August proved to be another eventful month for the Coachella Valley restaurant scene, whether your tastes run toward high-end dining or fruity breakfast concoctions.
Yozu Asian Bistro brought the former to El Paseo, while the first of two planned valley Keke’s Breakfast Cafés is giving La Quinta a taste of banana caramel pecan French toast.
Meanwhile, two valley restaurants resurfaced in new locations, while a few others closed their doors or announced they would soon.
Read on for the lowdown on those developments, and everything else happening in the Coachella Valley restaurant scene.
Yozu Asian Bistro
73-061 El Paseo Suite 8 in Palm Desert
Multiple culinary traditions from across Asia collide on the menu of El Paseo’s newest restaurant, which replaces Shorebird
at the corner of El Paseo and Highway 74. The restaurant is a more multicultural take on the Japanese tradition of Izakaya dining, a term referring to restaurants that specialize in offering sharable plates alongside cocktails. The roster of sharable dishes includes a Wok-fired shaking beef, Kurobuta pork belly fried rice, twice fried chicken, citrus achiote pad thai, Korean fried wings, sticky ribs and pork belly buns.
The drink menu, meanwhile, includes both “signature cocktails built on fresh citrus, stone fruit and agave” and rare “California cult wines.” There is also an upstairs sushi bar with décor that celebrates the Japanese cherry blossom.
Keke’s Breakfast Café
79-892 Highway 111 in La Quinta
The wait is finally over for the opening of the first Coachella Valley location of this fast-growing breakfast chain, which is known for its three-egg omelets and decadent “stuffed French toasts.” The space boasts Keke’s trademark bright and cheery aesthetic, with artwork of breakfast fare and desert scenes on the walls. Keke’s also has a lunch menu with a mix of salads, wraps and sandwiches. A second desert Keke’s location is coming to the Rancho Mirage Marketplace (home of Gelson’s).
Mickey’s Kitchen Mexican Cuisine
68100 Ramon Road Suite C2 in Cathedral City
This family-run Mexican restaurant has vacated its original location in downtown Palm Springs and relocated to a new one within the strip mall on the northeast corner of Landau Boulevard and Ramon Road. The new location offers the same menu of Mexican dishes and staples (the owners recommend the fish tacos) as the Palm Springs original. However, a liquor license means you can now order a beer with your dinner. The new space also has a much more expansive dining area, with Frida Kahlo depicted in an eye-catching art piece on the wall.
Xanti’s Coffee
45810 Fargo Street in Indio
Awhile back, fans of flavored matcha and shopping with a cup of coffee in hand were dealt a blow when Xanti’s coffee suddenly closed inside Palm Desert’s mall. But now Xanti’s has reemerged with a new temporary location inside the former Daily Grind space. The plan is for Xanti’s to operate out of the space until a new permanent location in Coachella is ready. Xanti's also serves lattes flavored with horchata, mazapán (a sweet Mexican candy) and other tastes, plus a small selection of pastries.
What closed:
- The Coachella Valley has lost its last remaining location of the fast-casual Asian rice bowl chain, Waba Grill. Realtor James Suer reported the closure of Indio’s Waba Grill, which had been located within the Indio Towne Center strip mall at Jackson Street and Showcase Parkway, on his Instagram page. The closest remaining Waba Grill locations are now located to the west of the Coachella Valley in Banning and Hemet.
- But Waba Grill’s space within Indio Towne Center won’t sit vacant for long. Local burger spot Papa Headz has announced it will open its first standalone restaurant in the space, with an opening date to be announced in the next couple of weeks. Meanwhile, Papa Headz is no longer selling burgers out of a window at the downtown Indio Gabino’s as it prepares to open the new location.
- The Palm Desert Red Lobster, the chain’s only location in the Coachella Valley, announced it would close after a final service Sunday, Sept. 6. A representative of Red Lobster told The Desert Sun that the closure “reflected specific decisions tied to the unique operating conditions at this restaurant.” The move came as the chain has faced various struggles that have led it to close over 100 locations in recent years.
- Beech Please — the Korean restaurant whose name is a portmanteau of the beer and chicken that were a focus of its menu — is also closing at the end of September. Owner Isabella Kim announced the impending closure with posts in various local Facebook groups. Kim, who took over operation of the restaurant that would become Beech Please in 2023 from her retiring parents, wrote that she was closing the restaurant to “start a new adventure” and because she wanted her parents to be able to full enjoy their retirement without needing to help her at the restaurant. The Kim family operated restaurants at the Cathedral City space for 23 years under multiple names. Kim wrote that the neighboring One Eleven Bar will be expanding into Beech Please’s space.
Other food news:
- When one bakery closes, another one opens. At least that seems to be the case with the longtime Over the Rainbow Desserts location in Palm Springs’ Smoke Tree Village, where another Coachella Valley bakery, Con Amor Nina Y León, appears to be constructing its first brick and mortar bakery. Con Amor Nina Y León currently sells its pastries and cakes at multiple coffee shops and retailers around the valley.
- Ash & Vine, the fine dining spot that opened last year in restored bungalow within a courtyard in downtown Palm Springs, has opened a separate cocktail bar within another restored 1936 bungalow at 20 La Plaza, just across the courtyard from the main restaurant. Social media posts promise “inventive cocktails and international wines.”
- A new outpost of the Big Juice Bar is in the works in one of the remaining vacant retail spaces on the ground floor of the Thompson Hotel in downtown Palm Springs. Big Juice Bar, which has existing locations in La Quinta and Cathedral City, serves healthful breakfast and lunch fare along with smoothies, shakes and coffee drinks.
- It appears valley residents won’t have to wait much longer to get their first look at the music-themed Rock’N’Avenue Bar on El Paseo. The bar’s website states that it will open in September 2026, although an exact opening date has not been announced.
- Pop up taco shop and caterer Tacon’Todo is opening a new brick-and-mortar taco shop at the intersection of Vista Chino and Landua Boulevard in Cathedral City, according to the CV Independent.
Paul Albani-Burgio covers growth, development and business in the Coachella Valley. Email him at paul.albani-burgio@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: New Palm Springs-area restaurants include Asian and breakfast spots
