Ah, yes, Sunny Southern California. The place is famous for Hollywood and Malibu Beach, but if you go a little further down to a town called Joshua Tree in the desert, you’ll see the real beauty. It’s in the form of wildlife and nature that characterizes this high desert. It’s also in the form of the interesting-looking Joshua Trees that are unique to the area.
You can explore Joshua Tree National Park all you want, but don’t reach for stale turkey and cheese sandwiches in your cooler when you get hungry and want a quick bite to eat. Venture into town and enjoy a yummy meal at one of the best Joshua Tree restaurants. This article will describe several worthy-of-eating restaurants, so keep reading!
You’ll learn which restaurants are where it’s at in terms of good food, friendly staff, affordable menus, and more!
The Best Places to Get Some Chow in Joshua Tree
Morongo Valley Cafe
This is a restaurant for people and dogs. Its patio welcomes people from all walks of life and their furry pet friends. This classic American cafe-style diner was established almost 19 years ago (2003).
It’s on 49780 29 Palms Highway, Morongo Valley, CA 92256. You can call 760-363-6969 for takeout orders. They’re open seven days a week from 7 in the morning to 2 in the afternoon. Management does reserve the right to refuse service to unruly patrons and guests.
Morongo Valley Cafe serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It offers many accommodations, especially for the disabled. For example, it’s wheelchair friendly. The servers are friendly and professional.
Most people who visit the cafe give it great reviews. They give both the staff and five-star food reviews. The dishes are also tourist and traveler friendly. Prices may be on the relentless rise at restaurants across America post-pandemic, but that’s not the case with Morongo Valley Cafe. Their most expensive dish – the 8-ounce New York steak dish – only costs $16.65, and it comes with fresh eggs, a side, and bread (toast, tortillas, or a biscuit)!
One thing to note is that the menu inspires more than a few laughs for diners. For example, it’s not uncommon to find phrases like, “Fresh eggs, laid by the finest chickens, well-mannered hens with high self-esteem and smiles on their little faces. And that’s not easy with a beak!”
La Copine Kitchen
What you’ll love the most about this diner is its higher-end dishes. If you were ever to walk into this diner, you’d be taken away by its amazing decor, which excites the senses. The diner is 848 Old Woman Springs Road, Yucca Valley, CA 92284. The phone number is 760-289-8537, and they accept reservations.
Management suggests that you text to make a reservation. The same applies when ordering takeout. If you make a reservation, remember that the seating limit is 15 people. Remember that your reservation is only final once you get a text from management confirming it. Don’t send management follow-up texts for reservations. Doing so will dramatically delay their response to you. Just keep calm and remember that they will reply to you as your text was received since they’re professional.
One thing worth noting: Texts left on Monday- Wednesday won’t be answered until Thursday – Sunday. Also, management adds a 20% gratuity tax for reservations between 5-9 people and a 25% gratuity tax for bigger parties. The reason is the diner has limited seating space.
Of course, you can always walk in after a long morning or afternoon of heavy and hard driving. But remember that seating is on a first-come, first-served basis for walk-ins. That said, you can’t sit down until a host seats you.
Patrons loved the sunny interior and delectable seasonal dishes. Some of the diner’s most memorable dishes are the chestnut mushroom soup. That’s one of their most popular appetizers, and it’s served with truffle honey and chives. A signature main course dish is the Ricotta Gnocchi, consisting of tomato sofrito, Calabrian chili, wilted escarole, parmesan, basil, and mint gremolata.
Some small plates included swiss chard croquettes and bitter orange agrodolce, grilled haricot verts with tahini and mint dill, and fried plantains with caramelized onion crema and scallions.
A few memorable dessert dishes are beignets with a brown sugar coffee glaze, key lime pannacotta with strawberry coulis and mascarpone cheese, and the chocolate almond cake with raspberries and creme fraiche.
Some of the drinks, alcoholic and non-alcoholic, include the Michelada (a lager with tomato juice, tabasco sauce, and lime) and the Mimosa (Caya mixed with fresh orange juice), Drip La Colombes coffee, and organic iced tea. Of course, you can always get exotic bottled water if you’re willing to pay a little extra.
The menu is budget friendly as the most expensive item is only $29, which is a pretty good deal considering you will be eating a seared prime top sirloin steak with cauliflower puree, little red cress, and cafe de Paris butter.
Guests loved the service, which they said was top-notch. They said that dining at the restaurant made their vacations and travel pleasurable and memorable.
Sam’s Indian Food and Pizza
It may serve dishes popular in the Indian subcontinent, but as its name suggests, it does so with a real twist. For example, you can enjoy delicious and innovative Indian dishes like shrimp tandoori and chicken tikka.
The restaurant is 61380 29 Palms Highway # 13, Joshua Tree, CA 92252. The phone number is 760-366-9511.
The good news is that Sam’s Indian Food and Pizza has an app you can access 24/7. So, you can order takeout food while you’re still on the road, pick it up, and then enjoy a quick and nice picnic lunch.
It’s a five-star restaurant, so patrons have left it with outstanding reviews over the years. The pizzas are delicious, and Sam’s serves all of the appetizers associated with traditional pizza joints, including French fries, fried mushrooms, fried mozzarella sticks, and chicken wings.
The restaurant bucks the rapidly rising prices that have characterized American eateries post-pandemic. The most expensive dish on the menu is only $22. So, it’s definitely within the budget of the money conscious.
As for the dining experience, most patrons felt that it was ‘out of this world’ good! Sam’s Indian Food and Pizza offers vegan and vegetarian cuisine, but as mentioned before, it has meat dishes, which will appeal to most westerners.
The pizzas get creative. While the restaurant offers traditional pizzas like veggies, classic cheese and mushrooms, meat pizzas, and pineapple pizzas, you can also find pizzas that Indians dig. These include chicken tikka masala Bombay pizza.
The restaurant has dine-in options for those travelers who love to relax in an indoor establishment while eating. It serves alcoholic drinks and accepts reservations. Sam’s Indian Food and Pizza does have wheelchair accommodations for the differently abled.
Customers loved the real, fresh, and authentic Indian and fusion food. They said it tasted like food their grandmothers made at home – it was so good. All food was gourmet and tasted like a talented and experienced chef prepared it.
Natural Sister’s Cafe
This iconic restaurant is known for its stomach-filling but light and creative food. The menu is designed for the physically active since rock climbers, hikers, and other physically active people frequent it.
The restaurant is at 61695 29 Palms, Joshua Tree, CA 92252. The phone number is 760-366-3600. The restaurant was founded in 2009 when a woman named Christy Lopez wanted her deceased sister’s dream of starting an eatery that served healthy dishes, beverages, and baked goods at affordable prices.
Lopez always has her customers’ health needs and palates in mind with her vegetarian, vegan, and gluten cuisine. All food is cooked in the kitchen from scratch and made daily. The baked goods are fresh because they are also baked daily.
You’ll always be satisfied with everything on the menu for you to eat, even if you’re a picky vegetarian since the menu options are diverse. You can go to the restaurant after a day of hard hiking since it’s located near the world-famous Joshua Tree National Park entrance.
You can order traditional comfort foods with an innovative twist, like the biscuits and gravy, which feature two homemade biscuits with vegetarian gravy. You can also order the egg bagel, which consists of cage-free scrambled eggs, and melted cheddar and jack cheese on top of a toasted bagel.
I must note that all eggs are from cage-free raised chickens. The restaurant serves meat dishes such as the old-fashioned burger with blue corn chips and a pickle. The cuisine is wallet-friendly since the most expensive item on the menu is only $16.
The Natural Sisters restaurant has outdoor and indoor seating. You can also order takeout. You can park outside and buy gift cards from the indoor shops. The restaurant accommodates differently-abled people, but it’s non-smoking.
Guests had good things to say about the eatery. They loved the breakfast menu and the smoothies. They loved that all the food was fresh and made the same morning.
There’s More to Joshua Tree Eateries Than Meets the Eye!
Joshua Tree is not just famous for funny-looking (Yucca brevifolia) trees. It’s part of Southern California, an area in America that has authentic culture, style, history, and personality. All of that is most evident in the many eateries in this wonderful town, some of which have been recommended in this article.