Randy's Cafe - Palm Springs/Palm Desert

While in California for the HSMG Conference (www.soapguild.org ) myself and Alana Rivera decided to venture outside of the compound (www.miramonteresort.com) for lunch at a local restaurant. Now; I am a huge advocate of supporting local business, even when out of town. So… we set out in search of a ‘very cool’ lunch spot. As we were cruising along highway 111, we found a really quaint looking Italian restaurant. As we pulled up, the sign said – closed!! As we looked a little more to our right we saw a sign that read “Randy’s Café”. Hum!! Sounds local, let’s check it out.

Upon entering we noted the plastic white patio type table and chairs with little cushions on each chair. The blue walls were adorned with photos of professional athletes and autographs too. We were quickly greeted by the infamous “Randy”, who was pleased we had stopped by as he indicated he was thinking of closing for lunch today. Randy seated us, asked us our names, where we were from but never again referred to us by name, our names became “El Paso” and “San Francisco”. We were handed menus which were a far cry from menus. The menus at Randy’s Café were three ring binders. The front of each binder told a different story of a professional athlete. We quickly found out that Randy not only runs a very well known café but also is a sports trainer. He has worked with student athletes for 25 years locally, nationally, and internationally in professional tennis, golf, and football. His three ring binder tells amazing stories of his clients, patrons, and interesting facts. He leaves them at the table for you to look at while he literally whistles while he works (ahem) cooks.

Below are some quotes/comments directly from his menu (ahem) binder:

Reservations: Everything is made fresh to order. We don’t have a microwave. “If you are in a hurry, you might be in the wrong place!”
Randy’s Café takes a little longer….. So leave Randy alone because he talks way too much, more than 7000 words a day.

Celebrity Servers: This is tradition at Randy’s Café! You never know when you may have a professional golfer, tennis or NFL player or people that you may recognize as a celebrity waiting on your table. Get a few pointers!!
Dinner: Hit or miss ALWAYS a sellout!!

HOURS CHANGE DURING MAJOR SPORTING OR SPECIAL EVENTS IN THE VALLEY……………. (I love this!)

Randy’s Café was rated #1 breakfast spot in the desert for breakfast according to the Desert Sun (www.mydesert.com) readers, legit poll!

I don’t know how we managed to stumble upon the coolest café in Palm Desert (Palm Springs), but it was a real treat. Alana and I (San Francisco and El Paso) never really spoke to one another as we spent our entire lunch reading about Randy and all his amazing facts in his 3 ring binder aka menu. I think this made me go hmmmmmmmm because his café was soooo cool and I could simply not take it all in at once. In fact, I was so side tracked by everything, all I can tell you about the food on the menu is what I ordered. (A cheeseburger with amazing potatoes, supposed to have been potato salad but Randy said he didn't feel like making it that morning.) The burger was fantastic as well as the personal touch to the service.

If you happen to be in Palm Desert, I highly recommend Randy’s Café as real treat for a local meal. Ya never who ya might see..........