Dining out in the Coachella Valley is its own thing. Between seasonal crowds, heat that kills patience, snowbirds with opinions, and restaurants that range from excellent to “how is this still open,” it doesn’t always go smoothly.

These aren’t etiquette rules or influencer tips. They’re practical habits that make dining out here better—whether you’re grabbing breakfast in Palm Springs, happy hour in Palm Desert, or dinner anywhere that’s packed from January through April.

Think of this as survival advice for desert dining: how to get what you actually want, avoid paying for a bad experience, and leave without quietly vowing to never come back.

1) Modify It

See something on the menu that’s almost perfect but needs one tweak? Ask for it. Swap the bun, hold the onions, change the side, get the sauce on the side. This is normal.

If you are not ordering exactly what you want, don’t order it. Do not let food hit the table and then wish you had said something. There are people in the kitchen whose literal job is to make food to order. Let them do it.

Don’t dare to dream. Make your dreams reality. Adjust the order.

2) Send It Back

If the food is wrong, poorly prepared, or not what you expected, send it back. You are not being rude. You are being honest.

You’re there to enjoy the experience, and most restaurants would rather fix the problem than lose you as a customer forever.

Pro tip: If you ask for a dish to be remade—not reheated or “touched up”—salt it heavily. If it comes back overly salty, congratulations, they didn’t remake it.

Editor’s note: This is still a sneaky-good tip.

3) Leave a Tip

Don’t be a jerk. Tip.

Twenty percent is the baseline. Fifteen percent if things truly fell apart. If you didn’t like the service, the food, or the overall experience, take that up with management—not the person making minimum wage and relying on tips.

Plan for the tip. If you order $150 worth of food, the bill is not $150. Acting surprised by math is not a personality trait.

4) Reviews

Reviews are for future diners, not delayed arguments with the restaurant.

If something went wrong, you should have brought it up at the time. You are far more likely to have the issue fixed—and possibly comped—than by writing a scorched-earth review days later.

If you do leave reviews, make them informative. Not a personal attack. No one needs your manifesto.

5) Compliments

If you had a great experience, say so immediately. Tell your server. Tell a manager. Do it before you even leave.

Positive feedback helps good employees stick around and good restaurants stay good. Yelp can wait.

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Update: This post was refreshed to clean up formatting and remove outdated comment prompts. The advice itself still holds up.

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