The mirrors, pillows, booths, & tables are unchanged yet as I mentioned there is a comfort in some places not updating their décor. Ginger wasn’t there to greet us as she was out with a hip replacement, yet you can always count on shame on the Moon to treat you like family.
The flank steak, the veal pot roast, and the salmon dijionaise were phenomenal as usual. Old school charm is still alive and well. The chicken corn chowder was my favorite, light and refreshing. This time we were seated in the main dining room which was a lot of fun as there was another table next to us celebrating a birthday as well. If you are interested in a more intimate evening I suggest you sit in the outer area which has a completely different feel to it.
This location knows how to care for it’s more mature clientele.

Food was OK
Service was horrible, bordering on neglectful
20% tip added to bill without discussion.
Will not be back… ever.

LOVE LOVE LOVE the food and price point. The seared Ahi was exactly that seared and breaded substantially enough with their pepper fare to make it outstanding. CAppellini Alfredo with broccoli fleurettes was again not too heavy on the manufacturers cream and absolutly perfect in portion and density. Portions were not overblown nor underwhelming – just right as it is in France and italy. 7 Deadly Zins from Lodi was just under 9 a glass and very fair.
Restaurant was A little dated, but well suited to the clientele (a well –heeled older crowd). Menu was not as inventive as I like, but the regular restaurant fare (see above) was just done very well which is very hard to find in the desert. Will definitely return for the calves liver and the balsamic chicken.
It would be 5 stars but for a busser, I assume, who should be written up or fired immediately for the following:
Couldn’t resist taking the Ahi (with wasabi mashed potatos) and the Alfredo Cappallini home And the moron had the absence of consciousness to cram the beautiful seared ahi into a little foam container on top of the alfredo with the wasabi mashed potatos crammed in.
In my restaurant – that would be absolute grounds for dismissal. Because I love this place so much — the owner or manager MUST send out the «memo». All your hard earned efforts trashed by that kind of thoughtlessness. We were a two top out in the garden reserved for 530 for Sunday the 22^nd – find him! — give him hell!
Otherwise
Love your food! And I know them all.

Quality food, great Service & reasonable prices. I lived in the desert for many years and have heard about this restaurant, but never went there until one of my favorite clients said its one of his top all time places to dine!!!
Now it’s one of mine also… Can’t wait to go back and take my wife!

I love Shame on the Moon
The food is always delicious (and we eat out a lot, Jim says the only thing I do in the kitchen is make reservations.)The service is excellent and the same waiters have worked there for years and they remember our names

We had a great meal and service!
Our waiter was Peter, he was great!
Great Service and food at a reasonable price.
Ginger greeted us with hugs and made us feel like we had been there a hundred times!
We will be back!

Five Stars Guys! No one will take a star away from you if it’s mentioned to be. Just a great & classy place to be. We didn’t have a reservation; however, we got sitted in a friendly manner. Our waiter gave us suggestions and explained everything in the menu.
Just quessing that mostly people were from Thunderbird or little Montecito, lol))) only a few were young. Customer service is awesome, food is delicious and the atmosphere is great. We arrived around 5:30pm for dinner, at 6 PM there no tables were open and a line was awaiting to be sitted. So the best if you make a reservation. The price is right: you get what you paid for.

Nice ambience, good food, service okay. Had cocktails and was pleased with our choices. Hubby had shrimp and scallops, he liked. I had the lamb and it was just good not fantastic, have had better. The bread was warm and fantastic. Had the carrot cake, very good. All things considered, nice evening. Would go back. IF I can get in!
Make reservations!

«Tired» would be a good word to describe Shame on the Moon.
Our greeting was very nice, but nothing close to the embrace I was told I should expect. That’s ok though, everyone has a tired day once in a while.
The décor consists of lots of mirrored walls circa 1984, and the hodgepodge of vases and candles surrounding the booths looked to be collected in the many years since 1984.
Service was very nice, but slow and unconcerned. After being seated it was 10 minutes before anyone came by. We were later asked to place a drink order but had never gotten the wine menu. Our server was much more interested in the diners that arrived later that evening. I did see that he knew one of them but don’t know if he already knew the other late arrivals.
There was no live music like their website said. We entertained ourselves by watching the progressively older and older people leaving the Garden Room as the night went on. This is the God’s honest truth: The last woman out was escorted out by her elderly son who had to redirect her no less than 3 times when she got lost on the 30 foot walk out through the main dining room. The last time she almost toppled over. That was a good son.
The food had highs and lows. The wine by the glass list is terrible. I saw the guy that our waiter knew brought his own bottle of wine, which was pretty smart. Their house salad with caesar dressing is outstanding. Good portion, fresh greens, about a cup and a half of parmesan in long shreds. Really good. The liver also is outstanding, but pass on the duck. It was exactly like the turkey in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (just look up «National Lampoons Christmas Vacation — Turkey» on YouTube). Dessert was forgettable.
The whole experience made me yawn.

It’s hard to explain how terrible my experience at Shame on the Moom was the other night. My 80+ yr old in laws made reservations for the Garden Room at 6: pm and we were seated in the main dining room when we arrived. When my father in law went up to the front desk to ask why we weren’t seated in the Garden Room he was told that we didn’t have a reservation in the garden room and in fact could not find any reservation under his last name. In the confusion i asked my mother in law if she put it under our name not there’s and that’s when the man at the front desk said well if you don’t know what name its under are you sure you even have a reservation? When my father in law tried to explain the man at the front desk asked us to just leave if we didn’t like our table! We then asked to talk to the manager and were told that the man who asked us to leave was the manager!
We have been coming here with our parents for almost 16 years for special occasions as it is there favorite resturant in town. Safe to say we will not be coming here ever again and will be sharing this horrific experience with our friends and family. It’s truly sad and reprehensible that asking why we weren’t seated in the garden room that we had reservations for ruined 16 years of memories for my family.
This was very hurtful to my parents! Shame on you for ruining our evening!

On a scale from 1 to 10 old people:
ATMOSPHERE: 9 old people.
Classy, dark, old-​school but modern, quiet but lively.
A patio option, a secluded option, but we loved the grand room.
DRINKS: 10 old people.
Stiffer than Sonny Bono.
MENU: 5 ½ old people.
Not a fan of veal, liver or fish, I only had 2 dishes to consider.
FOOD: 9 old people.
OMG. Complemented by fluffy potato cakes, snap peas, and blue cheese, my medium rare filet mignon was as good as Morton’s, perfectly cooked and thick.
SERVICE: 10 old people plus a gay.

This place is an institution!
Ginger (at entry) and Johnny (the lone bartender) are a necessary part of the experience. You will find no more friendly and warm welcome in the desert (not even at your best pals desert compound); Ginger is all the spice Shame needs.
Johnny is good but he’s the only guy working the entire room, be kind and be patient as your crafty libation takes time… LA pace will not go over well here… trust me on this.
Veal Meatloaf, Duck, the Specials, just a martini and the Caeser Salad at the bar will do. The ambiance just wont quit. Its that place you long for when you want good comfort food with a civilized crowd.
There is no shame in loving something that makes you feel so good! Been coming for years and haven’t reviewed in fear of it becoming too hip and crowded.