Dining Out For Life All-Stars
DAP Health counts many local restaurants as important allies in its annual drive to help fund comprehensive HIV/AIDS care, but these Top Three take the cake.
Every year since 2005 (except for 2020 and 2021, when the Covid-19 virus derailed best-laid plans), DAP Health has participated in the annual North America-wide event known as Dining Out For Life (DOFL). Since its inception in 1991, it has earned more than $100 million for community-based HIV/AIDS service organizations throughout the United States and Canada. Despite its relatively small size, Greater Palm Springs comes in number one in earnings per capita annually. Last year, more than $270,000 was raised on behalf of DAP Health.
The backbone of this event’s success is not only the thousands of local and visiting foodie philanthropists who choose to dine out for a cause morning, noon, and night, but the desert restaurants, bars, cafes, and bakeries who donate varying percentages of their day’s and night’s take.
We want to take a moment to give a special shout-out to the Top Three of the nearly 75 establishments that helped us rake in that take in 2023, which in turn permitted DAP Health to continue its commitment to providing comprehensive HIV/AIDS care to all those affected in the Coachella Valley and beyond.
Clandestino
A proud participant since 2023 (just mere months after it opened), this destination is known both for its flight of margaritas and for its curated menu of Mexican dishes full of finesse and flair. Owned by the extraordinary restaurateurs Liz and Mark Ostoich, it figures prominently in DOFL alongside its sister eateries Tac/Quila and The Front Porch. But Clandestino takes number one all on its own. clandestinopalmsprings.com
Photo Credit: Clandestino
Lulu California Bistro
A proud participant since opening its doors in 2011, this gargantuan, wildly popular hangout for both locals and tourists is owned by philanthropist Jerry Keller, whose late wife, Barbara, not only served as the first female chair of DAP Health’s board of directors, but whose name emblazons the main building on the nonprofit’s Sunrise campus: The Barbara Keller LOVE Building. lulupalmsprings.com
Photo Credit: Lulu's
Spencer’s Restaurant at the Mountain
A proud participant since 2006, this hotspot is owned by the legendary Harold Matzner, who has personally contributed more than $50 million to local charities since 1995. Most of his devoted clientele is unaware that the place is named after Matzner’s beloved canine companion (who left his side in 2007 at the age of 14), or that Matzner takes not one penny of Spencer’s profits, preferring to plunge it all back into his charitable giving. spencersrestaurant.com
Photo Credit: Spencer's
Read more about Dining Out For Life 2023 here.