The top brunch spots on Palm Desert’s culinary avenue please with sweet and savory, breakfast or lunch. Brunch is not only practical — often extending more variety in menu items than any other meal — but it’s also a leisurely and convivial way to ease into the day. If you’re planning to stroll along El Paseo, why not brunch beforehand and then spend some time walking off the French toast and shopping the boutiques?
Sweet Basil opens on El Paseo under the cloud of the pandemic, but emerges stronger thanks to its thriving patio business. Sally Hill was hoping to open Sweet Basil California Eatery on El Paseo in April 2020, but the first shutdown canceled those plans. By the fall, the opportunity to eat outdoors was viable, so Hill invested in creating a patio area in front of the restaurant after securing permits from the city of Palm Desert.
We find in a pandemic that a new café society has emerged, one where the necessity for open-air seating and the desire to commune inspire a graceful, unrushed setting.
Few destinations enjoy the four-season privilege of al fresco wining and dining that beckons from one end of El Paseo to the other. Nearly every restaurant offers an outdoor dining experience. (Or, spread out on your own back deck overlooking the pool by ordering takeout or delivery.)Photographed at Pacifica Seafood Restaurant.The ancient San Jacinto backdrop frames the avenue, where outdoor …
Photographed at Wilma & Frieda.Breakfast or lunch? Coffee or cocktails? Wine or craft beer? Apps or dessert? No hard decisions here. El Paseo is an all-of-the-above kind of destination. As the morning sun washes over the desert, coffee shops, cafés, and local brunch institutions arouse both sweet and the savory senses. Lunch over sandwiches, salads, pastas, or sushi is a …