Tommy Bahama Tropical Cafe (Chain Review) - Palm Springs - 2006 (MOVED)

RATING (* for Poor to ***** for Excellent)

Food: ****
Service: ****
Ambience: ***
Value: ***

OVERALL: ****





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This is probably the best chain restaurant you can go. Well, it's technical not a real chain because it's so small and it's spread around the world. I would actually come back to this place even though it's a chain restaurant.

Food is surprisingly good. Applying regular restaurant standard, I'd still give it four stars because it really deserves it. We had grilled mahi and fillet mignon. Maybe we're just lucky, or maybe the Palm Spring location happens to have a good chef, but they were both perfectly done. The desserts (house cholocate cake and bread pudding) were amazing too.

Service is professional but warm, but we happened to have a slow waiter who was paying too much attention to a table full of young blondes (yup, he's a young guy).

The ambience is "trying" hard to be Caribbean cool, but just like Tommy Bahama style of clothing, it's more like a mix of Hawaiian/Souther Cal. Layout is great though - you don't really feel you're in a large restuarant.

It's on the expensive side (like the clothes), but not overly so. Given the quality of food and even their coffee and tea (Mighty Leaf, in case you're wondering), the value is not great but quite acceptable.

Alright, maybe I'm giving them high marks because that filet mignon is just too perfectly. Whether it's pure luck or pursuit of excellence, I'll never know, but at least for now I'd recommend this place - just forget it's chain restaurant!