JC’s Patio Cafe

Nice patio location, the freshest of foods, nice people, clearly popular with locals — always a good side, recommended.

A great little café with yummy food, nice outdoor dining and friendly service. On your birthday they have a surprise birthday game. Love this place!

service, hospitality, delicious food and great bloody mary’s! look forward to returning again and again!

Great food, great waitress, great atmosphere. Ok, now for the details– I had the Greek Scramble, it was very good. My husband had the pancakes and he rated them «ok». We sat next to the courtyard fountain and it was lovely. Our waitress was friendly, but more importantly she was efficient. The bathroom was clean and the waitress brought water for our dog. We will be back.

We had breakfast today. The service was spot on. I had buttermilk pancakes. My wife had Greek scramble. It was excellent with marble rye bread.

Great service! Wonderful people from Boston — food came out lightning fast and it was delicious

The patio is very pleasant. Sat near the fountain and enjoyed the sound of falling water. Had breakfast and found the staff very accommodating. The Greek scramble was interesting, but it would have been much better with real fresh eggs. Fresh fruit was good. I ordered a blueberry muffin which I gave to my husband. He said it was great. If they served fresh eggs, this would be a regular spot for me.

We hit many places in the area for breakfast, but we come here most often because it’s our favorite. Love the service.

While older ladies (like my Mom) love the «cozy» (i.e., dated) atmosphere, and while the shady patio offers respite from the hot sun, this place should be ashamed of itself.
You can’t screw up bacon, right? Well, JC’s can. The bacon was so tough and dry we had to return it – TWICE. The told us that they buy pre-​cooked, parboiled bacon! Parboiled? Why – does bacon take too long to cook from scratch? So we ordered ham, but it was a slice of formed loaf. Truly, the turkey bacon at IHOP is far better than the pork bacon at JC’s (and that’s not a slam on IHOP).
We asked for egg whites, but they said they don’t have any. How do you have eggs without whites? By only using those pre-​scrambled eggs that come in milk containers. That’s why others on Unilocal weren’t allowed to order fried eggs! What’s in the tough, heavy quiche? Guess.
I recall having a decent salad or sandwich there once, but I won’t be going back. JC’s makes a sucker out of my Mom and Moms everywhere. My advice to owner (who I gather inherited the place): Pay less attention the cheesy theme stuff on the walls, and a lot more on the food and menu quality.

omgeez — this is the cutest place, and nicely tucked away in a cool courtyard with a lot of shade! the service was fab, and the food was delicious. we had the quiche — which is actually the best quiche lorraine that i have had. loved it. and we had salad –
will definitely be back again. YUMM!

Service is amazing! and food is great!

Just happened to come across this café while looking for a brunch spot (the wait at Clementine’s down the street was too long!!); cute little place; super friendly staff; brunch next to water fountain w/​colorful umbrellas; average prices.

This is our favorite breakfast spot in Palm Desert. Eating on the patio when it’s warm outside is a memorable experience.

Uhg. The positive side. Toast was great. Service was nice.
Negative. Refused to offer egg whites. Country potatoes were like mashed potatoes. Spinach was canned. Bottom line, good atmosphere poor food.

A co-​worker and I were in town for two days. We were recommended JC’s for lunch and so enjoyed it that we came back the next day for breakfast. We were again so impressed that we had lunch there again as well. In all, we had 3 of our 5 meals in Palm Desert at JC’s. We travel 50−75% of the time for our jobs, and we have learned that when you find a fresh, tasty, friendly meal, you need to value it.
The tuna salad was exquisite for lunch! They use a seasoning that is excellent, and the texture was just perfect. We each had different scrambles for breakfast that were both excellent. The muffins were an tasty touch as a standard side option and made for a very hearty breakfast — nothing skimpy about this meal!
The service was friendly at every visit, and the food tasted freshly prepared. We chose to sit out back at each of out stays, under the multitude of umbrellas, and listen to the water feature they have installed. The service and the atmosphere made us both forget at one point that we were on a work trip rather than vacation. This venue is truly comfortable, inviting, and relaxing.
I read other posts about the owners being inflexible about substitutions, and while I did not experience this because I did not ask for any (I have learned through constant travel and eating out that the owners and chefs truly know best), my co-​worker did ask for changes and additions that were easily accommodated.
I HIGHLY recommend this restaurant for both breakfast and lunch!

nice cozy breakfast spot service very good food good pretty basic breakfast

Great Café! We went for breakfast, sat inside (it was too cold to sit outside)
Ordered the regular pancakes, coffee and the Poor man’s Bagel.
Everything served was good quality. The servers are friendly, they take care of you.
They even brought an extra plate of Orange slices for my kid.
One particular thing of interest was that their bathroom was beautifully decorated, with pictures of people on Holidays. Proverbs displayed everywhere, wisely and artistically.
Just the kind of place you want to be, when you are on vacation. It just gives a little edge to your already elevated mood, when you are on a vacation.

The most fantastic Bloody Mary on the planet was had here! Complete with a bottle of tobacco & horseradish so I could craft it to my liking. BRILLIANT!
Lunch was fantastic too, but the food certainly took a backseat to the cocktail. ;^)

Loved breakfast. Nice staff, light but tasty food and a great patio atmosphere. The breakfast burrito was great, not some huge, hulking baby-​like burrito, but a nice breakfast burrito.
Staff is crazy nice, will be back fo sho! And will spread the word to the under 70 crowd this is a great breakfast spot.

Really?!? …Really? This is one of the best breakfasts around??? I don’t think so!
JC’s Patio Café was recommended to us from some Palm Desert locals we met at a Starbucks. We were all in the mood for breakfast, and we were assured by the elderly couple that this was one of the best breakfasts in town. Uhhh… no. It couldn’t possibly be the best breakfast around. Please tell me that Palm Desert locals have better food to eat than this.
The menu is very short and exactly to the owner’s liking. Meaning you get it THEIR way. That’s it. Not your way. Not at all. For instance, you can ONLY get scrambled eggs. God forbid you should prefer your eggs over-​easy; they won’t do it! What, is this beyond the capabilities of the chef? I (even me!) can fry an egg without breaking it; what’s so hard about making it how your customer wants it? Worse yet, the scrambled eggs tasted just like those runny, light-​yellow, buffet-​style scrambled eggs you can get at any two-​bit breakfast buffet (not a GOOD breakfast buffet mind you; the two-​bit variety). I’m sorry, but if all you’re serving is one kind of egg, at least make it phenomenal!
The pancake batter was over-​mixed too. How do I know? Tough, chewy pancakes. The perfect pancake will fall apart at the poke of a fork; these you had to knife apart with the side of a fork. The sausage and ham were the same you’d get at any inexpensive family chain restaurant. You know… judging by the speed at which our order came out, I wouldn’t be surprised if they had a two-​bit buffet setup in the kitchen, complete with warming pans of pre-​cooked food, and all they do is just lift up the lid and throw it on a plate. I can’t prove it, but nothing about what we ordered screamed «freshly made to order.»
Look, this place has great outside seating in a lovely part of town. If you hate food, but love location, then JC’s is the place for you. This is the type of place that elderly ladies call «delightful» and spend hours poking at the same plate of bland, lukewarm food while they imagine they’re someplace fancy. JC’s is NOT fancy though. The prices would lead you to assume it is fancy, but the food is most certainly not fancy… nor worthy of your appetite. My recommendation: DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY. Go somewhere else, anywhere, and you’ll most likely be better off than JC’s.