vue grille & bar
Indian Wells Golf Resort
4500 Indian Wells Lane, Indian Wells
760-834-3800
indianwellsgolfresort.com
This eatery overlooking the golf course is a scenic choice for California cuisine, creative craft cocktails, and Sunday brunch with bottomless champagne and a build-your-own-waffle bar. Vue also houses an expansive collection of nationally known art.
EUREKA!
74985 Highway 111, Indian Wells
760-834-7700
eurekarestaurantgroup.com
The cool, casual concept restaurant boasts a big-time burger menu with inventive takes on the beef-and-bun classic. There’s a short-rib and kimchi version, a bison burger, and another topped with bone marrow butter. Eureka! even prepares a housemade beet-and-kidney-bean patty for veg-heads. The stylish industrial space — with a sizable patio — also doles out scratch-made salads, starters, and sandwiches and grown-up entrées like skirt steak and pan-seared halibut. Of course, the eatery is just as well-known for its bustling bar, which serves an impressive roster of craft beer and small-batch whiskey offerings.
PHOTOGRAPH BY @BEARLEADERCHRONICLE.COM
Eureka! is known for its burgers.
VICKY’S OF SANTA FE
45100 Club Drive, Indian Wells
760-345-9770
vickysofsantafe.com
Take a break from the midcentury modern architecture and head to Vicky’s of Santa Fe, a timeless restaurant housed in an adobe-style structure. Established in 1989, it is now owned by Vicky’s nephew, Marc Laliberte. The original five-item menu has expanded alongside the local food scene and features the best of both land and sea. Live entertainment on the lounge stage, equipped with an old-school piano bar, is reminiscent of the Rat Pack–era dining experience. The venue showcases top Southern California (and sometimes Broadway) performers taking on jazz, classic rock, blues, and R & B and produces an annual Show Supper Club Series presented in an intimate dinner-and-concert setting.
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Vicky's of Santa Fe was established in 1989.
IW COFFEE
74995 Highway 111, Indian Wells
760-346-6757
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It’s the epitome of coffee-shop cool, with concrete floors, whimsical chandeliers, communal seating, a breezy patio, and soaring windows that provide a fix of majestic mountain views along with the caffeine. And then there’s the coffee — classic espresso drinks, brewed java, and specialty blended lattes in funky flavors ranging from matcha green tea to honey cinnamon. The shop’s go-to roasts are from the organic, High Desert–made Joshua Tree Coffee Co., and there’s also a food menu with a smattering of salads, sandwiches, breakfast items, and freshly baked pastries.
PHOTOGRAPH BY @BEARLEADERCHRONICLE
IW Coffee's go-to roasts are from the organic, High Desert-made Joshua Tree Coffee Co.
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Don Diego’s of Indian Wells has been a Mexican-food fixture since 1981. Locals love the daily selection of homemade tamales and margaritas. Imbibing with a group? The Tower of Tequila pitcher serves eight to 10.
FRANK’S PLACE
Indian Wells Resort Hotel
76661 Highway 111
Indian Wells
760-797-8700
indianwellsresort.com
Step into the lobby of the swanky Indian Wells Resort Hotel and Frank’s Place takes center stage.
Inspired by Rat Pack–era supper clubs, the restaurant hosts regular nightly dinner shows beginning at 6 p.m. during season, offering a mix of favorites from the Great American Songbook, Broadway, classics and standards, and throwback rock.
Mondays feature the Larry Capeloto Show; Tuesdays it’s Terri Olsen and the Perfect Blend; Wednesdays alternate between “Broadway’s Best” and “Hello Gorgeous”; Thursdays feature Patricia Welch; Fridays and Saturdays it’s “The Frank Show” with Frank DiSalvo; and Sundays spotlight the Ted Herman Big Band Dance and Show.
PHOTOGRAPH BY @BEARLEADERCHRONICLE.COM
Frank's Place takes you back to the Rat Pack-era supper clubs.
the PINK CABANA
Sands Hotel & Spa
44985 Province Way,
Indian Wells
760-321-3771
sandshotelandspa.com
If you’re one of those diners who feels compelled to photograph their food before eating it, it’s likely your camera will never leave your hand upon entering the Pink Cabana. The Sands Hotel & Spa restaurant, designed along with the rest of the property by Moroccan-modern-fusion god Martyn Lawrence Bullard, is Instagram eye candy. Gold barstools line the turquoise-tiled bar, behind which drink artists mix up Old-Fashioneds with orange-fig marmalade and rose-water mojitos; booths are decked in pink linen; walls are papered in palm print; and the ceiling is painted pink. Moroccan-influenced Mediterranean cuisine makes up the menu — think scented olives and artisan cheese, fresh-from-the-farm salads, and a curated mix of pastas, seafood, and prime beef.
PHOTOGRAPH BY @BEARLEADERCHRONICLE.COM
Martyn Lawrence Bullard designed the Sands Hotel.
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Cafe Italia pairs northern Italian fare like bresaola, polenta, and homemade meatballs with live Broadway show tunes, opera, and jazz standards. The wait staff (not a band) serenades your table while you eat.
PHOTOGRAPH BY @BEARLEADERCHRONICLE.COM
The line forms at The Nest.
THE NEST
75188 Highway 111, Indian Wells
760-346-2314
gotothenest.com
Tennis legend Charlie Pasarell, now an Indian Wells resident who happens to be friendly with The Nest owners Dodi and Kevin Henry, is a big fan of this piano joint. “Sometimes you show up and here walks in Jack Jones, goes over and starts singing and performing,” Pasarell enthuses. It’s a lively restaurant and bar that has been ranked among OpenTable’s top 100 late-night dining spots in the nation and, come dusk, there’s often a long line to get in trailing out the front door. “I have seen buses come in with people and drop them off,” Pasarell says. “Literally buses full of people. And they stand in line to get in. It’s a testament to Dodi and Kevin ... the food is phenomenal, but the entertainment — it’s really the hot spot of the valley.”
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Kitchen Kitchen owner Jan Boydstun (aka Gadget Gal) hosts a culinary show on local television station KMIR. She also holds cooking demos at her shop, which specializes in chef tools.