open thursday through monday with a menu that has changed 466 times since opening nearly nine years ago cheeky’s has rightfully earned a reputation as *the*placefor breakfast in palm springs, an arrival fifteen minutes before the restaurant opened its doors on sunday finding six names already on the waitlist with the first seating completely spoken for even before the service began at eight o’clock in the morning.
part if a group known as foundation-10 creative, next door pizzeria birba flying the same banner and equally packed the night prior from open until close, the concept driving cheeky’s is not dissimilar to that of many palm springs’ restaurants in terms of patio dining and a focus on comfort foods and local sourcing, the prices a bit higher than some may be used to but justified based on both portion sizes and a kitchen using organic flour and produce without any stabilizers, preservatives or artificial ingredients.
a hot spot for tourists, local families as well as the lgbt community, some kitschy artwork and a logo of monkey’s in suggestive positions adding a bit of humor to the otherwise standard concrete floors and plastic chairs, it was with names called out from the register that guests were escorted to their choice of indoor or outdoor seating, a space inside along the window providing a good vantage of both along with a steady stream of air-conditioning on an atypical day in october anticipated to crack 100°f.
featuring an on-site bakery in addition to the kitchen, the cinnamon rolls frequently selling out long before additional lunch plates join the all-day breakfast at 11:00am daily, it was with requests of one cinnamon roll packed to go that an additional two menu items were requested, coffee from australia’s vittoria roasters soon poured and coming across bold and smooth with three additional refills including one in a to-go cup to follow.
staffed by a large team, the kitchen partially visible and barista station always buzzing as lively music plays overhead, it was after no more than ten minutes that plates began to come over the pass and with one man directing traffic such that runners were almost interchangeable with waiters/waitresses it was at this time that the young man who’d previously been filling coffee presented a scalding hot skillet of monkey bread, the balls of dough lightly toasted on the exterior but soft as marshmallows otherwise with sweetness nicely balanced by the tangy cream cheese glaze.
working slowly on the monkey bread, largely as a matter of prolonging the indulgence but additionally to avoid a burned mouth, it was no more than five minutes later that a plate of cheeky’s weekly french toast arrived topped in greek yogurt and huckleberry syrup, the slices thin and crispy though certainly not as impressive as the blackberry custard version sold at wilma & frieda’s for a few bucks more while the cinnamon roll, on the other hand, was every bit as good as rumors have suggested with granulated sugar adding just enough sweetness to buttery, flaky curl.