Sammy G's Tuscan Grill Awards

Sammy G's Tuscan Grill Restaurant Review:

About the restaurant: This downtown Palm Springs ristorante is in the heart of the action. The small bar seems to resonate with locals, while the main dining room is reserved more for multi-course meals. People seem to know one another --- regulars are overheard ordering their favorite dishes, and talk centers around desert living.

Food & Drinks: The menu is a marriage of traditional Italian fare and California cuisine, seen in the Southwest “broken” crostini, a tossed salad combining fresh tomato, avocado, bacon, roasted corn, black beans and red onion with a honey-mustard dressing. Gnocchi tends to be more conventional, served in a veil of tomato basil sauce or silky pesto. Mix-and-match pastas allow guests to select their noodle and preferred sauce, which pair nicely with the selection of Chianti and domestic wines. Carnivores will like the veal, beef and poultry, while seafood lovers can sample sand dabs or grilled salmon. As the week inches to a close, the strains of live music and rattling cocktail shakers can be heard echoing from the lounge.