La Casita is a family-owned group of restaurants that are located in five locations through out the desert. The Palm Springs location is located in the Caliente Tropics Motel on East Palm Canyon Drive. You can't help to notice it, as it has beautiful, bright red bougainvillea cascading down the front of it.
Caliente Tropics is ground zero for Dads in the Desert. One of our pool days we decided to stay here for lunch and try this La Casita. The restaurant is fun. It's average sized and has a definite Mexican theme to the place. We were given a prime table by the window and were all hungry for some good Mexican food.
One of the problems in the desert is the places that stay open year round often have to cut back staffing to the bare bones during the summer and rehire more people in the winter. This must have been the case here, as the entire place only had three employees working the floor. The three employees all doubled as wait staff, bartender, busboy, and hostess. There was a sense of rushing and chaos in the air. Our drink orders were taken right away, but to get a food order in, it took some effort on our part to flag down one of the employees. Then it took a very long time to arrive, and when it finally did arrive, we were short one meal. Our daughter had to wait a very long time for a second burrito to show up, and the rest of the table was done by the time it was delivered.
I felt sorry for the employees. They could not have been working any harder; they just needed a lot more help. Even with this mad rush, they kept their smiles on and remained cheerful.
Dads in the Desert happens each year during this weekend at this hotel and then to throw in 5,000 motorcycle lovers - you would think the owner would figure out he needs to staff the place for this very busy weekend!
However the food was excellent. I had a combination plate of an enchilada and a chile rellino; both were as good as it gets. The kids had the simple bean and cheese burritos, and when they both finally came, everyone was happy.
I give really low marks for the service here, although it was due to staffing and not attitude. I would guess that, on a less busy day, you could expect great service here. The food and the decor were both great, and I am willing to give La Casita another try. Hopefully it will be less busy or on a day when they are better staffed!