Hidden gems in Stanton, California

On Beach Boulevard north of the 22 Highway, are these two restaurants on the same property : Park Avenue and Il Garage.  The owners have taken advantage of the great retro architecture of the main building for Park Avenue restaurant.  The interior is tastefully decorated and echoes the days of the Rat Pack, so often seen in Palm Springs, that you half expect to bump into Dean, Frank or Sammy at the cool cocktail bar or seated at one of the leather banquettes.

The second restaurant, Il Garage is located at the back of the property, separated from Park Avenue by a grassy park like area with trees strung with white lights.  Il Garage is literally a garage with the door swung open  and cozy tables look out onto their lovely raised vegetable garden.

Fresh vegetables and berries from their garden dictate their seasonal menus, as both are very farm to table focussed.  Park Avenue  is noted for its steak and Il Garage  has more of an Italian focus.

I hadn’t dined here in a while, but had thought that it was time to go back, when low and behold, one of my dear clients, thanked me for a catering job with a gift certificate for Park Avenue.

My husband and I and friends had a wonderful evening at Park Avenue.  We would recommend the martinis, as they are served ice cold with little chips of ice.  The martini of the season was the lavender martini which was made with a lavender simple syrup made from lavender grown on the property.  The dirty martini was excellent too.

To begin your meal, you should try the deviled eggs with the thick cut peppered bacon – I make excellent deviled eggs, and theirs are very good as well.  One friend would not share his, so the rest of us got another order to share : ).  The salads are all good.  I particularly enjoyed my wedge salad with the blue cheese and bacon dressing.

As for the meal, between the six of us dining, we tried 4 steaks done different ways, the pork shank and the ahi tuna.   The coffee rubbed sirloin special was especially delicious.   The pork fell off the bone and the fish was moist and came with a delicious chimichurri sauce. We all enjoyed our meals.  I would say that perhaps there could have been slightly more salt in the seasoning on the steaks to bring out their flavor more, but the compound blue cheese butter made up for it.   And for me on a Keto diet, the restaurant was very accommodating to substitute their freshly picked bok choy for the potato side.

For those who had dessert, the blueberry butter cake with vanilla ice cream was a hit.

All in all, I would certainly recommend that you visit and dine at either restaurant (I’ve had a great experience previously at Il Garage).  Be sure to check out the vegetable garden when you are there, it is truly spectacular; it is the inspiration for my own backyard!