Morton's The Steakhouse — Restaurant in Palm Desert

When you go to a restaurant and the price range is $$$$ on Yelp or Google; you expect. You expect good service, fresh & tasty food, impeccable service attention to details such as empty glasses taken care of, etc. Right?

Well I found it quite the opposite here at Morton's Steakhouse in Palm Desert. There were about 20 of us in the boardroom celebrating a birthday. We had appetizers, cocktails, wine prior to dinner. The wait staff didn't clean the soiled plates unless asked. You had to get someone's attention to get a glass refilled.

The room was hot. Evidently they blew a circuit. There were cooloer spots in the restaurant but no attempt was made to move us. A fan was brought in and sat outside the door. It helped but only those near the door benefited from the breeze.

Now about the food. I had the Ceaser salad which was delivered and looked as though it had been sitting out in a hot kitchen for about 20-30 minutes. It was flat on the plate and not fresh and appealing. The flavors were spot on. I had the salmon for main course sitting on top of a nest of quinoa and it was cooked perfectly but lightly seasoned screaming for a little more love from whomever cooked it. The broccolini was cooked to perfection.

Our host was very gracious. He had asked for a couple of extra tables in the room to set gifts and cakes on. However, they didn't seem to be there.

Overall we had a great time at Morton's. The food and service left us somewhat dismayed. So many Mortons around the United States are fabulous and wonderful to go to. This one just did not hit the mark.

9/13/2019

Jay J. After this review the manager contacted us and tried to make things right. He apologized for the night we had and invited us back for dinner. Last night we returned and Josh the manager made sure we had a good evening, good food & an attentive waiter. Thank you for your follow up on this...

To say pretty disappointed would be quite an understatement of our experience at Morton’s Palm Desert. We bought the $140 porter house Jan 13/24 and it came out rare blue rare, not one to complain so I had one piece but my girlfriend could not eat it so she asked for it to be cooked more, they took pieces back to warm up and legit came back as rare again. I started to continue and even for me I couldn’t eat it, it was so rare so I sent my pieces back and same for me as well no difference in the doneness when they brought the steak back. Girlfriend couldn’t eat it so she asked for a new steak cause she hadn’t eaten yet, got a small filet brought out by the GM and this steak was even worse, not kidding. Blue rare throughout and showed the waiter and he was frustrated with how rare it was. Not sure but these guys I don’t think have ever heard of a thermometer before. At this point all we did was laugh it was so bad, a disaster. Complete disaster joke of an evening, they took care of the sides and the filet only just very disappointing to have to pay for a $140 full price for a legit rare still mooing porterhouse. And not once did a manager come and speak to us which shows the amount of respect they got, zero. Will say our server was a really good guy, service was going great until the total miss on the food very very very poor. Oh and forgot we had scallops ordered but did not come out before the steak and they brought them later and those were so raw as well. Like pitiful. Don’t recommend you going here wasting your money for dinner and spending 300 bucks, save your money here and for sure head over to Ruth Chris or Mastros...

I have passed by this restaurant so many times looking longingly at what could be my favorite restaurant. However a friend surprised me by taking me there. I had mentioned that the last time I ate at Morton's was MANY years ago when I stopped by the one in Las Vegas after a show before flying back home to LA. I loved it then and I loved this one too! I had a wonderful time. The staff was very attentive and made us feel very welcome and took excellent care of us. We started off with the French Onion Soup, which I haven't had in a very long time. It was excellent - perfectly seasoned, not too salty, and excellent taste. For the main course, I had the Filet Mignon with a Baked Potato. My friend had the Bone-In Ribeye with Asparagus. Everything was cooked to perfection. I slowly savored each bite, taking in the great ambiance. I had several glasses of Iced Tea and my friend had several cups of Earl Grey (Hot, like a famous captain). For dessert, we shared a Chocolate Lava Cake with a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream. Again, excellent with a beautiful presentation. Our waiter, Carlos(?) was great. The General Manager, Josh, stopped by our table several times to make sure we were OK. Both guys were very friendly and welcoming. There was plenty of parking outside. Because of the pandemic, they don't have valet parking anymore but all the parking is very close to the front door of the restaurant. All in all, we had a wonderful time at a great restaurant with friendly outgoing staff and delicious food. I can't wait to go back to my new...