il Corso — Restaurant in Palm Desert

Several times a year I travel to southern California for business. During my month long stay I make time to visit my wife's father and his wife who live in Palm Desert. We have created a lunch time tradition and over the years they have exposed me to many fine restaurants.

My most recent visit included lunch at Il Corso for a party of four. I was impressed the moment we walked in the door. The interior design is quite imaginative and the high ceiling open space is filled with creative accents like the cardboard cutout orbs which serve as pendant lighting. There are at least two floor to ceiling glass architectural features, the bar back and the wine cellar. Linens on the tables and comfortable chairs invite you to sit down and begin your dining experience.

Our waiter was playful and engaging describing the specials and highlights of the menu. He answered our questions and pointed out a bottle of Lail Sauvignon Blanc which was (specially) priced so low I couldn't say no. Two of us ordered the scampi special, one ordered the Insalata di Bietole (beet) salad and I can't remember the other (getting old I guess). We split two appetizers; the Fiori di Zucchine Ripiene (zucchini flowers stuffed with ricotta) and the Pomodori e Burrata (heirloom tomato with mozzarella and basil).

Both appetizers were delivered quickly to our table. Both were delicious with a nice balance of acidic flavors complementing the mellow characteristics of the cheeses.

The scampi came with whole shrimp sliced in half with shell on and meat exposed on either side set atop a nest of capellini pasta. A treat for the eyes as much as the palate. The beat salad was visually striking as well with fresh greens and vegetables in contrasting colors. The scampi was delicious but I found the shrimp slightly overcooked and somewhat difficult to extricate from the shell. A slight imperfection that did not hinder my enjoyment of the dish. I ate about half of my companion's beet salad and it was a terrific third course with the sweetness of the beets taking my tastebuds full circle in the meal. The Lail Sauv Blanc turned out to be a good pairing with all the flavors of the food.

The wait staff was very attentive without being intrusive. Beverage and bread refills occurred without being noticeable and without having to be prompted. The waiter was a fine captain keeping the sails trimmed to propel our our cruise through lunch.

Could have easily been five stars if not for the small stumble in the preparation of the shrimp. I would definitely return...

First - I sent these comments directly to the restaurant the next day to give them an opportunity to respond but they did not reply.

Second - I have eaten at this restaurant many times in the past (at both locations) for special occasions and otherwise both with and without kids. This review is for the El Paseo location.

Third - My experience that I relayed to Il Corso was as follows:

"I am not usually too fussed about the odd hiccup when I am out for dinner, but last night was so disappointing that I had to send a note.

We made reservations 3 weeks prior for our party of 6. Reservations were for 5:30pm. The Hostess couldn’t find it, accused us of changing to 5:00pm, and we were “lucky” that the restaurant could still accommodate us. “Us” included parents in their ‘80’s and young children.

We were finally seated and ordered cocktails. Our server came with the drinks and spilled part of a martini on both my father and my 2 year old daughter. The server neither apologized nor attempted to assist either of them with the mess (or bring a new drink).

We ordered our food (including three different specials) and simple pizzas for the kids. Our server assured us that the kids’ pizza would be in right away. 45 minutes later and the adults’ food arrived with no pizza.

Our server checked in with the table only once after the dinner arrived. My father ordered the Dover Sole special and noted all of the bones in the fish that he had piled up to the side. Once again, our server was unapologetic and offered no assistance.

We received the check and, to add insult to injury, the Dover Sole special was 63% higher than the most expensive fish on the regular menu. Obviously, we can afford to eat out and the money isn’t the issue, but with such a price difference it again might have been the right thing for the server to mention.

All in all, a...

This was truly the worst dining experience I’ve had in Palm Desert ever. The appetizers were fine. Followed by us having to request wine glasses for everyone at the table, despite having bottles of wine on the table and everyone saying they would like wine. We asked about their wifi, after looking and seeing two available password protected wifi options. We were told by all staff they didn’t have wifi, which was untrue after showing them the two potential login options, and then we were told that neither worked. It’s sad to see in 2022 that a restaurant that isn’t able to figure out wifi. We then received our mains, one person had an over cooked steak, I ordered the salmon which had bones in it. We then moved to dessert hoping it would be better than the previous meals, spoiler alert, it was not. I requested vanilla ice cream, which they ran out of, several other people I. Our group then ordered cannoli which was inedible due to how hard and difficult the pastry was to consume. We thought it was just frozen but after the sever came out to prove to us the pastry wasn’t frozen it was clear it was so inedible due to the fact that it was either severely overcooked or was stale, regardless it did not give anyone confidence in the continued poor food experiences we had received. Overall, I would recommend skipping it corso and eating anywhere else...