Kitchen 86 + Bar — Restaurant in Palm Desert

UPDATE: I have now been here 4 times and still 5 stars! Tonight was my first weekend evening and wow, I had such a great experience... for the paid entertainment, unlike anywhere else where a band or DJ begin to set up while you eat and eventually play music... this is what happens... You're casually dining when a old VW bus pulls up sporting some speakers and conspicuous lighting. Guess what, its DJ Alf Alpha who ends up pulling up to the curb, parks, opens up his roof and starts spinning music with a nice sound system mounted to the vintage roof rack! There is also burning incense and a monitor showing interesting videos. This was awesome. Music is properly played starting slow and slowly evolving to hip hop and more. BRAVO Okay onto the food. Tonight I tried the hummus again, my favorite Bianco pizza add Pepperoni, Caprese pizza add jalapeno, the Boom Boom shrimp and also the meatballs. The meatballs are dense and have great flavor. The boom boom shrimp are coated in a Panko type of airy crispy and light breading and then smothered in a slightly spicey sticky sauce TRY THIS! The pizzas were great as usual and of course the hummus, oh the hummus. Youd typically have a hard time convincing me that a place has better hummus the most but guess what this place does. They put some sort of oil in it which adds to the flavor and the texture. I'm telling you, this place must be experienced. Here is my original review, it's worth a read I love this place. Really consistently good food. Nice selection of sandwiches and pizzas etc. The ingredients are all high quality and the chefs are passionate about what they do and what you're about to eat. Hummus is really really good, served with pita that is also fresh and delicious with a tiny bit of char flavor it's so delicious. I got one of the simple pizzas but added pepperoni which wasn't a problem and also made it an 11! Again, fresh quality ingredients over a top quality dough (slightly sweet, savory and chewy) mixed with a light but very flavorful sauce makes for one delicious pie! This place is absolutely worth a try. Service is A+...

Walking down the sidewalks of El Paseo Drive on a warm Palm Desert night, I am drawn into Kitchen 86 by the sound of live music playing. Guests are seated outside on the patio socializing and swaying to the tunes. Once I pass through the doors the band is drowned out by the busy roar of conversation and glasses clinking. Happy people are cramped up to a rather small bar surrounded by equally populated high top tables, but no one seems to mind the close quarters. The lovely hostess Michelle (who has the patience of a saint) leads us through a gauntlet of drunken conversionalists, who have lost all sense of personal space, to a relatively quiet table in the restaurant section. From here I observe the live human interest story before me. I am on the fringe where I can participate without becoming involved. I enjoy fancy fungi flatbread pizza and a froofroo drink. The night is young and I am swept up in the swirl of smiling faces around me, After dinner I feel the energy of the evening follow me outside where I wave goodbye to the band and float back down the summer sidewalk... Please note: online reservations are recommended if you want a...

Honestly not sure I'd go back. This came recommended by multiple locals but wasn't what I expected. I asked about happy hour and was told it was a different time until I showed them what their website said then they handed us the happy hour menu. I then saw on their shelf they had a pretty rare bourbon but had to ask the price. Our waiter texted the manager who told him the price that I thought was reasonable and I ordered it.

Then another bartender comes up and tells our waiter the price is 4.5x what he told us. The entire staff huddled up for awhile to discuss. There was a ton of confusion and then he reluctantly told me that he had to go with what she said based on random prices they searched on their phone.

The food was okay and Hector the server was a really nice guy who you can tell felt bad. I am normally very patient and understanding of somebody just trying to do their job but this was a lot. Everything had to be questioned and ended up being a surprise. Hoping they can clean...