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best places to eat in joshua tree

Did you know that Joshua Tree National Park is home to over a hundred and fifty different restaurants? If you have specific questions about what type of restaurant will work well in a national park setting, I feel your pain. The truth is that most of the best places to eat in joshua tree fall into three distinct categories: fast food, casual dining, and fine dining. Where to find the best places to eat in Joshua Tree, CA? If you’re asking yourself this question, you’re not alone. We did some research and put together a list of food recommendations.

The Joshua Tree National Park is a great place to go for a day trip, but it’s also a great place to spend the night.

If you’re looking for things to do in Joshua Tree, we’ve got some of our favorite places to eat in Joshua Tree National Park. Here’s our list:

The Oasis Cafe & Lounge – This cafe has been open since 1999 and offers great food and drinks at reasonable prices. They have a beautiful view of the desert from their patio.
Black Sheep Bistro – This bistro is located inside the Red Barn Mercantile and offers both breakfast and dinner items as well as wine from local wineries. The Black Sheep Bistro is open every day except Monday.
Elmer’s Desert Oasis – This restaurant offers some of the best burgers in town along with other classic American dishes like steaks, ribs and chicken wings! They also serve beer on tap! It’s located at 73550 Twentynine Palms Highway near Palm Springs, California 92262 (760) 367-6910

If you’re looking to eat in Joshua Tree, the options are endless. There are several restaurants that serve up delicious food and drinks in the area, making it easy to find just what you need.

If you’re looking for a great place for breakfast, then check out Yummy’s Cafe & Bakery. They have amazing pastries and coffee that will get your day started off right.

For lunch or dinner, check out The Desert Bar & Grill. Their menu has everything from burgers to steak and lobster tails!

Another great place for dinner is the Joshua Tree Saloon. They have live music on Friday and Saturday nights, so it’s definitely an experience you don’t want to miss!

cheap places to eat in joshua tree

No trip out to Joshua Tree is complete without a night at Pappy And Harriet’s. The iconic restaurant/saloon/outdoor music venue has history dating back to the 1940s when the original building (and the surrounding Pioneertown) was designed to be a 1800s frontier set for Hollywood movies. Needless to say, we wish these walls could talk. If you aren’t stumbling out after a long night of drinking and eating BBQ, you’ve done Pappy and Harriet’s wrong. Their live music area is still dark, but we dream of the day we can once again dance uncontrollably to a honky-tonk band in the desert.

Even by Joshua Tree standards, La Copine is in the middle of nowhere. That said, this daytime cafe (open Thursday through Sunday, 11am-4pm) serves some of the best food in the area and is worth the extra 20-minute drive into the desert. The menu is on the smaller side, but with options like duck liver mousse, pork belly banh mis, and fried chicken, it covers a lot of ground and is more upscale than most places you find around Joshua Tree. Seating is first come, first served at the moment.

Every person who goes to Joshua Tree is there to hike, take shrooms, or do both at the same time. And that means pretty much everybody is looking for a good breakfast or lunch to put in their stomachs before hitting the trails/seeking enlightenment. There are a handful of spots right outside the entrance to the National Park catering exclusively to this crowd, but you should go straight to Natural Sisters. Lines get long on the weekends, but the order-at-the-counter cafe has fantastic vegetarian wraps, sandwiches, salads, and smoothies. There’s also a vegan carrot cake that will change you, but you might want to wait till after the hike to eat it. Or not.

In a place as remote as Joshua Tree, there aren’t a ton of new restaurant openings on a yearly basis, but one exception to that rule is The Dez. This all-day eatery opened in late 2020 and gave the downtown area another excellent post-hike refuel option. The small counter-service space is takeaway only at the moment, but there’s a large daily-changing menu that’s sure to appease every dietary restriction in your group. We recommend going for either a fresh-made sandwich (if the pesto BLT is on the menu, get it) or one of their pre-made lunch boxes to enjoy on the hammock back at your rental.

pioneertown restaurants

If old legends are to be believed (and in the desert, they often are), the Joshua Tree got its name from a group of 19th century Mormon settlers who saw the upturned branches and were reminded of the prophet Joshua. It was as if the strange, prickly trees were beckoning them to the promised land.

Biblical mythology aside, Joshua Tree National Park is a sort of promised land for desert lovers. Located approximately 130 miles from Los Angeles, the 760,636-acre park is a mecca for rock climbers, hikers, and stargazers. The nearby towns of Joshua Tree, Yucca Valley, and Twentynine Palms also offer a classic California desert experience in the form of saloons that serve cocktails in Mason jars, sun-soaked cafes, and poolside restaurants that feel like literal oases in the desert.

Whether a trip to Joshua Tree calls for treks through the desert or margaritas at the pool, here’s where to drink and dine near the park.

Add: Yucca Kabob, Western Diner, Giant Rock Meeting Room, El Guero Mexican Grill, Roadrunner Grab+Go, Jelly Donut

Remove: Dillon’s Burgers, Pie for the People, Royal Siam Cuisine Thai, Joshua Tree Coffee Company, 29 Palms Inn

Morongo Valley Cafe

Morongo Valley Cafe is known for its dog-friendly patio and all-day breakfast. Diners can expect classic comfort food including biscuits and gravy, French toast, tuna melts, and rotating soup specials.

The Red Dog Saloon

A little bit hipster, a little bit cowboy. That’s the vibe at Red Dog Saloon, a former Hell’s Angels biker bar that looks straight out of a western film set (because it was). Red Dog Saloon serves elevated Tex Mex menu items, including wagyu beef brisket tacos, mushroom asada tacos, and chips and queso. The cocktail list fits the desert setting: mezcal margaritas, mules with fresh ginger juice, and Manhattans made with mole bitters.

Frontier Café

Nestled among antique shops and boutiques, this Yucca Valley cafe serves sandwiches and salads, plus wine, beer, and kombucha. The emphasis is on fresh, desert ingredients (think prickly pear lemonade and arugula salad tossed with pepitas). There are plenty of plant-based options too, including a vegan BLT with housemade tempeh bacon.