Video: Third generation of Botellos runs Wally’s Desert Turtle Restaurant in Rancho Mirage
Wally’s Desert Turtle will reopen after its summer closure on October 1, 2021 under the leadership of Madalyn Botello, the third generation of Botellos to run the family-owned restaurant founded by her grandfather Wally Botello in 1978.
Taya Gray, Palm Springs Desert Sun
The vacant building that housed one of the desert’s most famous restaurants is back for sale, but could soon be taken off the market, according to a broker for the owner.
The future of the former Lord Fletcher’s is uncertain, but the most likely scenario is that a steakhouse will be built there.
For some 54 years, the black-and-white building at the intersection of Highway 111 and Country Club Drive in Rancho Mirage was a destination for desert dwellers—and even Frank Sinatra—who crowded into Lord Fletcher’s old-fashioned interior to dine on dishes like prime rib and chicken and dumplings.
In an episode of the Travel Channel’s “No Reservations” about deserts, host Anthony Bourdain summed it up well before sitting down in the popular restaurant: “Back then, Lord Fletcher’s was a symbol of the nouveau riche’s aspirations in the desert, which stretched back to the time of our Royals, Bob Hope, Frankie, Dino, Liberace – the true masters of the desert.”
But that golden era ended in 2020 when the restaurant closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and never reopened. The restaurant owners’ son told The Desert Sun that COVID was not the reason for the permanent closure. Instead, he said, the building was put up for sale this summer because his parents were having health issues.
A sale occurred in late 2022 when a company calling itself 70385 Highway 111 LLC purchased the restaurant for $1.43 million. The building has been vacant since then, but was back in the news the following spring when a car drove into it and damaged the exterior facade.
The damage was eventually repaired and earlier this year the building was put up for sale by Coldwell Banker Commercial Lyle and Associates, a real estate firm specializing in restaurant transactions.
Michael Lyle, a broker with the firm, confirmed to The Desert Sun this week that the 4,000-square-foot building has been on the market for about six months and remains for sale or lease. It is currently listed for sale for $2.25 million or for rent for about $12,000 a month.
Lyle said there is quite a bit of interest in the building from parties looking to open businesses, including a barbecue place, a speakeasy bar and a steakhouse. It is likely, he added, that a deal will be struck with the group looking to open the steakhouse.
“We seem to be close to doing a deal with the steakhouse, so we’re hoping it will be the operator,” he said. “But we haven’t done a deal yet, so we don’t know for sure if that’s going to happen.”
Lyle said the current owner decided to sell after abandoning her plan to open a martini bar on the premises; that idea was scuttled by the accident and subsequent insurance claim.
Although no agreement has been reached yet, Lyle believes it is very likely that the building will eventually become a restaurant or bar.
“Second-generation restaurant space is very sought after because restaurant build-outs are very, very expensive,” he said, so it’s relatively rare for restaurant buildings to be converted for other uses.
He explained that there is a small trend in this direction with former restaurant spaces near Lord Fletcher’s on Highway 111. Examples include the former Mimi’s Café, which has been converted into an office for the Walter Clark Legal Group, while the former Applebee’s was recently converted into a multi-tenant building.
However, he added that he believed the iconic nature of Lord Fletcher’s suggested this was unlikely to happen to the building.
“There have been developers who have wanted to convert it into something else, but for the most part it has been very sought after as a restaurant, so we believe it will remain a restaurant,” he said.
The building is not listed and is permitted for commercial, office and even medical use, he said. However, he added that it has not escaped his company or many of the potential buyers that many residents have an emotional connection to the building and want to preserve its old look and feel as much as possible.
“Many of the operators I have shown it to have also understood this and are pursuing these goals,” he said.
Paul Albani-Burgio covers growth, development and business in the Coachella Valley. Follow him on Twitter at @albaniburgiop and email him at [email protected].
