The desert is a seasonal tourist area, and the turnover of wait staff at most locations is very high. With that said, there are many high end steakhouses that hire very young and inexperienced servers who don't know what prime beef is, let alone a dry aged steak from a wet aged steak. Morton's has an experienced wait staff, and the steaks are top notch and well prepared. I absolutely love the prime rib on the weekends. In short, unlike many other steakhouses in the desert, this place is well run. Just my opinion.

We made a reservation from home using open table for our anniversary. Pre-researching allowed us to find a coupon for dinner for two for $99. It included 2 petite filets, 1 seafood choice each , a Morton's or Caesar salad for each, share a vegetable and potato choice, Key Lime pie or their Famous Molten Chocolate Lava Cake for each.

We didn't use the free valet, but it is an option. We were given a booth to which they pulled the table out for us so we could walk into our seats instead of scooting. They don't have "frilly" drinks and I don't imbibe, so I had Iced Tea. They start you off with a hot & fresh cheese onion loaf which my onion-hating husband loved. Our waiter was prompt so I didn't get a chance to explain about my coupon before he presented us menus. It was fun figuring out how much money we saved by seeing the actual prices! They then brought out a "menu cart" so you can see the cuts of beef as well as the sides. Caution: the lobster is live--Do not jump! I gave the waiters a chuckle as I wasn't focusing on him and he scared me. When he picked him up (what was the largest lobster I have ever seen), his feelers and claws were flailing, so I jumped. The table next to us didn't see my reaction, and when it was their turn, they did the same thing! They chose to take a picture with the lobster and the staff obliged.

The three seafood choices were Sea Scallops wrapped in bacon with an apricot remoulade, Jumbo Shrimp Alexander (shrimp surrounded by a buerre blanc sauce) or Crab cakes. The scallops were good but the fresh ground pepper in the remoulade was too pronounced. My husband ravishly enjoyed his shrimp and vowed to go home and make them again. (He is a chef.) I chose asparagus with a balsamic reduction for our veggie and let my hisband pick the potato choice since he loves potatoes. They were the largest potato skins ever! A different waiter's assistant came by to offer sour cream, chives, or bacon to which I happily replied, "Yes, yes, yes!" He laughed and I was glad that the wait staff didn't make us feel like lesser patrons for using a coupon and not ordering alcohol. They gave everyone equal service.

I always order my steak medium rare and it was perfect!!! It comes with a Bernaise sauce, which even though prepared correctly, was absolutley unnecessary. The steak stands alone! It was so succulent, I can't remember if I used my knife...

I was beyond stuffed but not about to miss out on my lava cake! My husband adores key lime pie and it was the perfect balance of sweet & tart for him. My lava cake bursted with the most heavenly warm chocolate extra thick pudding which was balanced with vanilla bean ice cream and fresh raspberries. I can just taste it again...

I'm not giving an "excellent" because of the service. The service was fine, but I've had better. Emeril's in Orlando was my best dining experience and until I receive service like that again, no one will get a 5 star from me. I shouldn't have to ask for anything, excellent service anticipates and meets. The food was sublime. The service needs a step up. The coupon is available online until Sept.30; you have to register in advance to use it.

My wife and I have eaten at steak restaurants and other fine dining establishments all around the country and have dined at Morton’s in Palm Desert twice. Our fist visit was not a great one but we decided to give them a second chance as every restaurant has an off night. Unfortunately our second experience with Morton’s Palm Desert was even worse than the first. Our evening started with a delay as the hostess explained the restaurant was running about 30 minutes behind its reserved seating times. 30 minutes behind at 6 PM? The poor service only continued into our meal. My wife’s steak was undercooked closer to rare than the medium that she ordered. After about 10 minutes we were able to flag down one of the Captains and he took the steak back to kitchen. About 5 minutes later the Captain returned he said that he would check back in a few minutes to make sure the steak was to my wife’s liking. By this time, my wife’s rare steak was now well done and most certainly not to her liking. Not only did the Captain not stop back again, he did not tell the waiter of my wife’s issue, and neither the Captain nor our waiter appeared to care that my wife was not happy with her steak. My wife feels that he purposely did not stop back as she was very obviously unhappy with the steak and did not eat an additional bite. As approx. 90% of the original steak remained on her plate our waiter did ask if everything was to our liking when our plates were cleared. When my wife expressed her displeasure he apologized but once again nothing was done to correct the situation.

On a positive note, the leftovers taken home were fed to our dog and he enjoyed it very much.

As this was our second bad experience I cannot recommend this restaurant and recommend that if you are in Palm Springs and want a nice steak dinner go to Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse.