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Wally's Desert Turtle

71-775 Hwy. 111 (Rancho Las Palmas Dr.) Send to Phone
Rancho MirageCA 92270
760-568-9321 | Make Restaurant Reservations | Menu
wallys-desert-turtle.com
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A family-run restaurant serving impressive continental fare, with a topnotch wine list to match. Wally's Desert Turtle Restaurant is one of GAYOT's 2013 | Top 10 Palm Springs Wine List Restaurants |

Cuisine

Open

Dinner nightly; closed for summer, reopens Oct. 7

Features

Wine

Great Wine List

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Dining room at Wally's Desert Turtle, Rancho Mirage, CA

Wally's Desert Turtle Restaurant Review

: Wally’s Desert Turtle is the namesake of Wally Botello, who built the restaurant in 1978. Son Michael carries on the family tradition with as much aplomb as he might carry a delicate objet d’art. The loving preservation of the menu's classic and deservedly popular dishes makes choosing difficult. For hors d’oeuvres, should it be the sautéed sweetbreads with polenta or the pan-seared Maine scallops with plantain fritters, mango, pepper and cilantro relish? As a main course, do you opt for the Provimi veal scaloppine with risotto and lemon caper sauce; the roasted duck breast with medjool date sauce; or the imported Dover sole, either amandine or meunière? There is a sense of security when faced with so many old friends. Wine choices are equally challenging, as Wally’s has a list of more than 200 selections. Its image as a place providing quality food and service to an affluent and older clientele is largely accurate, but the introduction of a bistro section suggests a desire to shake things up.

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RESTAURANT AWARDS 2013

Check out the 2013 edition of GAYOT's Annual Restaurant Issue, which features the Top 40 Restaurants in the U.S., Rising Chefs and more.