The Tropicale Palm Springs — Restaurant in Palm Springs

The Topicale needs management and operational support.

It’s a huge restaurant and it gets busy! They don’t offer valet service, but it would be perfect for them. I don’t like doing valet, but parking here is a nightmare. Street parking is hard to come by. So instead customers are left to park in a dirt lot without lighting and covered in potholes. I watched a few Teslas bottom out and then a couple get out of the car in formal attire, only to then be covered in dirt from the lot.

I had made reservations, but they were behind. Not a problem! I was asked to wait by the bar and have a drink it outside. I went to the bar and stood behind a lady who was finishing up ordering drinks. When I got up to the counter one of the bartenders yelled at me and said if I wanted to order I needed to move down. Come to find out I was in the server area (sorry!). But I guess for the cute girl it was ok. I stood there waiting for about 15 minutes making eye contact with the actual bartender but he never looked at me. The bar seats were full and there wasn’t another place to just walk up and order a drink, so I had to wait for the bartender to see me. Mind you there was no one else standing and waiting for a drink. The customers sitting at the bar had to flag down the bartender who then acknowledged me.

I was seated about 20 minutes after my reservation time. I loved the menu full of classics. I felt like I was in the 60’s or 70’s, but many dishes had a modern take. I ordered the coconut shrimp. Unfortunately they we’re just average. I was expecting a more refined version, but they were not much better than the frozen shrimp I buy. I bet if I did a blind taste test with customers they wouldn’t know.

I was eating alone. After eating two of my six shrimp my entree arrived. I told the food runner I was still eating my appetizer and to hold off on the entree. I finished my appetizer and ordered another cocktail. The server never owned up to the early entree mishap.

I ordered the fried chicken for the entree. It was immediately that it had been sitting under a heat lamp for the last 20 minutes. Being a former chef the congealed sauce and dry vegetables was a tell all. The chicken was actually not too bad, but I skipped the rest as it had dried out.

While eating the server dropped the dessert menu. Not always a big deal, but at a nicer restaurant, I expect my entree to be cleared. At this point I had pushed my plate away and turned over my fork. It was clear I was done. After ordering dessert the server still didn’t take my dinner plate. Actually the plate sat until I got my check.

I requested the dessert to go. I guess this is a new concept. Instead of being handed the dessert in a bag with a fork, I was handed the take out container by itself.

Overall the food is ok/good, the drinks were good, I loved the decor. But the service was terrible!! Address the parking, allow for people to walk up to the bar, and train the staff on basic...

PLEASE READ for the realest review 🙏🏻 We came here because on the Tropicale website, it says, "Palm Springs fine dining at its best!" I am basing my review on a fine dining restaurant .... let me tell you, it was FAR from a fine dining experience 😭 I wanted so bad to have a good brunch, but this place really let us down. Upon arrival, the outside has a cute retro feel of when PS really started to grow. We were greeted with smiles by amazing hosts! We were seated right away, and the atmosphere was relaxing. Our server came over almost immediately and was kind. We couldn't decide what we wanted, so we took some extra time just chatting and looking over the menu. They even kindly brought coffee cake for us! Everyone was so friendly with us and our baby! :)

We ended up deciding on the chicken and waffles and chilequilles (pictured) The food came out so fast!

Tasting the food is where it took a turn for the worse. The chicken and waffles were very confusing, overcooked, and covered in chicken fat 🤢 the jalapeño waffles were ok - a little soggy, which was weird, but overall, ok. It was really weird that they came with country gravy, what looked like canned pie filling (super floppy and soggy) cinnamon apples, and roasted jalapeños on top. I never thought I'd see country gravy and pie filling in the same dish 😅 One piece of chicken was overcooked (the small, dark one on the left of the photo) and the other piece of chicken made me lose my appetite entirely. I have NEVER had chicken like that before. There was so much fat around the whole piece of chicken, it was inedible. I tried eating different parts of that big chunk of chicken, unfortunately, the whole piece was ruined. I reluctantly mentioned it to the waiter after he asked how everything was. He told the manager who came over quickly. But to my surprise, she did not offer a discount or to take it off the check. She did offer another piece of chicken, but at that point, I was not hungry, and my partner was done.

The chilequilles were ok: the tortilla chips were clumped together with beans.. no crispy pieces at all - I would not order again.

I do hate to say it, but overall, probably wouldn't go...

The Tropicale came highly recommended by a few friends and even my sister in law, so my wife and I made it our first dinner stop for our one year anniversary weekend. We were excited to try it but honestly the whole experience just was not what we hoped for.

From the moment we walked in it felt more like a nightclub than a restaurant. It was loud, packed, and people were constantly moving around. Conversation was tough and instead of a relaxed dinner vibe it felt like everyone was there mainly for the bar scene. The staff, to their credit, were great. There were servers everywhere making sure drinks stayed full and checking on tables, and every person we interacted with was kind and on top of things.

Food wise it started off promising. We shared the Thai pork lettuce cups with papaya slaw and those were actually really good with nice flavor, a little sweet and savory, and probably the highlight of the night. After that it went downhill. We ordered the Creekstone ranch prime flat iron steak which is twelve ounces and fifty four dollars and it came out bland and a little dry. We even asked for extra salt because it was just missing seasoning completely. The baked potato that came with it was literally just a plain potato with some toppings on the side and nothing special at all. My wife barely touched it.

For my entrée I tried the miso glazed steelhead salmon with black rice. It was fine and tasted like a normal salmon bowl with a light teriyaki glaze but nothing memorable or worth coming back for. Considering the price point I expected something that felt a bit more special or unique.

Everyone around us was ordering cocktails and big fun drinks which honestly looked like the main draw here. We do not drink so maybe that is the real hook of the place and why people rave about it. If you are looking for a lively bar and cocktail scene maybe it is great. But for a nice sit-down dinner it just was not it for us. The staff was wonderful but overall it is not a spot we would return...