Oscar's Downtown Palm Springs — Restaurant in Palm Springs

First of all, the performance itself and the drag queens were absolutely amazing! They were the highlight of the experience. But unfortunately, the service was beyond unprofessional and really put a damper on the event. Our group tried to speak with the staff and waiters multiple times throughout the show — we were ignored and never even got a chance to order food. One waiter even responded with an attitude, saying, “What do you want? We’re understaffed,” which was disappointing and unnecessary. We understand things can get hectic, especially during a sold-out brunch, but there are simple solutions that could’ve helped. For instance, suggesting that larger groups order bottles instead of cocktails would streamline things, yet no one on staff seemed interested in problem solving or improving the situation in real time. To make matters worse, the owner's response to another review in our group was condescending and missed the point entirely.

Chelsea was part of our group and she can’t reply to the owners response below so here is her reply back:

Thank you for your response, but I find it both dismissive and inappropriate given the experience we had.

To suggest that a "brief talk" with you would’ve resolved things completely misses the point. We were actively trying to make the best of a frustrating situation during a live drag performance — not exactly the time or place where patrons should be expected to abandon their celebration to locate and identify the owner of the venue. We raised our concerns multiple times with our assigned waiter and even with other staff. At that point, it should have been their responsibility to escalate the matter to you, not ours. Your comment about “hiding behind a keyboard” is especially disappointing. This review wasn’t written in bad faith — it was written after multiple failed attempts to resolve the issue in the moment. Honest reviews are part of the public conversation around service, and the suggestion that we’re doing this to “maintain a Google reviewer status” is condescending, entirely incorrect, and off-base. We were just a group trying to enjoy a meaningful event for our friend’s bachelorette and were met with disorganization, indifference, and a lack of basic hospitality. Instead of deflecting or trying to discredit the review, a more constructive approach would be to take this feedback seriously and use it to improve your guest experience moving forward like having more than one bartender on staff as our waiter told us — especially for oversold events where your team is clearly overwhelmed and...

Short version: They sat us and several others at tables in the full sun, it was 95 degrees out and did not provide shade. After waiting about 30 minutes for umbrellas they said they’d bring out but never did, we left. I saw one other table also walk out because they were treated the same. Oscar’s was totally unprepared to host their event on Sunday May 25. It was like their first day hosting and half the staff and umbrellas didn’t show up. Total mess.

What happened: We planned to attend the 1 PM drag brunch. Their tickets said get there early, like an hour before the show. We got there about 30 minutes early and there was a long line that moved very slowly. It’s like they were re-inventing the wheel to find seats for everyone. They sat us at a table fully out in the sun, not shade, no umbrella. The hostess said something like “they’d work on getting an umbrella” out there. We waited like 5 minutes in the blazing sun, it’s 95 degrees, we are burning up, so we went to stand by the shade of the building. Several other tables who they sat in the sun are also moved to stand around in random shaded spots near the building. The waiters were running around frantically (they seemed understaffed) and were basically ignoring us. The hostess was super busy trying to seat the remaining people. The show had started and not an extra umbrella in sight. Being hot, hungry, and totally ignored, we decided to cut our losses and walk out. We looked for a manager who was not running around but we decided not to try and stop the staff in the middle of their running and make a scene while the show was going on.

Final thoughts: I really don’t understand how they were so unprepared on that Sunday. Every other restaurant in Palm Springs has lots of shade and misters on their patios but not Oscar’s. They were really unprepared and unable to host that day’s brunch. We’ve emailed for a refund but have not received a response. I think they oversold their show. I really wish they would have just stopped selling tickets when they ran out of capacity rather than try to seat many people in the direct sun. At least me and my boyfriend could walk out. There were a few bachelorette parties where like 2 or 3 people in a large group had to sit in the blazing sun while the rest were under shade. It’s hard to enjoy a mimosa when you’re sweating your butt off and...

Oscars was once a gold standard in the drag space in Palm Springs. Now this brunch is way overpriced and very underwhelming. The saving grace is the service staff- they were all friendly, helpful and professional. The admittance fee is $40-$50, which compared to the rest of the local market, is pretty steep, especially considering it only covers your entry. The brunch menu advertised online is not what was offered on-site. The menu offering had about 4 main entrees and just breakfast sides. Mimosas tasted more like a orange juice wishing to be champagne. We mentioned some of grievances to the manager, Drew- including how incredibly hot it was in one section of the front row and how we were into the third act and still had not received our singles to tip the queens. While Drew heard our concerns, he stated that the show has been overbooked so they ran out of singles before the show started (I've been to about 40-50 drag shows around the world- including Oscars in early 2023- and I've never experienced this). He also looked around at the fans on stage that were turned towards mostly the center of the restaurant and he didn't seem to think of another solution. So, we left way earlier than planned to escape the swampy restaurant environment and the second hand embarrassment of the awkward run of show. I'm not sure if management has changed or they were just so overbooked and overcrowded they were dealing with unusual issues, but had this been my first drag experience, I would not return. I also hope the local queens can ban together and demand more from Oscar's- the crowd energy was flat and the hostess, despite her best efforts, faced mobility issues and struggled to keep the crowd entertained and engaged. I've never seen so many queens perform without getting tipped handsomely- this was either a symptom of the lackluster host, guests feels duped for such a high admittance fee or again, perhaps they had run...