originally opened in 1963 by sherman harris as a “new york-style family restaurant” and now serving both residents and palm springs visitors at two locations daily it was immediately following breakfast at cheeky’s that a ten-minute walk was made to sherman’s delicatessen and bakery, the sizable space absolutely packed on sunday morning just prior to 9:00am but service friendly and efficient with just a few minutes wait for seating.
without doubt a local landmark, the restaurant’s lengthy history dating back to the days of palm springs as a hollywood playground for the likes of sinatra, monroe and hope proudly displayed in photos of those and many others dining within the friendly confines of 410 east tahquitz canyon way, diners visiting sherman’s in 2017 will reportedly find little to have changed since the “old days” in terms of recipes and setting, the iconic artwork obviously an exception but the pastrami still cut-to-order and breads as well as desserts still baked fresh on-site daily.
known for their famous sandwich board and latkes, the latter’s featured spot on season 26 of diners drive-ins and dives turning already good business for the harris family’s second generation ownership into booming, it was with the lengthy all-day menu in hand and a pastry case looming large that the decision was made to sample one of the “chef’s specialties” first, the best-of-both-worlds beef n’ latkas placing a half-pound of fatty pastrami between two potato pancakes with all the fixins’, the meat itself moist with a good bit of smoke and spice while the spuds were crispy on the outside, fluffy at the center and without a drop of grease to be found.
promising everything to be kosher and focused on local sourcing as much as possible, the enormous omelet, knish and cinnamon bread french toast ordered one table over unquestionably tempting, it was with an eye on both appetite and time that the decision was instead made to progress straight to dessert, the 8” tall san jacinto slice any chocolate lover’s dream with a thick spread of ganache overlying two layers of cake and mousse with a core of creamy cheesecake while the carrot cake, taken to go, was pretty impressive in its own right withgreatmoisture and spice sweetened by fruit and walnut-studded cream cheese icing.