JT's Diner — Restaurant in Palm Desert

The food at JT's was ordinary and bland, and unfortunately reminded me of meals shared with family members living in assisted living communities. There's nothing wrong with bland if that's what you're looking for or if your stomach does better with tame food. The ingredients seemed mostly of above-average quality, they just weren't brought to life by the kitchen. If they used seasonings or spices other than salt, pepper, and sugar I couldn't tell from anything I had (and even salt and pepper was used sparingly). The omelette was cooked almost bone dry. The Texas Grilled Cheese was drenched in a supposedly smokey BBQ sauce that was way more sweet than smokey--so cloyingly sweet, in fact, I couldn't eat more than a few bites; and the gouda cheese was hard to find, and so over-powered by the BBQ sauce it could have been Velveeta. The French fries were coated in a tempura-like batter that provided a nice crispiness, but the fries themselves were undercooked and barely warm when served. At least some of the clientele was entertaining. A guy in his 60's at a nearby table, with a mop haircut like he was putting together a Monkees tribute band, told the even older guy with him that before he'd ever have any woman move in with him, she'd need to be at least a 15. I imagine women seated nearby may have scored him no higher than 3, with the bulk of those points given because he was able to get around...

This is a diamond in the rough! We were headed to another restaurant that was closed and happened into JT’s Diner and were greeted immediately with friendly staff and a fun clean atmosphere with awesome music playing in the background. I made a fast trip to the restroom where it was being cleaned by an employee who was super kind and apologetic, but I was like “hey! No apologies!” The restroom was spic and span. The kitchen must be equally cared for! (You know what they say about a clean restroom at a restaurant!) We sat at the bar and the ladies behind the counter were so friendly and accommodating and comfortably chatted with us about the coming storm and we joked about the pending apocalyptic doom. Haha! We ordered the steak dinner which came with corn bead and fries, a bbq bacon cheeseburger with fries and a dinner salad, and a wedge salad (oh and some red wine that tasted amazing for the price!! I can’t remember the brand but it was $6/glass and I don’t want to tell them they could get double or triple that price! #worthit) We were so blown away with the quality of the food and the deliciousness that ensued, we joked about coming back the following day for breakfast. By the end of the dinner, that’s exactly what we plan to do…Breakfast is...

First time visit. Nice place, good atmosphere. The young lady who served us was very up. Almost too up, if you know what I mean. A little too rah-rah and giggly. Plus, she did not know what the diner was out of. I first ordered fish and chips. She came back, sorry, out. Then I ordered the meatloaf. She returns, sorry, out. This is a training issue that the manager should address Third time was a charm. I ordered the roast beef and horseradish sandwich. She asked me if I wanted it on a croissant, or some other bread. I asked for sourdough. Another server brought the food, and my sandwich was on a croissant. Ok, I can deal. I like croissants too. The sandwich came with a choice of fries, salad or soup. I ordered the onion soup. It was the first time I had onion soup that I actually had to add salt. It was soooooo good!! My sandwich was great, although the horseradish was overpowering the roast beef. I like that they have barriers between the booths, but our server did not wear her mask properly. Minor point, but if you have to wear a mask, keep it on over your nose. Overall a great place and good food. Coming...