3 Best Nightlife in Palm Springs and the Desert Resorts, California

This uptown drinking den picks up where tiki bar founding father Don the Beachcomber left off—first, by occupying its former space where Frank Sinatra guzzled navy grog by the quart and second, by delivering both classic cocktails like zombies and mai tais and fruit-forward, rum-heavy originals decorated with umbrellas, chunks of honeycomb, and flamingos. It's dark, full of kitsch (it's hard not to love the pufferfish lights), and has both late-afternoon and last-call happy hours daily. 

Uptown and next door to Bootleggers, this moody, sophisticated establishment was opened in late 2021 by the folks behind Sandfish—which accounts for the extensive collection of high-end whiskies and the Japanese-leaning snacks and sushi menu—to service serious cocktail connoisseurs. It has a New York air, with tufted banquettes, dim lights, leather-covered menus, a wraparound marble bar, and waxed-canvas-apron-clad bartenders who sometimes roll over the bar cart to muddle and shake in your personal space.

The younger sibling of L.A.'s oldest still-operating tiki bar (opened in 1958 in North Hollywood) transports guests from Palm Springs to Polynesia with groovy tunes, pupu platters, and umbrella drinks. Most of drinks, both classic and original, are powered by rum, but gin hounds, rye or dies, and vodka lovers have a few options, too. The bar is on the second floor of a building in the thick of downtown, so try to nab a table on the lanai to watch the action from above. Private parties can reserve a shagadelic room hidden behind a phone booth.