Rockwood Grill — Restaurant in Palm Desert

On Friday, September 12, 2025, my wife and I went to this location to celebrate her birthday. She had a spa session in the morning, then we were going to have lunch at Rockwood Grill. We were greeted at the host station, and then escorted to a table on the patio near the water. The view and location was great. And then....... we were handed the menu which was very limited. Four breakfast items, three lunch sandwiches, and a couple of salads. No appetizers or dessert listed. The entire menu was one page. Quite different than what I discovered on line earlier in the week. We ordered our food, and it was average at best. Shortly after receiving our food, a different couple was seated a couple of tables away, and were presented with different menus. They appeared to be multi-page menus. We asked the wait staff about the difference, and we were told that's the bar menu. No where was there any signage about bar menu offered, this was not offered from our waiter, the host that seated us, or any other means. We asked our server why we were not afford the same opportunity and he told us he would have the manager come talk to us. The manager, arrived and explained the bar menu is available if guests ask, but they do not offer it. How is a guest to know to ask if there nothing indicating this is available? She went on the say the food is prepared in the same kitchen, and served by the same staff, but the guest needs to ask. She explained in depth how the Rockwood Grill has a Sunday Brunch Menu that is very diverse with several choices. Found this information interesting; but 100% irrelevant due to the fact this was a FRIDAY afternoon, not a Sunday morning. It would be like an airline stewardess explaining how a boat works during a flight to Idaho. She had nothing else to say and walked away. Our waiter returned with our check, and explained the manager took 15% off for the inconvenience. I would expect an international multi billion dollar company such as Marriott to do better than this. The staff should offer every guest the same service and attention detail. In this case, ALL menu options at this location. Not pick and chose who gets what. Then the question comes into mind, why were we not offered the same? Marriott, you need to do better and treat all guest equally, professionally, and with top notch service. At the end of the day, guests are the reason why the Marriott is...

My 3 girlfriends and I came here for a dinner here to celebrate the birthdays of 2 of our friends in the group. I have particularly wished we celebrated the birthdays at the JW Marriott’s Mikado restaurant for their nicer ambiance and experience but it was closed at the time we were there. I was however reassured that Rockwood Grill will be good, and they were right about it! We even tried to ride the little boat going to the restaurant and we thought it was silly but turned out to be a fun thing we did and added a little fun to our dinner! Food was decent, and the ambience was good but most importantly our service was excellent! We made sure we were on time with our dinner because we were also going to Janet Jackson’s concert as part of the birthday celebrations and they were on point on everything we requested of them! We ordered the tuna tartare and crispy calamari for our appetizers then had 2 grilled salmon, and scallops for our main for our group of 4 shared as family style and it was plenty! We even had leftovers that went to waste! Over all food was great! The service was amazing. Our water was very professional and very friendly and went above and beyond! He even made sure our 2 friends who were celebrating their birthdays had cakes for their celebration!

Ambiance is nice and definitely the service, impeccable! Will definitely go back there again!

JW Marriott’s Mikado restaurant but it was closed at the time we were there. I was however reassured that Rockwood Grill will be good, and they were right about it! Food was decent, and the ambience was good but most importantly our service was excellent! We made sure we were on time with our dinner because we were also going to Janet Jackson’s concert as part of the birthday celebrations and they were on point on everything we...

Please check your receipts, as I was automatically charged an 18% gratuity for a party of six, even though there were only five of us. I returned multiple times during my stay to speak with the manager, Michael, to have the charge corrected, but he was always unavailable.

Additionally, I used a free breakfast voucher for two that clearly stated on the back, “gratuity included,” yet I was still charged 18% on the entire meal. None of the other employees I spoke with were able to provide a clear explanation for the charges.

The next day, I returned to use another “2 person free complementary breakfast” voucher but got it to go. The same server again circled the 18% gratuity, suggesting I tip 18% for a complimentary to-go order of fruit and bagels—which I packed myself, as the staff only provided boxes.

I was also never given a customer copy of the receipts. I received copies at other restaurants on the property, but not here—so I’m glad I took photos. They were also not able to pull up a copy of the receipt at the check out desk.

I won’t be dining here again, as I feel this practice is meant to force a tip rather...