Restaurants in Indio

Charli Marrone's Italian Bar & Grill wants you to forget about their pizza. Well, maybe not to forget it completely—just to put off ordering a savory, cheese-laden pie until after you've explored the sumptuous Italian flavors on the rest of their menu. Those flavors range from fresh pasta, to tender steaks accented with a blue cheese demi-glace, to seafood tossed with buttery, lemon-laced white-wine sauce. Bartenders serve up draft beer and specialty cocktails to pair with each course.

For 29 years, the family-owned Sloan's Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner has furnished tabletops with platters of comfort fare classics beneath the cheerful sports banners and neon signs of its dining area and lounge. Chefs appease visitors throughout the day with signature breakfasts, sandwiches, and specialties such as Baby Dutch german pancakes, garnished in a shower of butter and powdered sugar. Customers can sample sips from the restaurant's full bar while cheering for local sports teams and applauding infomercials on the eatery's multiple television sets.

The pizza preparers at Rosati's Pizza hand-toss pies and adorn them with morsels from a roster of 19 meaty and veggie toppings. A few nanometers thicker than thin crust, the foundation for a large double-dough pizza flaunts a buttery hand-rolled edge. Toppings such as sausage, mushrooms, or fresh garlic decorate the pizza's melted-cheese surface like multiple badges for sword swallowing decorate a Webelos uniform. A pasta side of spaghetti or mostaccioli, bathed in homemade sauce, rounds out this dine-in, carryout, or delivered Italian spread (delivery fee not included).

Satisfying meals and handcrafted beer intersect with premium sports viewing at Lamppost Pizza and Backstreet Brewery, founded in 1976 by Angelo Barro and his sons, Dan and Tom. Today, the franchise welcomes patrons to 37 locations in three states, and the philosophy remains the same at all of them. Seven big-screen TVs broadcast football, basketball, and baseball games from around the leagues to entertain patrons sipping small-batch draft beers brewed onsite. Fans munch on traditional sports-viewing snacks, such as jalapeño poppers, potato skins, and deep-fried depth charts. Chefs also prepare heartier entrees including garlic-chicken pasta, Pesto Supreme pizzas covered with artichoke hearts, and The Linebacker, a pizza loaded with pepperoni, salami, ground beef, sausage, and two types of bacon.

Housing three restaurants under one roof, The Flame invites guests to enjoy traditionally prepared Brazilian and Japanese dishes along with American bar-and-grill fare. With this Groupon, valid for either Brazilian barbecue or Japanese hibachi, guests can summon meat carvers toting rotisserie-roasted goods, such as slow-roasted pork loin or picanha-style top sirloin, to tables to shave fresh slivers onto naked plates for Brazilian churrascaria ($29.95). This all-you-can-eat feast comes with access to a hot, cold, and antipasto bar, so you can stock up on sides to complement meaty selections in a culinary harmony unseen since the California Raisins dominated the airwaves. Diners can also step into the hibachi grill to enjoy a multicourse Japanese meal with appetizers, soup, salad, vegetables, and the meats of your choice, such as baby lobster and filet mignon ($44) or salmon and teriyaki chicken ($26), prepared before your eyes.

Located a few minutes from the hotel, Old Town La Quinta is a cluster of boutiques, restaurants, and cafés in Spanish-style buildings. An organic farmers' market is held here on Sunday mornings. Just outside of town, Joshua Tree National Park spreads across some 790,000 acres of the Mojave and Colorado Deserts. A haven for rock climbers, the park features thousands of named climbing routes, and several hiking trails wind throughout the area. Be advised that most of the park’s roads are unpaved and require vehicles with high ground clearance and four-wheel drive. Read the Fine Print for important info on travel dates and other restrictions.