Wilma & Frieda's Cafe

Review Highlights

Guy Fieri first got lost looking for Wilma & Frieda’s back in 2017 — asking strangers for directions in a Palm Desert strip mall — and what he found was a breakfast-and-lunch spot named after two grandmothers that became an instant Triple D favorite. Now siblings Kelly McFall and Craig Alexander have opened a second location in the heart of Palm Springs, and Guy is back to see whether the magic translates to a bigger, busier space. The menu is still 99% scratch-made, the pastries are still baked fresh daily, and the question is whether expansion dilutes the charm — or proves the concept has real legs.

• ·Wilma & Frieda’s Breakfast Tart — a shortbread-style dough (flour, sugar, kosher salt, nutmeg, vanilla, shortening, and butter) rolled out, filled with house-made blueberry compote thickened with cornstarch, then crimped shut and baked at 350°F. Glazed with milk mid-bake for shine and finished with frosting, powdered sugar, and fresh blueberries. Guy calls it “ridiculous — it’s like shortbread meets awesome pie crust meets a morning breakfast tart.” The best-selling item in the entire place.
• ·Bangers and Rings — inch-thick onion rings battered in panko with Old Bay, onion powder, and garlic powder, fried until crisp, then stacked on a house-made English muffin with cheddar, a chicken banger sausage, a poached egg, and house-made hollandaise, finished with micro chives. Guy breaks it down: “When there’s a perfectly breaded onion ring that’s crispy on the outside and it mixes in with that poached egg and a banger — it just creates a perfect bite.”
• ·Short Rib Melt — boneless short rib braised overnight at 250°F in a full gallon of burgundy red wine with black peppercorns, garlic, bay leaves, and thyme, then shredded and reincorporated with the reduced braising liquid. Piled on sourdough with Monterey Jack, house-pickled red onions, and sautéed arugula. The number one seller hands down — 800 to 1,000 sold per week between both locations.
• ·Christmas Enchiladas — shredded chicken enchiladas split between two house-made sauces: a roja (guajillo chiles, cumin, oregano, garlic) and a chile verde (tomatillos, jalapeños, poblanos, onion, cilantro). Stacked tortilla-style, topped with house-made sour cream, queso fresco, and a sunny-side-up egg. Guy raves about the depth: “I can really taste the smokiness from the roasted chili peppers mixed in with the tortillas and layers of shredded chicken — I love the dual sauces. And it’s not even Christmas yet.”

Guy has watched Wilma & Frieda’s grow from a single strip-mall spot into a two-location Coachella Valley fixture, and the food more than holds up. The short rib melt dominates at 800 to 1,000 orders a week, the Christmas enchiladas impress with their dual-sauce depth, and the namesake breakfast tart remains the best-seller. He closes with genuine warmth for what Kelly and Craig have built: “There’s no other place like Wilma & Frieda’s — the beauty of it is to see that you’re doing this and to see the smiles on your face and to see the success that you’re sharing. I dig it, I really dig it.”

About

Wilma & Frieda’s Cafe is a scratch-made breakfast and lunch restaurant with locations in Palm Desert and Palm Springs, California, opened by siblings Kelly McFall and Craig Alexander. Named after their two grandmothers — Wilma, known for her cat-eye glasses, and Frieda, the family dinner-party hostess — the cafe is built on comfort food with unexpected twists, from a namesake breakfast tart to Christmas-style enchiladas. Featured multiple times on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, it has become one of the Coachella Valley’s most popular brunch destinations, drawing consistent weekend lines for its house-made pastries, eggs Benedicts, and griddled meatloaf.