Gertrude's

Many wonderful nature venues neglect the quality of their associated cafes or restaurants. That's not the case with Gertrude's at the Desert Botanical Gardens. We had a relaxing lunch there, then later (in the heat of the afternoon), we came back for a long, leisurely rest with excellent cocktails outside in the shaded patio. The quality of food and beverages could not be beat, and very much enhanced our visit to the Gardens.

First time here. It's a nice restaurant in a great location. We spend a couple of hours earlier, strolling through the fabulous gardens. We had made reservations, and showed up a half hour early. There appeared to be some confusion with the hostess, they weren't going to seat us until our time, even though the table was opened. We ended up being a bit more assertive and then were seated. Our server did a great job with the rest of the meal. Took time to explain the menu, made some recommendations, gave us plenty of time to decide. Gave us space between serving the courses, so we never felt rushed. Thanks Brian. The food, was good, but not great. I had the Boar Shake. Lots of flavor but a bit over-cooked. The salad with flank steak was very good, and cooked a perfect medium-rare. The other dishes of elk chops, chickpea curry, and scallops were also good. We had a couple desserts and those were good. A good choice to a wonderful afternoon.

Good food, drink and service inside the park...

The customer service was amazing! We made reservations as we were celebrating our anniversary and got seated quick on arrival. Our server Holden was awesome! Best customer service I’ve experienced in a long time! We loved that the restaurant had the gesture to gift us a handwritten card congratulating us for our anniversary. Thank you for that! That means a lot! The food was amazing! It’s definitely a must when you’re in the area!

Two of us ordered the Gertie burger medium well, one of us ordered it medium. The server confirmed level of pinkness with each of us. But all burgers came out well done. Food was average. Service was slow. We ordered an appetizer to share. It was good. For the price, I had higher expectations.

Food was awful, it took 45 min to get a salad and club sandwich. Cold sandwich, salad warm. Ham was so fatty, did not eat it

Top shelf! Great way to spend my 60th bday. The food was amazing and the waiter was funny and helpful.

Highly recommend making reservations. Overall the gardens weren’t busy that day but the restaurant was quite busy. After touring around we stopped in for a glass of Arizona wine. As we didn’t have a reservation and the wait was going to be long the hostess offered us a seat if we promised to be only 30 minutes. As we only wanted a glass of wine we gladly accepted the time limit. The front end of the restaurant seemed quite organized. I inquired about a white wine and the server informed me it was a blend but couldn’t provide any further details. We sat outside, in a very well covered area.

Lovely lunch spot inside of the Desert Botanical Gardens. The menu has something for everyone and the bar area was laid back. We loved the drink options (non-alcoholic) and the donuts for dessert are a must! I highly suggest making a reservation. Our wait at lunchtime was over an hour and a half.