Mr. Lyons Steakhouse

Why It Belongs on the List

Mr. Lyons opened as Palm Springs' answer to the question 'what would the best supper club in 1940s Hollywood have looked like if someone opened it now' — and the answer has been compelling enough to become the city's most praised special-occasion dinner. The steakhouse operates in the mid-century Hollywood glamour register: dark wood, leather banquettes, table-side service (the Steak Diane preparation is a theatrical centerpiece), prime meats at their best (the tomahawk ribeye and beef Wellington are the showpieces), and a room energy that rewards dressing for dinner. Seymour's, the speakeasy hidden within the Mr. Lyons building, has become a premier cocktail destinations in the California desert independent of its steakhouse host — a small, darkly lit room with a serious classic cocktail program and a specifically Palm Springs atmosphere of elegant excess. The combination of a major dinner followed by a digestivo in Seymour's is the canonical Palm Springs evening for those who came for style as much as substance.

What Stands Out

• Most glamorous special-occasion dinner in Palm Springs: the 1940s Hollywood supper club ethos applied to a contemporary restaurant
• Tableside Steak Diane: the most theatrical service gesture in Palm Springs, the preparation worth requesting specifically
• Tomahawk ribeye and beef Wellington: the showpieces of the most serious prime beef program in the desert
• Seymour's speakeasy inside: one of the finest cocktail destinations in the California desert, worth a separate reservation
• The canonical Palm Springs evening: Mr. Lyons dinner → Seymour's cocktail — the combination that best expresses the city's style ambitions