"We will be closed for the summer season and look forward to welcoming you back on October 9th, 2026!" That's the note Wally's Desert Turtle has up on its website. It means one of the longest-running dining rooms on Highway 111 in Rancho Mirage reopens this Friday.
Wally's is coming back to its usual address at 71775 Highway 111. Much of the rest of the corridor near Thunderbird Country Club looks different from a year ago, though the buildings are the same. Between Frank Sinatra Drive and Bob Hope Drive, the changes in 2026 have mostly happened inside rooms people already knew by an earlier name. A new restaurant took over the old Carnival space. A Greek kitchen opened at The River. An English pub from the Sinatra era is being restored, not torn down. And a national steakhouse brand may move into the old Roy's space. Very little on this stretch is new construction. Most of it is a new tenant in a familiar building.
For a household inside the Thunderbird gates, that changes how to read the drive home. The landmarks are still where they were. What has changed is who's cooking behind them.
Old Names, Current Occupants
This is the corridor as it stands in early October 2026, listed by building rather than by restaurant:
- 69820 Highway 111, the former Carnival space. Now California Bistro, which the Coachella Valley Independent reported open in February 2026. It serves breakfast, lunch and dinner.
- 70385 Highway 111, Lord Fletcher's. Being renovated as Lord Fletcher Inn. The project's own site says "Coming 2027."
- 71775 Highway 111, Wally's Desert Turtle. Same name and same address, reopening October 9, 2026.
- 71800 Highway 111, Suite A122, The River. Now Mykonos Modern Greek Mediterranean, which opened in April 2026.
- The former Roy's. The Desert Sun reported in May 2026 that The Capital Grille may come to this space.
Five addresses with five histories, and none of them is a building that went up this year.
The Rooms That Have Already Changed Hands
California Bistro is the easiest change to fit into a weekday. The restaurant's site lists all-day hours of 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., which covers breakfast through dinner at an address a short drive west of the club along Highway 111. In February the Independent noted it had moved into the former Carnival space, so anyone who still thinks of that building by its old name is thinking of the right spot.
Mykonos took a slower route to recognition. It opened at The River in April, at the end of the season, so it had the summer to settle in. By July 2 the Coachella Valley Independent had given its avgolemono soup an "Indy Endorsement," which is notable attention for a restaurant that opened as the valley was emptying out. The restaurant's own site lists hours of 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. The River's directory page lists different hours, 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. That page is still titled Cowboy Cantina, the name it carried before. Until the two match, the restaurant's own listing is the one to trust.
One room at The River has closed. The Five Guys at 71-800 Highway 111 shows as "CLOSED" on the chain's store locator, which doesn't give a closing date. That leaves one more space at The River waiting for its next tenant.
The Rooms Still Waiting
The two most familiar names on this list haven't reopened yet, and neither is expected to this fall.
Lord Fletcher's at 70385 Highway 111 is the clearest case of the corridor keeping a building rather than replacing it. The Independent described it in March 2026 as a "very old-school English pub" and "a favorite haunt of Frank Sinatra." It reported that the owners of the Copper Room and Red Dog Saloon in Pioneertown are renovating it. The same report noted that the pub had been closed since the pandemic and that a car crashed into the building in 2023. That's a lot of repair work for one restoration. The project now goes by Lord Fletcher Inn, and its website gives one date, "Coming 2027." The images on that site include the original Fletcher portrait, a vintage menu and polo artwork. They point to a revival that leans on the pub's history.
The former Roy's is less settled. The Desert Sun's May 13, 2026 story ran under the headline "Capital Grille steakhouse may come to former Roy's in Rancho Mirage." It described an upscale steakhouse with a nationwide footprint that "could soon be coming" to the space. The reporting found no opening date. For now this is one more familiar building with a possible new name, and nothing has been confirmed.
Why Wally's Reopening Matters on This Stretch
Read against the rest of the list, Wally's Desert Turtle is the corridor's fixed point. Every other address covered here has a new tenant, a pending tenant or an empty storefront. Wally's is reopening under its own name, at its own address, on a date it announced months ago. It takes reservations through OpenTable, as its website notes. Opening week of the season is when those tables are hardest to get.
Thunderbird has its own version of this pattern. The club held its ceremonial opening on January 9, 1951, and 2025–26 was billed as its 75th-anniversary season. The club's own November/December 2025 newsletter describes summer work on the locker rooms, the Golf Shop and the Halfway House, plus remodeled cottages. That's renovation inside existing buildings, the same approach the businesses along Highway 111 are taking.
The River's Fall Calendar
The River at 71800 Highway 111 is also the corridor's busiest public space between now and the holidays. These dates are confirmed by the event organizers:
- Saturday, November 7, 2026, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Palm Springs Cruisin' Association holds a Cruise-In Car Show at The River.
- November 27 to 29, 2026, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. The Desert Arts Festival comes to The River over Thanksgiving weekend, with free admission and free parking.
- Saturday, December 5, 2026, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The association returns for a Cruise-In Car Show that doubles as the CVRM Toy and Non-Perishable Food Drive.
- December 11, 6 p.m. The River's homepage advertises a tree-lighting ceremony. The graphic doesn't print a year, so check it closer to the date.
The fall concerts have already started. The River's Harvest Moon Concert Series held an evening at its amphitheatre on Saturday, October 3, with Mary & 98.5 The Bull. The center's full events page still shows listings from earlier in the year. The homepage and the organizers' own calendars are the more reliable places to check for upcoming dates.
Put together, the calendar and the dining changes make a usable fall plan from the Thunderbird gates. Wally's opens this week. California Bistro serves from breakfast through dinner. Mykonos has had a summer to find its footing. The River has events nearly every few weeks through mid-December. Lord Fletcher's and the former Roy's are the two addresses to keep an eye on as 2027 gets closer.
A restaurant moving into a familiar building also changes what lifestyle buyers notice when they visit Thunderbird Country Club Estates. The Downs Team follows these changes along Highway 111 as closely as we follow sales inside the gates. If you'd like to know how this season's corridor fits into your home's value, request a complimentary home valuation and we'll go through it with you.
