“The same story has been told to me many, many times over the years,” says Jeff McDonald, owner of The Roost, a cocktail lounge and nightclub steps from the Cathedral City City Hall. “Someone will say, ‘I’m friends with so-and-so because we met here at The Roost.’ Not that it hasn’t happened, but this isn’t a pick-up bar. And it’s not cliquish either. It’s a community bar … with people from Cathedral City, The Cove, Rancho Mirage, and Palm Desert. Face it, the tourists are not going to find us here … and whenever someone from Palm Springs comes in, we ask for their passports.”
The way the long, narrow tables are laid out makes conversations with other patrons at adjoining tables both spontaneous and inevitable. The nightly entertainment puts everyone in a festive, foot-tapping mood. And a warm, fuzzy feeling comes from being in an oasis of conviviality in this stretch of 111 desert.
Though The Roost opened in 2017, the magic did not spark until after McDonald took over in 2019. That didn’t happen by chance. McDonald has been in the restaurant business for 47 years. No, he’s not the Methuselah of the café trade. McDonald got his start the summer he turned 12 in his hometown of Gobles, Michigan (population 841 as of 2022). He lied about his true age to a local restaurant owner. (“You could get a work permit when you were 13.” he says. “… I don’t think she believed me … but she couldn’t get a hold of anyone at the school, so she hired me.”) He started as a dishwasher; within a few months, he had moved up to waiting tables. He stayed in business with the owners for the next 17 years.
McDonald and his then-partner were in the process of planning getaways around 2012 when the latter suggested Palm Springs. McDonald knew next to nothing about the place. He admits that his knowledge was so scant that months later when he finally flew out for a visit, his first thought after getting off the plane was “Where’s all the water?” At that time, prices of homes in the Valley were still depressed, so McDonald and his partner bought a property – sight unseen – to use as a short-term rental. After he and his partner went their separate ways, McDonald – who fell in love with the desert – relocated permanently to the Valley. He was working as a bartender at The Roost when it opened, and when the previous owner couldn’t quite make the business work, McDonald took over.
McDonald believes the challenges of COVID helped make The Roost into a community institution. Though the interior of the lounge was closed, he placed tables outside, six feet apart, within a fenced patio. By utilizing the space in front of a vacant storefront on one side and patio space graciously loaned to him by Capizzi’s Cheesecakes Pizza… and then some on the other, he was able to offer 2,500 square feet of seating space. Because he was required to serve food, he got menus from four neighboring restaurants. He used the patio above the seating area, which served as a natural amphitheater, to offer entertainment. While much of the Valley suffered in silence due to COVID lockdowns, The Roost partied on.
Olga Trehub
Around that time, McDonald met Scott Robinson, CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of Cathedral City. “I did a tour of the facility with Scott,” McDonald says. “… I knew it was perfect for me [as a fundraising beneficiary]. Keep in mind, I was married for 16 years with my wife … and for 12 years with my husband. I have two wonderful adult children … but I’d never even attended a fundraising event in my life.” McDonald put on a Christmas show that benefitted the Boy & Girls Club and then met Robin Nugent, president of Tools for Tomorrow. “I told her, ‘I want to do a Christmas in July fundraiser with you as the beneficiary.’ She said, ‘We’ll do whatever we can to help.’ We held our first Christmas in July in 2020 and have been going strong ever since.”
That’s quite an understatement. McDonald soon created The Roost Foundation to support worthy causes throughout the Valley. He expanded the restaurant (the seating capacity is now 287) and created other fundraising events. He says there are now four big events: the Christmas fundraiser benefits the Boys & Girls Club, the October event raises money to fight breast cancer, Christmas in July benefits after-school arts programs, and the Easter fundraiser benefits Voices for Children. In addition, there is a Super Bowl chili fundraiser, and the always-sold-out bingo tournament is held once a month. McDonald says The Roost Foundation raked in $328,000 last year; because use of the venue is free and auction items are donated, 100% of the money raised goes to the beneficiaries. (Pies, cakes, and cookies were auctioned off at the Christmas fundraiser.)
Who says the Valley’s great philanthropists have vanished? They’re hiding in plain sight.
