Palm Springs has never been particularly shy about its glamorous past. This is a town that can sell you a pricey cocktail, a midcentury fantasy, and the illusion that Frank Sinatra might wander in before you finish your appetizer.

Enter Marlowe’s Palm Springs, reportedly preparing to open October 30 at the Avalon Hotel & Bungalows. Another helping of Old Hollywood nostalgia in a desert already swimming in the stuff. But behind the poolside glamour, there’s an actual restaurant that will have to earn its place.

Meet the kitchen

Published information identifies executive chef Jeremy Grossman as the person leading the kitchen. The concept promises meals that move from breakfast and poolside lunch into dinner. The question isn’t whether the room photographs well; it’s whether the cooking can keep locals coming back.

The menu has some nerve

Published menu selections include smoked trout toast with fermented leeks, crème fraîche, horseradish and pickled Fresno chile ($23), and a Gruyère-and-Emmental fondue for two ($38). The latter is gloriously retro without requiring the restaurant to become a museum.

Dinner options advertised include crispy octopus ($22), braised short rib with polenta ($46), trout amandine ($42), and steak frites ($45). These are menu listings, not dishes Coachella Scene has tasted. A good trout amandine doesn’t need reinvention. It needs properly browned butter and somebody in the kitchen who gives a damn.

The $25 burger question

The advertised smash burger is $25 with fries. At a boutique Palm Springs hotel, that may not shock anyone, but value is still worth discussing. The published menu also lists a 5% wellness surcharge; before tax or any optional tip, that’s $26.25. Transparency matters, and so does the quality of the burger.

Poolside cocktails and the real test

The bar program is promoting frozen drinks, a desert-inspired spritz and martinis. That’s the right neighborhood for a poolside restaurant, provided the drinks arrive cold, balanced and without a theatrical surcharge of their own.

Palm Springs has plenty of places built to impress visitors. What it needs are places that make residents want to return. Marlowe’s has a compelling address and an intriguing menu, but a glossy opening announcement is a promise, not a verdict.

Frankie Fork’s verdict: promising, unproven

We’ll reserve judgment until there is food to judge. Old Hollywood glamour is easy to sell in Palm Springs. A genuinely great meal is harder to fake.

Before you go

Marlowe’s Palm Springs is slated for Avalon Hotel & Bungalows, 415 S. Belardo Road, Palm Springs. The reported opening date is October 30, 2026, subject to confirmation. Check the restaurant directly for current hours, pricing and reservations.

Sources: Palm Springs Tribune opening report; Avalon Hotel restaurant information. No firsthand tasting or visit is claimed.