Restaurant with good vibes, friendly service and delicious food! I visited this establishment in May 2026 with three others. We were celebrating a birthday and a wedding anniversary. The couple whose anniversary we were celebrating had been here before and highly recommended it. Parking in the lot was easy as was seating. The menu had options for everyone. As a vegetarian, I opted for one of their the flatbreads. Our food arrived in a timely manner, was nicely plated, and in good portion. Everything was delicious. Service was outstanding. Our server was attentive and personable. At the end of our meal, she brought out two chocolate cake slices with sparkler type candles on them for the people we were celebrating and led us in a celebratory song which other patrons in the restaurant joined along in. Fun vibes!! I will be back! read more

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It's really a bit of a hidden gem... actually been there for about 15 yrs and I am so happy we finally visited. Greeted very warmly with a choice of inside or out and since it was such a lovely day in our desert we chose outside... our choice of tables and promptly seated... our waiter was engaging and well informed on the menu items and very patient and helpful ... we were not rushed at all and when expressed interest in dinner menu one was quietly brought to us... I think the prices are extremely reasonable and the atmosphere is lovely and inviting... food was delicious and can't wait to share with others.... Give it ago... I'm sure you will enjoy read more

Backstreet Bistro - Italian Near Me - Palm Desert, California

This place was AMAZING !!!! I will drive the two hours over and over! The food was delicious, absolutely delicious. The staff was so loving and welcoming. I recommend this place to everyone. I have sent this yelp page to so many of my friends and family! read more

Backstreet Bistro - The red wine! - Italian Near Me - Palm Desert, California

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We were excited to try a new Italian restaurant and Backstreet was recommended by some local folks we played golf with earlier in the week. I'm not sure how long the restaurant has been around but the server said they only offered beer and wine and were waiting on a full license. Yelp says the Chicken Marsala is a favorite item so that's what I had my heart set on. The menu description: Lightly Floured Then Pan Seared with Wild Mushroom Marsala Sauce, Julienned Vegetables & Golden Mashed Potatoes What I got: A sort of dry chicken breast with grill marks and a little bit of sauce with a couple mushrooms that seemed like it was thickened with cornstarch. I know I should have said something to the server, but then what? The place was cute and staff friendly. read more

Backstreet Bistro - Chicken Marsala - Italian Near Me - Palm Desert, California

It was odd--definitely not the traditional preparation we were expecting. The crab cake was overwhelmed by breadcrumbs, with too little crab, and then further masked by a heavy cream sauce with capers and bell peppers. A good crab cake really shouldn't need that much done to it; simplicity is key. Overall, it was so-so at best. The potatoes tasted like a mix of instant and real--about a 50/50 blend--which says a lot. The coconut shrimp were clearly not house-made, but standard frozen, pre-prepared ones. The lamb also didn't come with the mint jelly listed on the menu. Hopefully, with a few adjustments, they can get it right, but as it stands, it missed the mark. read more

Nice outdoor dining. My chicken salad sandwich needed much more chicken salad. Quite empty. Other man loved his angel hair pasta. Fabulous.

Love this place so much. Whenever we are in the desert this is our go to Italian restaurant. Service is always great. Multiple people taking care of you. Served fresh cut parmigiano reggiano cubes as soon as we were seated. Warm bread delicious butter this place is a winner. Lobster ravs and vodka sauce. Excellent Caesar's salad awesome and fresh. The meatballs like homemade. Always fresh delicious desserts. We love this place and whenever we can we support local. Give them a break they are fresh and provide good service they do get busy because the product is good and the owners care about the customers and the community. read more

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This was my second time in (4/5/2025). The first time I went, the food was a bit better than this last time. It was a slower Saturday night, I'm glad I was seated right away. The waiter was friendly and didn't bombard me. I ordered the fries and margarita pizza. The crust wasn't crispy and the cheese wasn't melted that well, but the fries were excellent. As someone who's picky about pizza (I lived in New York for a bit), this wasn't up to my west coast standards. read more

Backstreet Bistro - Italian Near Me - Palm Desert, California

Have been here a few times & really like this place. Not sure if there's a new cook but my favorite Linguine Rustica dish & coconut shrimp were not as flavorful as usual. This appetizer was better when served with the Colossal shrimp. read more

Backstreet Bistro - Coconut Shrimp 11/2025 - Italian Near Me - Palm Desert, California

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Such a cute space to catch a great lunch with friends. This is an adult space, small inside dining but outside is huge. Well shaded and misters outside. I enjoyed the inside lunch and dinners we've had there. Food is great, I love the lunch menu. Well priced, great Italian music, awesome wait staff . During season, if you want to have dinner, best to get reservations. They are packed for dinner. Good food, quaint ambience, old world feel, a great, feel good experience! read more

This used to be a place where I would happily come for lunch with friends. It was always a solid choice. No longer. I went for lunch today, and EVERYTHING was disappointing. My burger was over cooked and served on the driest and toughest "brioche" roll I have ever had. The fries were awful. My friends chicken soup was tasteless, and my other friends sandwich was soggy. Really, everything tasted like it came off of a Sysco truck. Terribly disappointing, the new owners don't have a clue. read more

Not nearly as good as prior years, sadly this place went downhill! We were overall disappointed. The salad was so very average! Pasta OK read more

This was our first visit to this restaurant..We had a reservation for a group of 7 ...The host was very welcoming on the couple of calls I had made to make sure of the reservation... ..The only downside was that the tables were kinda crammed in, but it was doable ..Also wish they had their liquor license.. I do like my cocktails Between the 7 of us, we ordered the Rueben sandwich, the BLTA, the Italian salad, the chicken ciabatte and a couple orders of bruschetta...Everybody really liked their food, but the bruschetta was the best I had ever had...Finished up with the chocolate molten cake, which was a nice finish...On our list to visit again read more

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My husband and I frequent the Backstreet Bistro during the season they are open. Diane, who is now one of the managers has been the reason we return time and time again! The staff is all well trained on being proactive to remove dirty dishes and fill water glasses, breadbaskets and cheese dish. The patio is beautiful with its twinkling lights and of course, the food is phenomenal! Today we had the chicken piccata and lentil soup... both were fantastic! read more

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The eggplant parmesean was excellent. Fresh and light, not over breaded, heavy, or deep fried. Sauce was flavorful, but it was the Jillianed side veggies that were a terrific and unexpected addition to the plate. Bravo!! The canoli was good, but not great. But after cocktails and a hearty meal, who really cares? This is a nice Italian restaurant for small parties and friends. Bueno! read more

We had a wonderful lunch at backstreet bistro. I had the beet salad, which was the best beet salad I've ever had with more things added to it then I'm used to there was some asparagus. I think there was some tomato there was almond. I believe some type of cheese. It was excellent the other three people in my party. All had the lasagna and liked that a lot too we can't wait to go back and highly recommend it initially they were going to give me a balsamic dressing but they saw I didn't seem to like it so they offered me other dressings which was wonderful. read more

Backstreet Bistro - Great place to come on a rainy day - Italian Near Me - Palm Desert, California

The food was excellent, and the atmosphere was wonderful. Edwin, our waiter, was exceptionally hospitable and friendly. We will definitely be returning to this establishment. read more

I made my second visit to Backstreet Bistro and it did not disappoint. This time I ordered the beet salad with chicken and the margarita flatbread. The food is amazing. Big portions and delicious. Again the fresh bread is tasty and plentiful. Our waiter gave us incredible service and our drinks were kept filled. The service here is excellent and the ambiance and food as well are delightful. The prices are extremely reasonable and a great value. I have no idea why this place isn't lined up with people wanting to eat here. I will be back again and again. I've found my jewel of the desert. And I haven't tried their desserts but they look enticing. Check this place out. read more

Backstreet Bistro - Beautiful place to lunch. Saying goodbye to a dear friend for the summer season. - Italian Near Me - Palm Desert, California

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Service was perfect, staff friendly, food was outstanding! First time there and it did not disappoint!

The bread was delicious, I ordered the veal marsala but traded with my husband who found his pasta too salty. We ate on the patio and enjoyed the misters pleasant ambiance service was good. All in all a very enjoyable evening. read more

Terrible food Veal was tough. Spicy shrimp too hot. Bruschetta had watery tomatoes. Restaurant too noisy.

Just a fun dining experience every time. This quaint Italian restaurant has wonderful veal scallopini. Great customer service. Todd R. read more

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My husband, mom and I went for a 4:00 dinner so it was not busy at all. Four stars is for the overall experience. Our server Diane was a real gem, very nice and honest about all our questions. The place was very cozy inside and festive for the holidays. The bread with the ptarmigan was excellent. They only have beer and wine though. The jumbo coconut shrimp was excellent as well! Everything so far is 5 star . However, the lasagna had a great flavor but the noodles were completely melded into the dish as if they were not even there which is a deal breaker for us since we love the taste and texture of good noodles. The veggies on the veal dish was tasty but everything was bland. Also the lobster raviolis didn't have much flavor or texture. I see why they only have 3 1/2 stars on Yelp. If the pasta was cooked properly and the dishes were seasoned better this would be a five star place in my opinion. It seems that many Italian restaurants in Coachella valley have fairly bland food such as Momma Gina's and Mimmos Italian which are near by. Maybe people prefer bland food, I don't know. read more

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Wonderful experience last night when my wife and I walked in around 6 pm, no reservation, we're seated immediately and enjoying a great meal with lamb chops and caprese salad read more

Will not return to this restaurant as it was an hour wait to place our order and another hour to get our food which was medicore at best. There was no explanation other than that they had some large parties and were behind. They obviously didn't have enough staff so shouldn't have taken our reservations. There was only 4 of us and we obviously got put at the end of the line. They sat us in a corner where we just kind of got forgotten and had to finally get up to see if we could place our order after waiting an hour. No desire to return to this restaurant. read more

Food was ok, nothing spectacular. The kitchen was very slow. It took over an hour to get our food and one of our dishes was cold. I won't go back. read more

OUTSTANDING! Great service. Great pasta at a realistic price. A very comfortable setting, both inside and out. We will be back.

Food is really good. Plus, the service is top notch. I highly recommend the Backstreet Bistro. read more

Every time we go there is good experience. The service is friendly and fast, the food is really good, and the place and ambiance are very cozy. Live going to dine at this place. read more

I loved my experience here! We had a large party of 4 year olds (who did amazing) and Diane was so kind and accommodating!! The food was delicious and everyone had the best time! We will definitely be returning. read more

Ordered lamb chops and came almost raw. Sent back and came back same with a bit more crust. Totally Lame. My son ordered sautéed shrimp and came with mash potatoes. For pasta was extra charge? My sons and I will not be going back. read more

Just awful. We waited 2 hours (!!) for our meal. The waitress kept telling us it was coming soon. In meantime, we ordered mediocre calamari appetizer. Finally we received our meal - horrid. Tasteless pasta, overdone chicken. No one ate it but by then the hour was late and we weren't going to attempt to order anything else. The manager removed all charges from our bill except our wine. She said it was a new cook's first day and was "all alone" in the kitchen. Ridiculous - if you aren't staffed to provide service, you need to be closed until you figure it out. They encouraged us to return in future, but NO. There are plenty of great restaurants in the valley so no need to go there again. read more

Went for lunch today and had the best soup I've ever tasted (Tuscan), it was so good I ordered a second cup. We also ordered the chicken pesto which was delicious. read more

Three stars because the service was very good. Multiple staff members stopped by to greet us and were very friendly. But based on food alone, I probably would have given 2 stars. Both of our dishes were just ok and were a flat in flavor. I may give them another try because the service and ambiance were nice. read more

What a find! Great food, wonderful service and great feeling in a good-looking, restauarant. Staff was very friendly, and interacted properly. enjoyed the manager, and plan on returning soon and often. Joel, Eileen, Darrel, and Joanne read more

Backstreet Bistro - Cousins - Italian Near Me - Palm Desert, California

Ambiance was nice and the service was pretty good. Our group of three came for dinner and started with coconut prawns. Not good. Toasted too dark which caused prawns to be over cooked. Had the wedge salad which was good. Very small for the price. We ordered garlic bread which was horrible. The bread had soo much butter that I could've wrung butter out of it. I had the veal scallopini Marsala. No flavor. The mashed potatoes were very good and so were the veggies. The others thought their leak was good but nothing special. I have been here before for lunch and it was fabulous. So my tip is come for lunch not dinner. Maybe different chef? I don't know. read more

Backstreet Bistro - Scallopini veal Marsala Dinner. Not great. Not much flavor in veal dish. Mash potatoes and veggies were good. - Italian Near Me - Palm Desert, California

Some of the best Italian food in Palm Desert. The service is excellent. The food is delicious. Our group shared calamari, we all each order different entrées. I ordered the seafood linguine delicious. My husband ordered chicken marsala which he said was wonderful. We also ordered eggplant Parmesanand veal Parmesan. Both were terrific. If you haven't been to this restaurant, you should go. You will not be disappointed. read more

Dinner was delicious and portions were very sufficient! Service was great, waitress was kind and patient and let us enjoy our wine while exploring and deciding on our meals. Everything was enjoyable about this meal. read more

Food was great, prices are great, and amazing ambiance. One of the best restaurants we've been to in the Coachella Valley. Also the waiters were very professional and nice. read more

This has quickly become my ultimate favorite in the desert! I found this wonderful restaurant on OpenTable originally, but when I walked in the first time, I was greeted by Dianne, and she made me feel like I belonged here quickly. Very shortly after, I was greeted at the table with this wonderfully delicious Parmesan cheese, or some other hard cheese, I'm guessing it's Parmesan, it's so delicious. I also love the wine choices that exist here, they serve Justin cab by the glass, and it's so smooth and delicious, goes perfect with the cheese. I have fallen in love with the chicken marsala, with the pasta as the side, the mushrooms, the sauce, the chicken is so tender, and the restaurant itself has such an incredible atmosphere, you're gonna love to be surprised! I recommend to go to OpenTable and make a reservation, and see why personally that I'm making this post right now and I'm so glad you're taking this time to read it. read more