Tuesday, September 27, 2011

A Great Night at Johnny Costa's Ristorante

Guide Dogs of the Desert volunteers at Johnny Costa's
Tuesday night it was my pleasure to have dinner at the best Italian restaurant in Palm Springs: Johnny Costa's Ristorante. Many of you know I am a bit of a foodie, and enjoy a good meal. I dine out regularly and have my local favorites here in the desert. I've liked Johnny Costa's for years because it is a family owned-and-operated restaurant with great food. But this night was even more special to me; Johnny Costa's held a fundraiser to benefit National Guide Dog Month, since one of the beneficiaries is the Palm Springs based Guide Dogs of the Desert. Johnny Costa's donated 15% of the in-dining check for every guest on Tuesday evening, which was very generous. Earlier in the day I was a guest on local radio station KNEWS FM 94.3 on the Lee Rayburn show to talk about the guide dog benefit at Johnny Costa's. It was great to see the community support for local events and organizations.

Regular readers know that I've been involved in fundraising for National Guide Dog Month through my employer, Natural Balance, so I was especially happy to see a local Palm Springs business giving back to our community. During the evening, several guide dog users and volunteers were on hand with guide dogs to give locals the opportunity to learn more about what it takes to train a guide dog. 

While I was eating, I noticed a blind woman and her guide dog arrived for dinner; her guide dog brought her right to her table, and sat quietly at her feet. I wondered how she would handle the menu and decide what to eat, knowing that she was blind. I learned from a waiter that earlier in the day she had visited the restaurant's website and used some special software that read the menu to her, so she had made her choice for dinner before she arrived at the restaurant, isn't that cool?

Whether you live locally here in the Palm Springs area, or plan to visit on vacation, be sure to check out Johnny Costa's, they have delicious food and are really nice people too! Incidentally, Johnny Costa himself was a personal chef to Frank Sinatra, so the restaurant has some very cool history and ties to our community here. 

And a special thanks to Vince at Johnny Costa's Ristorante for his generosity and support for the Guide Dogs of the Desert and National Guide Dog Month.

4 comments:

  1. That is cool that she was able to arrange things to work for her. But then again, that's what it's all about.

    I took a peek at the menu... It would be difficult to just choose one thing. They all look wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  2. that is so cool, about someone blind being able to visit a site that can show them the menu beforehand, and then have their amazing guide dog do all the guiding for them. wow!

    I shall keep Johnny Costa's in mind, should I ever make my way to Palm Springs, must do that someday btw.
    Oh and personal chef to Ole Blue eye's, well the food must be good then !!

    Awesome fundraiser. :).

    I too checked out the menu, I ll take one of everything, although am partial to the Linguine and Clams. Reasonable prices too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hmmm, just a "bit" of a foodie, huh? ;)

    And yay for supporting guide dogs!! :)

    Have a wonderful weekend Rick!!

    --snow

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm glad to hear that even during these tough times, small business continues to give back. I'm even more fascinated, however, by the software for the blind. How incredible is that!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you kindly.