--- title: "Classically Fresh: Escena Golf Club in Palm Springs - FORE Magazine" description: "Dining and golf can often prove boorish playing partners: Grab an energy bar while running to the first tee; pound a hot dog at the turn; drink a fast can of macrobrew post-round. But at Escena GC in Palm Springs, golfers come for the fairways and stay for the fare. Surrounded by views of the San Jacinto Mountains, Escena’s 1950s-style clubhouse and the Grill & Lounge therein, present a vibe of classic Palm Springs cool. Architecturally modeled in the wood, glass and stone materials which defined the desert’s signature building era, the menu offering all-day service of updated standards, along […]" --- [FORE Magazine - The Official Magazine of the SCGA ](https://fore.scga.org) # [Classically Fresh: Escena Golf Club in Palm Springs - FORE Magazine](https://fore.scga.org/19th-hole/classically-fresh-escena-golf-club-in-palm-springs) Written by [Judd Spicer](https://fore.scga.org/author/judd-spicer) | Jul 1, 2016 7:00:00 AM Dining and golf can often prove boorish playing partners: Grab an energy bar while running to the first tee; pound a hot dog at the turn; drink a fast can of macrobrew post-round. But at Escena GC in Palm Springs, golfers come for the fairways and stay for the fare. Surrounded by views of the San Jacinto Mountains, Escena’s 1950s-style clubhouse and the Grill & Lounge therein, present a vibe of classic Palm Springs cool. Architecturally modeled in the wood, glass and stone materials which defined the desert’s signature building era, the menu offering all-day service of updated standards, along with a fun, refreshing cocktail list which matches time-honored mixology with modern day twists. Restaurant manager Kelly Kidd oversees the menus, along with Happy Hour, Sunday Brunch and myriad on-site functions. “To be honest, my first season here, I made a menu that matched the building and atmosphere,” Kidd says. “But it didn’t really sell that well. I realized that what works best for this property is what works best for our golfers, our locals and our homeowners. So I toned it back a bit, and went with more All-American food that’s affordable, looks nice and tastes nice. I want high-quality, mainstream food that’s very, very fresh.” During the high-season months Kidd & Co. offer a mobile barbecue station with (terrific) hot dogs, pulled pork sandwiches, burgers and street tacos. Escena Grill Salad Escena Golf Course Escena Grill BLT Escena Grill Cocktails Cooling down post-round is delightful with either the Bees Knees (gin, lemon and agave) or a vodka-based East Side cocktail mixed with basil, cucumber and grapefruit juice. Old school imbibers will enjoy a handcrafted Old Fashioned or potent Sazerac, while fans of modern interpretations can select the Not-So-Classic Martini, made with cucumber vodka, fresh grapefruit juice and orange liquor. During lunch or Happy Hour, steak nachos and some seriously flavorful pork belly tacos prove popular, while a few of Kidd’s personal favorites echo Escena’s uniqueness. “Take the blackened chicken salad on our lunch menu: Honestly, that’s what I make at home,” she says. “I told our GM, ‘I’m putting it on the menu because I like to eat it and I think our guests will like it, too.’ And it’s become our best-seller at lunchtime.” And while a host of additional salads are in play, Kidd hasn’t forgotten the joy of guilty pleasures. “We roast the pork belly here and it’s a five-hour process,” Kidd says of Escena’s Cuban sandwich. “It’s a messy sandwich, and that’s how I like it. A lot of places nowadays with all the diets and people all into CrossFit … to me, the best part of the Cuban is having it large and juicy. Personally, I don’t count calories, and I don’t cut out the butter or sugar in my cooking.” Evenings find seasonal menus with a succinct entrée list presenting pleasurable diversity in its minimalist approach. Southern fried chicken, lamb chops (with a terrific cherry and port compliment), seafood risotto and baby back ribs (seasoned and marinated for 24 hours before a slow cook), all make for highly-recommended dinner options. Keeping with her theme of putting a little backspin on American classics, Kidd further enjoys the Prosciutto Wrapped Meatloaf. “It’s not your standard ketchup meatloaf,” she says. “I put jalapeños in there and prosciutto, and more of a spicy barbeque than ketchup. I just feel like food should never be set in stone.” Like the clubhouse surrounds, the flavor of tastefully updated American classics always tastes fresh. [escenagolf.com](http://www.escenagolf.com/) (760) 992-0002 [View full post](https://fore.scga.org/19th-hole/classically-fresh-escena-golf-club-in-palm-springs) ```json { "@context" : "http://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Judd Spicer" }, "dateModified" : "2026-04-23T21:03:12.356Z", "datePublished" : "2016-07-01T07:00:00Z", "headline" : "Classically Fresh: Escena Golf Club in Palm Springs", "image" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "height" : 684, "url" : "https://22678641.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/22678641/Imported_Blog_Media/EscenaGrill0615_0004.jpg", "width" : 1024 }, "mainEntityOfPage" : "https://fore.scga.org/19th-hole/classically-fresh-escena-golf-club-in-palm-springs", "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "height" : 60, "url" : "/hs/hsstatic/content_shared_assets/static-1.4092/img/default-amp-logo.png", "width" : 60 }, "name" : "FORE Magazine" } } ```