Always a wonderful experience and it was an honor introducing friends who are newcomers to the area to this classic restaurant that is consistently good.
Barb
Good service, nice atmosphere, nice menu choices, or table had 3 very happy customers and 1 ok. Said ribeye was just ok
Robert W
My wife and I were married at Spencer's on 4-11-07 and we had the good fortune to have Michelle wait on us for lunch before the ceremony. She has been with Spencer's for 25 years and is a true Ambassador for the restaurant. We vacation (we live in Southern Pines, N.C.) in the Coachella Valley every January (LaQuinta, Palm Desert) and our first stop (lunch or dinner) is Spencer's. And, more often than not, we ask for Michelle and she is there! Breakfast, lunch, or dinner (and Sunday Brunch) are a delight. One visit and you'll be a fan. And, when you do get there,...ask for Michelle.
Clelie
Service and food were outstanding. We never felt rushed and enjoyed two superb prix fixe meals. The duck and short ribs were cooked to perfection and the sauces were exceptional!
patty
We had a lovely birthday lunch for my brother. Food was excellent and service was very good. The ambience of the patio is truly special.
bt2058
Friday night dinner for two couples after a day hiking in Joshua Tree NP. The service was attentive but not intrusive, the cocktails and meals were excellent. Comfort and ambience in the glass walled patio was wonderful. The experience was equal to the expense.
Donna B
Spencer’s is, by most accounts, considered one of the best restaurants in Palm Springs. We spent about $375 on drinks and dinner for three people for a special occasion. What we liked: the valet was a good first impression, the cocktails were massive, delicious, very well presented, and quite reasonably priced for PS. The sea bass was perfection as were the tuna tartare appetizer, creme brûlée and other desserts we ordered. The service was very good and the atmosphere, especially at Christmas, is elegant and beautiful and hard to surpass. Things we found disappointing: the hostess desk could use some fine tuning, our reception was not what I expect from a nicer restaurant. The risotto was poorly done. I picked out the mushrooms, which were very good on their own, and left the rest. For $40 I would expect actual Arborio or Canaroli rice, instead it was a different short grain rice (maybe instant??) not typically used for risotto and it did not absorb flavor or create the classic, lovely, starchy, creamy texture one expects. It was bland and disappointing. The Carbonara was also strange. There was pancetta, I think, but no pancetta flavor, no egg flavor, instead just a weird cheese sauce that would make your Italian ancestors weep. There was no peppery bite to it, no richness from the yolk. It neither tasted very nice nor was it anything at all like carbonara. After this experience, I would stay away from the pastas at Spencer’s entirely. And finally, I made reservations for a special birthday dinner weeks in advance and asked the manager whether they could accommodate the birthday celebrant’s serious food allergy. I asked in advance so that there would be no awkwardness at the table and so the kitchen would know before the busy dinner service. This is a person who can almost never dine out because of her allergy and she was celebrating her 50th birthday. I was extremely disappointed that the manager took no care to prepare the server, took no care to create a list of things that would be safe to order in advance. The server handled the issue very ably and professionally and my friend was extremely happy with her birthday celebration, but I have to say that I was not. My friend is a shy person that doesn’t like asking people to go out of their way for her and it is embarrassing for her every time she has to figure out what she can eat at a restaurant. On other special occasions lesser establishments have taken the care to prepare either a special menu or a quickly annotated version of the regular menu for my friend - showing what can be safely ordered and what cannot. People with food allergies go through life worrying whether they will end up in the hospital - or worse - every time they put something they didn’t cook themselves on their forks. I think reviewing the menu in advance to ensure a smooth ordering experience is the least you could do for them - especially with over a month’s advance notice and on a very special occasion. It is also much faster for you to do so, and easier for your staff, than having the front of the house make repeated trips to the kitchen to interrogate the back of the house over ingredients. I’ve worked enough fine-dining to know how those conversations go in the middle of dinner service and they are not pretty.
Dennis
I must say Spencer's is my go to restaurant in Palm Springs We all ordered the prefix menu for $60.00 a bit high but worth the price. 3 of us had the sea base the skin was grilled to much and no one ate it, but the fish was cooked perfectly.
Valerie
Delicious, with great service and a wonderful atmosphere (amidst the trees). Elias was over-the-top with his care of us! Thank you!
Brian
We had a wonderful time at Spencer's. It was our first visit. We will come back soon. The food was great and hot. The music was great. The server was very sweet, maybe she either had too many tables all seated at the same time or she was having an off night. Otherwise we had a wonderful evening.
The restaurant was very nice, excellent service and food. The noise level was not good, we could not have a conversation because of the noise.
celine
Very unexpected find. Was looking for a nice lunch spot and this Spencer's popped up. Very good food. Onion soup was delicious, club sandwich was excellent (a little hard to eat the way it was cut), and the drinks were poured perfectly!
Brent
We ate inside as it was rainy but the inside is also lovely. The food was wonderful, in particular the coconut shrimp , sea bass and rack of lamb. Prices are reasonable for the quality.
Slfhous
The place is beautiful. The food is average and expensive. There are too many waitstaff assigned to each table and this creates confusion. Got shorted a Mimosa that is included the three course Sunday Brunch. And we were charged $1.25 extra for onions on a burger. Asked for a takeout box. And the next guy just takes the leftovers as trash.Probably will not return.
Always a wonderful experience and it was an honor introducing friends who are newcomers to the area to this classic restaurant that is consistently good.
Good service, nice atmosphere, nice menu choices, or table had 3 very happy customers and 1 ok. Said ribeye was just ok
My wife and I were married at Spencer's on 4-11-07 and we had the good fortune to have Michelle wait on us for lunch before the ceremony. She has been with Spencer's for 25 years and is a true Ambassador for the restaurant. We vacation (we live in Southern Pines, N.C.) in the Coachella Valley every January (LaQuinta, Palm Desert) and our first stop (lunch or dinner) is Spencer's. And, more often than not, we ask for Michelle and she is there! Breakfast, lunch, or dinner (and Sunday Brunch) are a delight. One visit and you'll be a fan. And, when you do get there,...ask for Michelle.
Service and food were outstanding. We never felt rushed and enjoyed two superb prix fixe meals. The duck and short ribs were cooked to perfection and the sauces were exceptional!
We had a lovely birthday lunch for my brother. Food was excellent and service was very good. The ambience of the patio is truly special.
Friday night dinner for two couples after a day hiking in Joshua Tree NP. The service was attentive but not intrusive, the cocktails and meals were excellent. Comfort and ambience in the glass walled patio was wonderful. The experience was equal to the expense.
Spencer’s is, by most accounts, considered one of the best restaurants in Palm Springs. We spent about $375 on drinks and dinner for three people for a special occasion. What we liked: the valet was a good first impression, the cocktails were massive, delicious, very well presented, and quite reasonably priced for PS. The sea bass was perfection as were the tuna tartare appetizer, creme brûlée and other desserts we ordered. The service was very good and the atmosphere, especially at Christmas, is elegant and beautiful and hard to surpass. Things we found disappointing: the hostess desk could use some fine tuning, our reception was not what I expect from a nicer restaurant. The risotto was poorly done. I picked out the mushrooms, which were very good on their own, and left the rest. For $40 I would expect actual Arborio or Canaroli rice, instead it was a different short grain rice (maybe instant??) not typically used for risotto and it did not absorb flavor or create the classic, lovely, starchy, creamy texture one expects. It was bland and disappointing. The Carbonara was also strange. There was pancetta, I think, but no pancetta flavor, no egg flavor, instead just a weird cheese sauce that would make your Italian ancestors weep. There was no peppery bite to it, no richness from the yolk. It neither tasted very nice nor was it anything at all like carbonara. After this experience, I would stay away from the pastas at Spencer’s entirely. And finally, I made reservations for a special birthday dinner weeks in advance and asked the manager whether they could accommodate the birthday celebrant’s serious food allergy. I asked in advance so that there would be no awkwardness at the table and so the kitchen would know before the busy dinner service. This is a person who can almost never dine out because of her allergy and she was celebrating her 50th birthday. I was extremely disappointed that the manager took no care to prepare the server, took no care to create a list of things that would be safe to order in advance. The server handled the issue very ably and professionally and my friend was extremely happy with her birthday celebration, but I have to say that I was not. My friend is a shy person that doesn’t like asking people to go out of their way for her and it is embarrassing for her every time she has to figure out what she can eat at a restaurant. On other special occasions lesser establishments have taken the care to prepare either a special menu or a quickly annotated version of the regular menu for my friend - showing what can be safely ordered and what cannot. People with food allergies go through life worrying whether they will end up in the hospital - or worse - every time they put something they didn’t cook themselves on their forks. I think reviewing the menu in advance to ensure a smooth ordering experience is the least you could do for them - especially with over a month’s advance notice and on a very special occasion. It is also much faster for you to do so, and easier for your staff, than having the front of the house make repeated trips to the kitchen to interrogate the back of the house over ingredients. I’ve worked enough fine-dining to know how those conversations go in the middle of dinner service and they are not pretty.
I must say Spencer's is my go to restaurant in Palm Springs We all ordered the prefix menu for $60.00 a bit high but worth the price. 3 of us had the sea base the skin was grilled to much and no one ate it, but the fish was cooked perfectly.
Delicious, with great service and a wonderful atmosphere (amidst the trees). Elias was over-the-top with his care of us! Thank you!
We had a wonderful time at Spencer's. It was our first visit. We will come back soon. The food was great and hot. The music was great. The server was very sweet, maybe she either had too many tables all seated at the same time or she was having an off night. Otherwise we had a wonderful evening.
Restaurantji Recommends
The restaurant was very nice, excellent service and food. The noise level was not good, we could not have a conversation because of the noise.
Very unexpected find. Was looking for a nice lunch spot and this Spencer's popped up. Very good food. Onion soup was delicious, club sandwich was excellent (a little hard to eat the way it was cut), and the drinks were poured perfectly!
We ate inside as it was rainy but the inside is also lovely. The food was wonderful, in particular the coconut shrimp , sea bass and rack of lamb. Prices are reasonable for the quality.
The place is beautiful. The food is average and expensive. There are too many waitstaff assigned to each table and this creates confusion. Got shorted a Mimosa that is included the three course Sunday Brunch. And we were charged $1.25 extra for onions on a burger. Asked for a takeout box. And the next guy just takes the leftovers as trash.Probably will not return.
Our go to place for special occasions.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
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