Everyone’s heard of Palm Springs/ the Palm Dessert right? I mean, it’s where Coachella is so – if you’re basic like me – you’ve definitely heard of it. It’s also a popular weekend destination for older people in Los Angeles. What’s in Palm Springs you ask? Well, not much. It’s the desert lol. You pretty much just go shopping, eat, read by the pool, and enjoy the retro vibes and shopping!

Anyway, below are all the restaurants we went to over our 3-day vacation (staycation!?! What qualifies as a staycation in the Covid era??): 

CHEF TANYA’S KITCHEN (Palm Springs & Palm Desert) 

Omgee, this place may be one of my favorite vegan places I’ve been to in the whole world and you know I’ve been to a shit ton of vegan restaurants!!! I’m a hoe for sandwiches. Would straight up do a lot of dirty things for a good sammy. Anyway, I was SHOOK when I encountered Chef Tanya’s Kitchen. It’s an ALL-VEGAN deli that specializes in sandwiches, burgers, salads, and desserts. Each shop (one located in Palm Springs and one in Palm Desert) also acts like a little gift shop/grocery shop with vegan kitchen, bath, snack, apparel, and food items.

They also have a great deli to-go section with premade salads, desserts, sandwiches, kombuchas, and other vegan items you can get in bulk. 

To start, we all got the best Yuzu sodas. The peach one was BOMB. Then we got the potato salad and chicken pasta salad from the to-go fridge. AMAZING. Legit so addictive, we went back the next day for seconds. We also got the mac n’ cheese which was good too.

But the main star of the show was the SANDWICHES. OMGEE CRYING THINKING ABOUT THEM. All together (across our 2 trips in 3 days to Chef Tanya’s), we got the BLTA, the Cubano, and the Bahn Mi. Dude, let me tell you – this is what I imagine the food in heaven tastes. They were so intricate and savory and flavorful and hearty and omgeeeeeeeeeee. I would drive back to Palm Springs for 2 and 1/2 hours just for these sandwiches.

Their desserts were also EPIC. Their chocolate sea salt chewy cookie and lemon drizzle pound cake were insane. Some of the best vegan desserts we’ve ever had. Chef Tanya’s is a MUST-TRY. I love you Chef Tanya. Please adopt me and/or marry me. K thnx bye.  

PINK CABANA at Sands Hotel & Spa (Palm Desert) 

The Pink Cabana is the restaurant at the chicest and most adorable Moroccan-inspired hotel we were staying at called the Sands Hotel & Spa. When I say it was aesthetic, I mean it. You bet your ass we got some baller IG photos there. So if you don’t come for the food, come for the #vibes.

The restaurant itself didn’t have that many vegan options for breakfast, but we were able to snag a fruit plate, a watermelon mint juice, almond milk cappuccinos, and matcha lattes. All were solid. 

For lunch/dinner, they offered a vegan mezze platter and a cauliflower steak, and a few other things. We didn’t try them, but all the plant-based options were marked very clearly on the menu, which was dope. I wouldn’t go out of your way to go here for the vegan food, but the vibes were great and the drinks looked even better. If you need a cute Palm Springs IG though, this is your spot. 

SAMMY G’S TUSCAN GRILL (Palm Springs) 

Downtown Palm Springs has a million places to eat, drink, shop, etc. It is a little janky/touristy I do warn you (after 3 hours there, we were ready to GTFO), but for an hour or two, it’s a fun little place to shop and try a bunch of different foods. A bunch of Mexican restaurants (including El Patron, which was recommended to us) has vegan options, but the wait time for a table was too long, so we went to this Italian restaurant instead. 

It was SUPER random and the staff was lowkey (highkey?) rude, but they had some solid vegan options. They had a cauliflower “ceviche” bruschetta, which was pretty good and unique! They also had a vegan veggie pizza, which was pretty good save the fact that they used Daiya cheese, which is kinda gluey for lack of a better word?? But the crust was fantastic! I also got a beet, chickpea, arugula salad minus the goat cheese, which was good too! Overall, solid options but nothing to write home about. Except for the rude, stanky staff. Stanky vibes for sure. 

GELATO GRANUCCI (Palm Springs)

This was another little spot in downtown Palm Springs. Gelato Granucci is the cutest little gelato shop that has vegan options pointed out on the wall!! How considerate!? And they had chocolate gelato for vegans, not just sorbet!!! HOW LIT!?

Bella got a scoop of the dark chocolate gelato and I got an affogato with the dark chocolate gelato. For those of you imbeciles (I’m kidding) who don’t know what an affogato is, it’s heaven on earth. It’s basically ice cream/gelato with a shot of espresso on top. I mean, does it get better than that!? It was INCREDIBLE. Idk what kind of espresso they use, but it was drool-worthy. The bitterness of the shot mixed so well with the sweetness of the gelato. 10/10. 

LOLLI & POPS

Again, this is another shop in Downtown Palm Springs. As you can tell from the name, it’s the cutest, most bougie candy shop in the whole desert. It was like Sugarfina meets Dylan’s Candy bar, but with candy all over the world too. They had Mexican candy, Japanese candy, and obscure candies from all over. They had a bunch of fun soda flavors (like martian poop soda lmao) and a wall of different flavored cotton candies and rice crispy treats. It wasn’t all vegan, but they had plenty of vegan options as well.  

One of them being:  MARZIPAN!!! Legit Marzipan was the candy of my childhood. For those of you who have not lived/don’t know what Marzipan is, it’s basically almond paste and sugar and it is immaculate. So we got a box of Marzipan and guzzled them as soon as we got out of the shop. We also got a vegan matcha white chocolate bar (so yummy) and vegan s’mores balls, which were amazing. They also had a whole wall of vegan chocolate, so we’ll def have to come back and eat every ounce of them when we return like Augustus Gloop on steroids.

 

IW Coffee and Chai Bar (Palm Desert)

This place was SOOOO bomb. It was a 3 min drive from our hotel and we found it on accident on our way to get mani/pedis!! It was super poppin’ so we knew the coffee would be good. The interior is super cute and they had a ton of drink options, syrups (sugar-free options too), and a bunch of pastries, including a vegan chocolate muffin and a vegan cookie. To drink, I got a large iced oat milk matcha with lavender syrup and it came with that yummy crushed iced we all love (don’t lie). I also got a oatmeal on the side with a side of steamed almond milk.

To start, that MATCHA WAS ONE OF THE BEST MATCHA LATTES IVE EVER HAD. It was so fricken delicious. Truly, if you find yourself here, get that matcha. It was outstanding. I have very high standards for my matchas and this was a 10/10

That chocolate muffin also was NEXT level. The top was crispy but the inside was SO warm and ~moist~. I can’t remember if they warmed it up but it was straight up huge, decadent, fluffy,  chocolatey, and melty. Straight up one of the best muffins I’ve ever had. It was like a dessert (a dessert in the desert. hehe).

The oatmeal was fine but you can also buy that oatmeal anywhere lol.

Deff come here if you are looking for a cute little breakfast spot. They have bagels too and avocado toast but not sure if it’s vegan. There is also a really cute kitchen store in the same complex as IW Coffee and they sell the cutest things there and the woman who works there is SO nice. 

Ernest Coffee (Palm Springs)

This place was a cute coffee shop in Palm Springs. I got an iced matcha latte with vanilla syrup and it was okay! I probably should have gotten lavender. Oh well! I wouldn’t go running here but if you wanted a quick coffee, it’s a cute spot. What I’d recommend more is shopping at all the SUPER cute stores near the coffee shop. We found the cutest home decor shops, trinket shops, etc. Highly recommend walking around the area and seeing what you find!!! So many unique finds 🙂

Just Chillin (Palm Springs)

If you’re looking for a sweet treat after shopping in Downtown Palm Springs (even though I don’t recommend shopping on the Downton palm springs strip. It’s got wonky energy), check out Just Chillin. They have a vanilla Silk froyo option!!! It’s honestly a little bland but your girl aint complaining. We topped it with fruit, sprinkles, crushed oreos, and chocolate sauce. It’s your classic janky froyo shop! Lots of kids running around, grey floors, and random plastic chairs. Would not recommend for the atmosphere, but maybe pick up some soft serve and eat it somewhere else? There aren’t many vegan dessert options in Palm Springs so ya gotta work with what ya got.

Just Chillin also sold the famous Palm Springs date shake and even had dairy-free options with dairy-free whipped cream!!! How cool!!! Now THAT is how you accommodate to vegans. Anyway, the date shakes were good, but I feel like they would be better at Lapperts (a place with better date shakes according to reviews online, including vegan date shakes). Anyway, come here if you get desperate for froyo LMAO

Hope this helps if you go to Palm Springs!