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Gardens on El Paseo
73505 El Paseo
Palm Desert, CA 92260
(760) 674-8666
www.pacificaseafoodrestaurant.com
Other reviews of Pacifica:
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[box type=”info” ]Located in the Gardens on El Paseo Shopping Plaza, you’ll find Pacifica on the second level, next to Sullivan’s Steak House. It isn’t visible from the street. There is a parking garage directly attached to the back of the shopping center.[/box]
Atmosphere
The crowd here varies widely. On the night we were here, the crowd put the SENIOR in senior citizen in the restaurant, while the bar was a mixed crowd. We’ll chalk that up to it being off-season. You can dine indoors as well as on their patio. Don’t be fooled by the small patio at the entrance, there’s a much larger patio with great views on the backside of the restaurant.
Wine & Bar
Pacifica also boasts a vodka bar with over 130 different vodkas. When we visited, all vodka based drinks were $5 in the bar and $8 in the restaurant. Their vodka list is almost as long as their Wine Spectator Award Winning wine list.
We sampled the Reyka vodka from Iceland and the Turi vodka from Estonia. It was hard to pick a favorite. Even if you don’t like vodka, you’ll love either of these. Both were very smooth without the traditional “bite” of other vodkas. Once you try one of these, you’ll quickly forget about Grey Goose, Ketel One or any of the other “traditional vodkas”.
Service
The service here was good, but not overly personal. It’s hard to describe, but the easiest way is to say that “warmth” is not one of their stronger suits. Again, the service was attentive, but seemed to lack that somewhat personal touch and was more “mechanical”.
That being said, the table next to us (some very SENIOR citizens) had issues with their entire dinner. We weren’t sure exactly what was happening, other than they said their entrees and replacement entrees weren’t prepared to their liking. We were impressed how the management of the restaurant handled the issue. We saw both the floor manager and general manager both sincerely apologize for the problem and comp their entire meal, without any prompting by the diners. Management was very proactive and seemed truly sorry that the guests didn’t enjoy their meal.
We’re always impressed when restaurant managers take guest comments seriously. So many today could care less. We give them high marks for taking the right course of action and handling the issues. Both managers stopped by our table shortly thereafter to make sure that our meals were as we had hoped.
Food
For appetizers, we ordered the wedge salad along with the raw and baked oysters of the day, which happened to be Fanny Bay Oysters from BC. The wedge was fine, while the oysters were outstanding.
For mains, we had the Sugar Spiced Salmon and the Swordfish. Both were well prepared, very moist and ample portioned. You cold definitely tell that the fish was fresh. Additional sides are ordered separately at cost of around $5. Side portions were adequate for 2, but may be a stretch for 4. For dessert, we tried the carmel banana bread pudding that was as good as it sounds.
Overall
If you’re looking for seafood in Palm Springs or the surrounding area, we’d give Pacifica high marks and it’s definitely worth the trip, no matter where you’re staying in the area.
dining review dinner palm desert palm springs restaurant review seafood
Last modified: January 11, 2014
