Trip dates: 1/7/2025 – 1/12/2025

With our first opportunity to travel in a few years, we decided that it was a good time to get a break from the Seattle winter weather and get some much needed sun. We chose Palm Springs as it gave us a chance to catch a couple Coachella Valley Firebirds games as well.

Food Reviews

In-N-Out Burger

72265 Varner Rd, Thousand Palms, CA 92276

Everybody raves about this place and we’ve never had a chance to try it. Since we had an hour between landing in Palm Springs and our hotel check-in, we decided to grab a quick bite to eat here.

We both got cheeseburgers (animal style) with fries and a strawberry milkshake. It was all Fine™️ but nothing special and not even the best fast food we’ve had. We didn’t take any pics of the food here.

Mole Mexican Kitchen

73-130 El Paseo Suite M, Palm Desert, CA 92260

We chose this place for our first dinner and it was pretty amazing. We had guacamole and chips for an appetizer. The house-made chips were really flavorful though maybe a little over-seasoned on some bites. The guac came with fresh pomegranate, queso fresco, jalapeño, onion, and tomato. It was the first time we have had pomegranate in guac and it was 🤌.

I had the Colorado Lamb Shank Adobo which came with ancho chile mole, minted cream, and queso fresco. The meat was absolutely tender and falling off the bone. Nicole had the Skirt Steak Tampiqueño which was Seville orange marinated prime skirt steak with potato brava and green guacachile salsa. We left stuffed, satisfied, and with some left-overs for later. We’ll definitely come back here again on future trips.

Baby’s Marché

75270 CA-111 Suite 200, Indian Wells, CA 92210

This place was recommended as a sort of hidden gem sandwich place so we chose it for our first breakfast/lunch of the trip. It’s apparently a favorite of many Firebirds players and they sometimes have sandwiches named after the players as well.

I had the Roma sandwich which had bacon, prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, Parmesan, provolone, basil, Roma tomatoes, and roasted tomato aioli. Nicole had the Jojo sandwich which had blackened turkey, fresh mozzarella, Parmesan, provolone cheese, basil, Roma tomatoes, roasted tomato aioli, and balsamic glaze. The coffee was good, both sandwiches we had were delicious, and the prices weren’t bad. This will be a place we regularly go back to on future trips.

Kitchen 86 + Bar

73-130 El Paseo I, Palm Desert, CA 92260

We came here for dinner after the first Firebirds game of the trip. We had the Kitchen 86 bread and bacon Brussels sprouts for an appetizer. The bread was unexpectedly one of the stars of the meal and almost pizza-adjacent with its crispiness combined with the mozzarella cheese. The Brussels sprouts came with garlic, shallots, bacon, and balsamic glaze. It was okay but we’ve made it better at home.

I had the Cognac Rib Eye which came with wild mushroom cognac cream sauce, potatoes, and grilled asparagus. Nicole had the Rack of Lamb Rosmarino which came with Cabernet rosemary demi-glace, potatoes, and vegetables. The entrees were a bit pricey but delicious. It was good enough to go back again but probably not a regular for future trips.

Sherman’s Deli & Bakery

73-161 Country Club Dr, Palm Desert, CA 92260

This NY-style deli was recommended by a friend and it was well worth it. Of course, we had to try the Reuben. I had the Reuben Stacker which was a quarter pound of corned beef and pastrami with sauerkraut and Swiss cheese on three slices of Deli Rye. Nicole had the regular Reuben. We also grabbed a couple cannoli to bring back to the hotel.

This was up there with some of the best Reuben sandwiches I’ve ever had and the cannoli were quite tasty as well. This place will be a regular stop for us on future trips.

Billy Q’s

36901 Cook St, Palm Desert, CA 92211

This was recommended as a popular place to go to before/after Firebirds games and as one of the better pizza places in the area. We’re originally from New York and very picky when it comes to pizza. We had a bacon and pineapple pizza and it was very average. I don’t see us going back in the future.

Porta Via

73100 El Paseo, Palm Desert, CA 92260

We had a lot of recommendations for this place so we had to try it out for our last big dinner of the trip. Our waitress saw that we were wearing Firebirds gear and told us that the team was just at the restaurant the previous week to celebrate New Years.

We started with some drinks and burrata with heirloom tomato for an appetizer. I had the Miso-Glazed Chilean Seabass which came with sautéed bok choy, sticky rice, toasted sesame, and scallions. Nicole had the Grilled Skirt Steak with chimichurri. We finished the meal with some cappuccino, salted caramel gelato, and tiramisu. It was a bit pricey but everything we had here was really delicious. We would come back here again in the future.

Grill-A-Burger

73091 Country Club Dr Ste A2, Palm Desert, CA 92260

We came here before the second Firebirds game. I had the Tuscany Burger which came with a bruschetta mixture of diced tomatoes, fresh basil, extra virgin olive oil, balsamic reduction, and garlic on a toasted Ciabatta bun, covered with Parmesan, mozzarella cheese, and basil mayo spread. Nicole has the OMG! Burger which came with hardwood smoked bacon, beer battered onion rings, sliced dill pickles, tomato, lettuce, sharp cheddar cheese, and chipotle mayo on a toasted sesame bun. We also had a Root Beer Brain Freeze (cross between a root beer float and a milkshake) and Date Milkshake.

It’s hard to tell if we gave this place a fair chance since we showed up without a strong appetite and ordered way too much food. It was only okay and didn’t inspire us to come back again in the future.

Joshua Tree National Park

We chose one of our free days to visit the nearby Joshua Tree National Park. We entered the park via the southern entrance. Our route through the park included Cottonwood Springs Road to Pinto Basin Road to Park Boulevard until we reached an exit. We spent a few hours slowly driving through the park and stopping occasionally to get out of the car, walk a bit, and get some pictures. One thing we didn’t expect was how much cooler the temperature was here compared to the Palm Springs area. The park is full of a lot of natural beauty and well worth the visit.

Coachella Valley Firebirds Games

One of the big draws for this trip was a chance to see the Firebirds play at home and check out Acrisure Arena. We caught one of the Firebirds games during their inaugural season since they had played a few games in the Seattle area but never down at their home arena.

The arena set up is really cool. When you first “enter” the arena, you’re still outside. There are a few food places outside and places to sit and eat. The team store is a small separate building in the outside part of the arena. It was smaller than expected and a bit disappointing. The facilities inside the arena are really nice. I can’t speak to the food quality in the arena since we ate before the game, but I’m assuming it’s your typical over-priced arena fare.

The crowd’s energy during both games we attended were great. Our previous experience with AHL crowds was from when we lived in New York and we had the Binghamton Senators (Ottawa Senators AHL team) and later the Binghamton Devils (New Jersey Devils AHL team). The attendance for those teams was almost always disappointing and lackluster, so it was nice to see the crowd and energy for a new hockey market in the desert doing well.

Our first game was January 8th against the Tucson Roadrunners. Sadly, the Firebirds lost 1-4 with the only goal coming from Jani Nyman. We had seats on the glass for this game and we got to see former Kraken Kailer Yamamoto who had a strong game.

Our second game was January 11th against the Chicago Wolves. I believe this is the first time the Firebirds have ever played the Wolves and the Firebirds won 5-2. This was also the first game for Daniel Sprong after being sent down by the Kraken. He looked quite unhappy during warm ups (and sounded unhappy with some questionable post-game comments) but he had a great game with 2 goals and 1 assist. We also saw goals from Lleyton Roed, Jani Nyman, and Brandon Biro.

Below are some pics of the loot we brought home from the games: a Firebirds Pride blanket giveaway, a warm up worn autographed Ty Nelson Pride jersey, and a warm up worn autographed Nikke Kokko Ugly Christmas Sweater jersey.

We had a wonderful time and look forward to coming back!