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an even better native foods
16April 22nd, 2009LA restaurants, more restaurants (not LA), native foodsunfortunately, in the past, i have been guilty of giving the vegan restaurant native foods mixed reviews. the westwood outlet can be hit-or-miss, with it’s long wait times and inconsistent food. although i have had lots of great meals at the west side eatery in the past, after a couple bad experiences i found myself not returning for months. well, lemme say i am ready to give them another chance after some recent lunches that were nothing short of amazing at the palm desert location. over the weekend i ate there twice and had the opportunity to sample 4 different dishes, all of which blew my mind.
as you probably know, from friday to monday i was trapped in palm desert attending coachella. the only eating options were pre-made grocery store meals, over-priced festival fare, and dining at native foods, palm desert’s most popular (and maybe only?) vegan restaurant. we found ourselves eating at native foods 2 of the 3 days it was open during our stay…and we couldn’t believe how refreshingly delicious everything was.
mina's macro: brown rice, quinoa, tempeh, steamed veggies, sea greens, sauerkraut green onions & sesame salt. Served with lemon miso sauce. $13.95
on both visits to native foods, i ordered mina’s macro, a hot bowl filled right up with fresh warm vegetables, tangy sauerkraut, sesame salt and crispy tempeh. it also came with a side of lemony miso sauce that tasted just brilliant drizzled over the crisp broccoli and cauliflower. from the quality produce, to the perfectly-grilled tempeh, to the flavorful creamy sauce, everything about this bowl was perfect. i wanted to order something different on my second visit, but i just couldn’t bring myself to. mina’s macro FTW!
my husband went with the portobello and sausage burger, which i had written about before and was not a great fan of. however, he loved his dish, and i can say (because i tried it as well) that it was really damn tasty. it wasn’t over-oily, and the whole sandwich was packed with hearty meat and garlicky pesto. i would definitely recommend trying this out.
portobello & sausage burger: big grilled beauties with seitan sausage, pommodoro, caramelized onions, vegan mayo, pesto and sweet roasted garlic. $10.35
the sausage patties in the burger were positively scrumptious and came topped with loads of vegetables and a very delicious combination of sauces.
on our second visit, my husband ordered the gandhi hot bowl which came with blackened crispy tempeh, rice, vegetables and a green curry sauce. the description on the menu sounded like it could be hit-or-miss, but with one bite this thing won us over. the tempeh was covered in crispy little flakes that were beyond awesome and the curry sauce was absolutely delectable.
gandhi: jasmine and brown rice, steamed veggies and blackened tempeh topped with cranberries and wild curry sauce. $13.25
we also shared an order of get yo greens, which consisted of the boring-sounding but incredible-tasting steamed organic greens covered in lemon and gomasio dressing. they were a bit expensive at $5.50, but if you are craving healthy vegetables these will totally hit the spot.
get yo greens: steamed organic leafy greens with your choice of balsamic vinaigrette or lemon and gomasio. $5.50
another bonus to the palm desert native foods, is that the place is huge and beautiful inside. i’m used to the westwood native foods location where you have order at the counter, then climb the stairs to hope for a seat at one of the 5 tiny 2-person tables. here there was ample seating, and full-on waiter service.
so next time you find yourself out in the desert, don’t miss out on this wonderful native foods. it’s much nicer than the one in los angeles, and we had 2 great meals there in 2 days! they also have a palm springs location which is equally nice.
native foods
Tags: burger, coachella, kale, macrobiotic, palm desert, tempeh
73-890 El Paseo
Palm Desert, CA 92260
(760) 836-9396
Monday-Saturday
11AM – 9:30PM
Closed Sunday
16 responses to “an even better native foods” 
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I was recently at this location while watching tennis in nearby Indian Wells. We ate there for lunch & dinner in the same day! My veg-friendly friend couldn’t believe how amazing all the food was! I LOVE the kale, very simple & tasty dish. Bonus points for the Palm Desert location serving alcohol & the lovely outdoor seating area. Agreed, the Palm Springs location (the original Native Foods) is equally awesome.
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Did you look up any of the recipes in the cookbook when you got home? 😉
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The Costa Mesa one is the same way! Why is our Westwood one not as cool as the rest!?
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I was just at the Westwood one the other day (after hearing all you Coachella nerds talk about Native Foods I couldn’t fight the craving) and got the Gandhi bowl with extra kale… it was fantastic. The service seems to have improved a lot too, or maybe the guy was just flirting with me, hard to say. And they have sweet potato fries now!!!
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Foodeater: Ha! You and the sweet potato fries! You’re very consistent. 🙂
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I agree with this post, only about the Aliso Viejo location. So much nicer! I’ve only been to the Westwood one once and my food was good, but I could still tell the difference between the two.
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I’ve only been to Native Foods once–the westwood location a few mos ago–and got the ghandi bowl and it was sooooo bland–had like 2 drips of sauce on the whole bowl–and tasted like airplane food. But the dessert was good. I’ll have to give them another shot. and yeah what is up with that ridic seating?
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There is a Native Foods in Palm Springs as well inside the Smoke Tree Village off Hwy 111. Every bit as good as the Palm Desert one if you find yourself closer.
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Michelle April 22nd, 2009 at 14:43
Ok, quarrygirl you’ve done it again! LOL! Your review & pics have me drooling for tempeh all day so I’m hitting up Native Foods tonight. Costa Mesa’s the closest by a long shot and it’s still gonna take like 40mins to get there. Why are these locations so few & far between?? I need me some Native Foods and their cookbook just isn’t the same. *sigh*
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miss anthrope April 22nd, 2009 at 19:21
michelle – that is so awesome you are going there tonight based on this post! hahaha. i sure hope it doesn’t let you down! be sure to tell me how you like it!
vegyogini – dude, don’t EVEN GET ME STARTED! ya know how i feel about that cookbook!
foodeater and liz – good to hear they improved the gandhi bowl in westwood. like liz, i had it before and it was GROTTY! glad to hear it’s better…and the sweet potato fries are also good news.
brittany and lex – i haven’t tried that location. damn why is only the westwood one shite?!?!
scott – i agree, the palm springs one kicks major ass.
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vique martin April 22nd, 2009 at 20:32
yeah, i’ve eaten at all of them multiple times and the two in the desert are head and shoulders above the others. just better chefs i guess. so much better, and the specials are always incredible.
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ugggh.again,rubbing the coachella-ness in my face…every year my friends and i would stay at the comfort suites in cathedral city and it was right amck dab between the palm desert and palm springs native foods,so we’d usually go to both.and always buy carrot cake and parfaits to keep at the hotel for eating after the days at the field.
also,last time i was at the palm desert one they had the big size of uncle eddies cookies for sale which was rad.and our waitress-natasha-told us that stone cold steve austin had eaten there earlier that day… -
Michelle April 23rd, 2009 at 08:43
Native Foods was awesome (as usual) last night. Had to try the macro bowl which was an amazing blend of all things healthy & wonderful. 🙂 Tempeh & couscous were a great combo. Also chose this bowl because it had sauerkraut (sp?) which I’m not sure I’ve ever had but have heard great things about a couple of vegan reuben sandwiches so figure I’d better give it a try and it didn’t disappoint. Have so much food left for today’s lunch! The carrot cake is always amazing.
Evan, I do the same thing w/keeping the carrot cake (& cheesecake!) at the hotel when staying in the desert. I think Native Foods is the best thing about Palm Springs/Palm Desert- just be sure to call ahead as they close for the Summer. Last year we just made it in town before they closed the kitchen for the season!
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my mom lives out there, so everytime my girlfriend and i go visit for the weekend , we take my mother and stepdad. they both love it! , the service is great and the food is so much better than at the other locations ive eaten at. .. the salsbury steak they had featured a few months ago still haunts my dreams.. omnomnomnom
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Michelle April 23rd, 2009 at 13:37
my bad…should be tempeh & “quinoa” in that bowl. got couscous on the brain! lol. 😉
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While I checked out the Chicago Diner while visiting there for Lollapalooza and definitely feel LA could use a place like that, I also really liked the new Native Foods locations they have there. I went to the one in Wicker Park and it was a lot bigger and had a better atmosphere than the Westwood location. I enjoy the food at both locations. I’ve never been to the Palm Desert location as I spend my Coachella’s in a tent.
Michelle April 22nd, 2009 at 08:26