We came to celebrate my birthday in Palm Dessert, first stop at Tiffany's husband blessed me with some blue boxes then salesman told us about this place great service & amazing food, service & drinks, we were told place was booked but you managed to find us a place for 2 thank you.. we had an amazing dinner.., Love your restaurant continue to serve the people.. please stop by this place you won't be disappointed read more

Great food service and atmosphere. Started with a artichoke then pasta sampler and sea bass.

Had a lovely dinner Thursday evening. Our server, Suzi, did a great job. She is very attentive and gracious and just made the whole experience fun. It was a very busy night but she still found time to give us excellent service. She is a keeper! read more

Amazing place! Great food and service. Very modern design. We liked every bite of our dinner. We had Oso Buca for main course, stuffed zucchini for appetizer and tiramisu for desert. Amazing! read more

A friend of mine from NY and of Italian decent recommended this place and it delivered. The wait service was attentive. I ordered spaghetti and meatballs for lunch and it was delicious. The ingredients were fresh and top quality. The cheese and the meatballs were heaven. I splurged and had the chocolate hazelnut torte and it was exquisite. I will definitely be back to try something else on the menu. read more

Tonight may be our fifth visit in a year since discovering this treasure. Cannot say enough about their consistency with all aspects from greeting, seating, service, food... and of course drink. Love this place for lunch, drinks, and dinner. The tapas menu means that for about $20 you can enjoy a full belly but please add a desert. "All homemade." read more

Great everything always! Been coming here since they opened and never disappointed! We travel the world and I'm not fond of restaurants in general. Love everything about this place! read more

Sort of bummed by our experience. Prices were high and the quality of food marginal. I ordered Branzino which I have ordered many times at other restaurants. Generally, in my experience, Branzino is fresh sea bass with garlic and some spices. Il Corso's version was covered with sauce as if attempting to cover a poor quality fish. Good wine list but poor guidance by the serving staff and manager. The service was ok but slow. Not going back soon. read more

Love this place! We've visited twice and each time was great service, great food, great drinks. The calamari is my favorite. However I will say we do always choose the bar area because the dining area was way too packed. My boyfriend almost knocked over a table because the tables leave little room to get to your seat. Plus I hate sharing my table with strangers, which is what it also felt like. And the way that we like to eat, well there wasn't enough room at those tables anyways lol, Way more room at the tabletops by the bar. So that's my only complaint. read more

Il Corso is a brilliantly-designed restaurant that is far too loud. The expensive decor should have included better sound abatement internally. But it's the overpriced, mediocre cuisine that inspired me to write this review. We ate there in early August, 2014, a quiet month in the desert but also a time in which the kitchen can provide quality food preparation and, perhaps, offer some Summer Sale prices, as most desert restaurants do in July & August. Three couples all encountered very average Italian food; the Olive Garden has better-tasting food and certainly better value. Our bill was $390 and with tip came to $450. Hardly worth it. The veal was tough and relatively flavorless, and not one of the entrees was really outstanding. This was a $100 value for $390 (we did order a bottle of wine)! If Il Corso wants to succeed in the competitive Palm Desert market, the management and chef must deliver on the promise that the decor holds. This was my 3rd trip to Il Corso, and two of those meals were mediocre. I have better places to spend my dining dollars and won't recommend Il Corso to anyone seeking fine food. It's really not about the money.....it's about value for your money. What a disappointment. A review from Jenn B. in May said it best: "THIS FOOD WAS AWFUL!!!! The chef is clueless if they think they are putting out a good product." Well said. read more

This is amazing ... the menu reads like being in Italy - we went for our 9th Anniversary (married in Siena so we want real Italian) ... the service was awesome and the food was spectacular - pasta was fatti in casa (as it should be) ... properly al dente and sooooo tasty. sauce was made from whole tomato and not from a can or jar. make sure you bring along your appetite - portion size is humongous. read more

Were there for lunch, ordered the octopus carpaccio, it showed well, but flavor wise something was missing. The Caesar salad was made of all 'white' lettuce, if you can imagine that, and the salmon didn't look like freshly cooked. The marguerite pizza, with a few strands of artichoke and mushrooms, extra charge, wasn't impressive either. It's disappointing because when someone describes their cuisine as 'authentic' and 'elevated', your expectations are up there. But the place is beautiful, clean and bright. We may give it a try for dinner. read more

Had their prefix dinner and 3 courses for $29 was a great deal. Salad was good and fresh but the olive oil dressing needed a little more flavor. The salmon was cooked just perfect. Ended the dinner with a hazelnut gelato. Yummy! read more

This restaurant is a mess! We had dinner for four at seven. Our waiter brought one Jack Daniels and two angels enV's on the rocks. The person that ordered the Jack Daniels asked the waiter to take it back and pour a double because the single was so small. When the waiter came back, the bartender had poured angels envy into the Jack Daniels! Can you even believe that! The service was her Renda's, and the food was mediocre. Charges way too much for what you get read more

Three course was very good! And the price you can't beat! It was 30$ The salmon was amazing!!!! I had salad, salmon, and tiramisu. All excellent! read more

We love Il Corso. All of the food is great and the service is outstanding. Emilio, Todd and Etni are outstanding servers. Their tomatoes cannot be found anywhere else in the Valley and maybe even a larger area. The Chicken Parmigiana and Penne Arrabiata on the bar menu are sensational! The entire restaurant is immaculately clean, which we really appreciate! read more

The bar is great Juan Carlos is a fabulous bartender, because of him we returned for dinner, the hostess had quite an attitude, the server also had an attitude and spoke softly which was difficult to hear, I had the special dish the Dover Sole fish which was not fresh, it smelled fishy and was $48 bucks! Date of the visit was 1/28/20 at around 8pm. read more

It is my Go To for everything. The food is fantastic and the service is excellent. Upscale bar etiquette which I appreciate. I have eaten in the bar and the dining room and loved both sections. Many thanks for the great fun and food! read more

Food was okay and if you like waiting 45 minutes between the appetizer and the main course, this place is right up your alley. In addition, if you order a bottle of wine from the menu at $125 a pop, don't be surprised when they bring you the wrong bottle, admit it after pouring it, but offer a couple lemon drops to make it right. Let's see, hmmmm, it's been awhile since my last go at bartending, but best I can remember is management wouldn't even bother me if I kept my pouring cost below .13 a drink and the margin on a bottle of wine was in at least 150%, so when the manager offers eight free cocktails at a cost to the house of $1.04 instead of doing the right thing, for example comping the bottle of wine, I say, "no thank you", pay the $650 dinner bill and never ever go back again. Short story, the place is a joke! read more

I've eaten at this restaurant before and thought it was okay, nice atmosphere. Last June my late husband's family came down so I decided to take them to Il Corso. Well...where do I start!! I gave the waiter, a much older waiter, my credit card and asked to hand me the bill at the end. I ordered the chicken Milanese. The waiter raved about the langoustine and linguine. Thinking he was recommending this as a side dish I agreed. When our meal came there was no Milanese!! I told him I thought he meant a side dish and said NO this is what you wanted! BTW, it was lousy. Their halibut for very small and very $$$$! My sister in law ordered chocolate gelato for dessert. It was brought out and noticed it was a tan color. She tasted it and commented " this isn't chocolate"! The waiter insisted it was chocolate!! The manager came over and agreed it was mocha and returned with the correct flavor. At the end of the meal the bill had been slyly paid by my 25 year old niece!! Why did the waiter allow this to happen!!! I was pissed!! She asked me "what tip should I give him"? Had I paid I would've given him 10%. She did. He walked away, looked at the bill and turned to her and gave her a dirty look! She called for the manager, he apologized, took off my meal and our desserts. Would you go back to this restaurant???? As a full time resident and a new widow...I don't need this treatment!!! So many other restaurants to try, never again!!!!! read more

Phenomenal. Great food, great service. Staff are super accommodating and helpful. I was shocked to see it only has four stars. Things may have changed recently, but now it is certainly deserving of five stars. Highly recommend when you're in the Palm Desert area! read more

We come here often, as it is one of the top Italian restaurants in the area. On this visit we had the zucchini blossoms (excellent) and the veal chop parmigiana. The veal was some of the best we ever had, and the green beans served with it was a very nice complement. We shared some limoncello parfait for dessert and it was awesome. Had great service from Anthony, our server, to make the evening a perfect dining experience. read more

I read the reviews before going here this evening to see what other people were saying. When I arrived the service was outstanding from the valet to each member of the staff. I believe the place has been opened 4 months and I'm sure they have it down now so if anyone has any doubt you'll need to stop by and enjoy this place. The food was delicious and tasty. All around this is a great place and I will be back read more

OK. Best way to describe. Nice atmosphere, ok pizza, good cannoli. Glass of HOUSE Chianti, and a measured glass that filled 1/4 of the goblet costs $13 ! Simply overpriced. read more

How the mighty have fallen! Unprofessional service, no decent Chardonnays by the class, only French. What happened to a proper California Chardonnay? Finally had to order a very mediocre one. You should be able to get a glass of a Chianti Classico at an Italian restaurant but not so here. Dover Sole was excellent but no bargain at an outrageous $45. Not an enjoyable evening other than being with our friends. read more

Hands down the most delicious pasta my boyfriend and I have ever had! Such great quality ingredients, so fresh and so flavorful! I got the GF pasta with some fancy cheese and tomato sauce beyond delicious I almost ordered a second one. My boyfriend had plain ole spaghetti and meatballs and again, the best he's ever had, and we eat a lot. Super friendly waiter named Jose too, very energetic and spoke in Italian to give the full experience. Must stop when in Palm Springs!!! Will crave this forever read more

Visiting El Paseo one day I noticed this place. The food is awesome, the service staff -- "Hello Mike" after a couple of visits. It's all just so good -- whether it is pizza, pasta or full on meal. It has a great wine list -- one where every bottle is half price. Highly recommend. read more

Much to do about nothing. Service with Italian attitude. Menu attempting to be creative but falls short. Worse pizza I have ever had. Very pedestrian. Using a nice ambience with the novelty and location to serve overpriced mediocre Italian food. Too many other choices in the desert but if want to feel in the scene for the desert then this is it. read more

My filet mignon was delicious - my husbands bronzino was "ok". The salad was good. The service was atrocious...had to pass on coffee as the server never came back...actually had to go and find the server to get the bill after a length of time...took forever to have someone take our order and then it was wrong. Totally agree with another reviewer that the drinks were itsy-bittsy. I have never seen such a small glass and so much ice! This was my 2nd time to El Corso as the couple we were with wanted to go there...I believe it is the last time there for them as well. Too bad as it was an excellent steak! read more

It is a beautiful building and well designed, but very noisy acoustics, so don't expect a quiet evening of conversation. Food is good but pricey, nothing organic. This place caters to the in season fashionable crowd, not foodies. The service is generally good and the kitchen accommodates requests like paleo or gluten free. I had a Caesar and the sea bass grilled with lemon and spinach, both were good. read more

Upon entering from the back, there's a surly looking mexican waiter w/ black rimmed glasses that has no personality and didn't bother saying hello, he just looked at us as we greeted him. Truly, you should train your staff to acknowledge vocally, especially people visiting your establishment for the first time. We see why the reviews are not on par about service. Some of the help seem a bit annoyed (see: mexican busboys and kitchen prep people who look angry when you are observing their pizza making skills...sorry bout that! lol) When customers are walking into your establishment that is new, they want to see people who know how to greet and acknowledge, not get scowled at like we are invading their corner of the barrio. Very odd. Doesn't match well w/ the beautiful ambiance. Upon navigating that mess to the front: The hostess was lovely and from Russia, the waiter was Polish and seemed friendly and very courteous... it was like dining at the United Nations. The owner/manager seemed very friendly and came over mid way though, very kind, gracious host. The pasta was homemade, delicious sauce. The sandwich was well prepared, could have used a bit more balsamic or e.v.o.o. as it tended to be a bit dry but again, it was well prepared and stuffed with ingredients. The french fries were exceptional. We did however order a bottle of pelligrino and wait staff should keep the bottle table side and yet we were charged for the full bottle, which is a little bit of a disappointment. We were re filled with regular waters and our bottle of Pelligrino went missing...but we were still charged for a full bottle. Dessert was decent, a bit on the 'just defrosted' side on the chocolate torte/cake, the cannoli seemed a bit runny like it was microwaved but still both were very tasty. The espresso's tasted very bitter, though..calibrate that machine and check your beans. Either that or they were pulled and sat there too long. Again, like the reviews below, a tad on the pricy side but overall very good quality. Just be sure to ask for the young polish waiter gentleman, not that chubby mexican waiter w/ the black rimmed glasses, he looks like he needs an attitude adjustment...thank god our fabulous waiter got our fat tip and not that guy...again, choose your servers wisely and try the homemade pastas, those are no fail and very very exceptional. we'll be back..definitely worth a try. read more

Happy hour menu is good. We particularly enjoy the red wine and the meatballs. The service at the bar was great. It would be nice to have a pianist or some type of live music. read more

Sitting at the bar, having a beautiful bottle of wine and incredible food...bartenders are great. Love this place.

Had lunch here today and it was excellent!!!! Everything was so well seasoned and flavorful from the Minnestrone soup to the entrees. I had the swordfish salad special and it was eccellente!! Again, perfectly seasoned both the fish and the misto salad with vinaigrette. My girlfriend had the angel hair pasta in a tomato sauce that was light and bursting with flavor. For me, this is the most authentic Italian food in the area. Reminds me of Tuscany! read more

Great location. Service was good. Food sub par. Tomato salad very mushy.Seafood soup just warm. Veal meat ball no flavor, didn't seem made from veal. Swordfish not fresh, looked like it came from Costco. Try to sub a cheaper wine on second glass, and Dewars on rock was a small pour for $11. read more

Beautiful Resturant on a magnificent street. Too bad most of our meal was mediocre. The octopus carpaccio appetizer was one of the best dishes we've had in years. Fresh, delicate and full of flavor. After such an auspicious beginning we were so disappointed by both of our main courses: Oslo Bucco /the saffron risotto, and the Veal Milanese. Both meat dishes lacked seasoning The Oslo Bucco was undercooked and clung to the bone, while the veal cutlet was so well done it could have passed for shoe leather. The saffron risotto had a heavy glue like texture and the rocket tomato salad that accompanied the veal was neither seasoned nor dressed. Underwhelmed. read more

Just got home from an early dinner here and had such a wonderful experience I have to share. We've been here several times and always have had a great experience but upon reflection tonight, I think it's one of the best restaurants in the desert. If you are used to chain restaurants you will be refreshed by the difference a conscientious chef and owner makes. Everything down to the bread is freshly made on the premises. Don't see your favorite Italian dish on the menu? Just ask. There is a chef in the kitchen who really knows his stuff and graciously accommodates with delicious results. The staff is top notch and has been on all our visits. Tonight our waiter, Ernesto was first class all the way. Attentive, preemptive with service and suggestions, personable and friendly. A surprise dessert showed up with a candle and I didn't even remember mentioning the birthday. And the food- the best Italian I can remember. You won't be disappointed! read more

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Stopped there for dinner with another couple after the tennis tournament. We had no reservations but they seated us right away. Jose our server was very friendly. The place was packed but our food came out right and at the right temperature l. Everything was yummy!! It was very hot in there though. I would defiantly recommend it for Italian cuisine. read more

Il Corso - Beautiful walls!! - Italian Near Me - Palm Desert, California

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We stopped by last night for HH....first, this place is beautiful! The wine selection very exceptional and our appetizers were some of the best we have ever had! Try the rigatoni, white sauce incredible! Cuddos to the Chef and the interior designer! read more

I had an appointment that was running late so I sat at the bar and ordered a martini. Little did I know that it was going to cost $17.00. Absolutely ridiculous and a real rip off. read more