Yay!!! Portermill now opens at 4am. This is a win-win! They had ample customers at 4:30am for the early departure flights (5:00-6:00), which had always been a gloomy part of leaving the DSM airport...you got there, got through security, and your food/drink options were largely limited to convenience store offerings. Now, you can sit down in a bright spot, and have food hot food, and easily get to your flight. For the restaurant, they are making income in the early rush - it was always a surprise they didn't open before about 5:20am if you were lucky, and that depended on the morning team. THANK YOU Portermill!! The food was hot and good (as always), as was the staff! (Note: they don't sell alcohol until 6, so no Bloody Mary, which made a few customers sad...but that is an Airport or locality rule and not the restaurants). read more

Airport food. I don't know what happens to it, but somewhere between the kitchen and the departure gate, perfectly respectable food seems to get put through a bureaucratic process that strips away most of its personality. What emerges is not necessarily bad, just unmistakably airport food. PorterMill is a pretty good example of this. There are definitely some positives. I was lured in by the delicious smell of burgers cooking, and the Mushroom Swiss burger I ordered was better than expected. It came with a big, beefy patty on a reasonably good bun, though the burger itself was a little dry. Still, by airport standards, it was a perfectly serviceable meal. The fries, however, were absolutely cremated. I'm not exaggerating when I say biting into them was basically like biting into potato chips. They were so overcooked and crunchy that "crispy" no longer felt like an accurate description. these fries had crossed over into a different food category. I thought at first I might be accidentally biting into my boarding pass. They didn't taste bad, exactly, but their texture suggested they had been baked on the sun. The restaurant itself is bustling and busy, with plenty of beers on tap and TVs showing sports, giving it a solid airport bar atmosphere. Service was actually quite good So, yeah, you can certainly do worse at an airport. PorterMill isn't terrible by any means. It just didn't quite make me forget that I was eating at an airport. Just another example of mediocre with a high price tag. read more

Portermill - The decent mushroom Swiss burger and way too overcooked French fries - Bars Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

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Let me start by saying service is good But the food is downright terrible Burnt undrinkable coffee Bacon undercooked Asked for onions mixed in with hashbrowns and for them to be well done. They were served as if out of the bag and microwaved. Onions were raw For the price, this was a terrible breakfast They got the toast right though. read more

What a pleasant surprise to end my time in Iowa with a cheeseburger courtesy of Katheryn and the folks at Portermill. The cheeseburger was cooked to perfect and included a toasted bun as well as fries and the service was prompt and timely as I only had a limited time to eat. I had a nice seat with a view of the tarmac and it really had the ambiance of a restaurant with a view in the city and not necessarily an airport restaurant. read more

Portermill - Bars Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

Stopped in for a bite before a flight. Busy place with a lot of tv's, great vibe there. The service is very fast and friendly. Food was great. read more

Portermill - Cobb salad with chicken - Bars Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

The food was just ok, nothing fantastic but service was great! We sat at the bar as it was full but food came out pretty fast. I think it's it only sit down restaurant at Des Moine airport. read more

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I honestly wasn't expecting a breakfast sandwich this good for an airport restaurant, however, Portermill changed my mind. I definitely recommend stopping here for a bite if you're at DSM looking for something to eat. Staff were all friendly and the restaurant itself was pretty spacious if you have luggage. read more

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Food was good and nice ambiance however service is poor. Server disappeared for long periods of time. Had to go to the bar and refill my water myself. read more

Burger was really good but the fries were not fresh. They were limp. Probably left over from the lunch crowd.

Jasmine knocked it out of the park! We got delayed and stayed longer than planned! Amazing service and incredible cocktails and food! DSM airport has come along way! read more

Portermill - Bars Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

Solid experience this time, but not quite as good as our last review. Very good service and the food was fine, but nothing remarkable. I got a Rachel-Turkey Reuben. It was gooey and very good. The fries were a bit limp and just OK. My wife got the chicken sandwich, which was a nice plump piece of chicken. She got the Broccoli mix for her side, which was good, but it did have a mystery piece of steak mixed in...that's a new one. For airport food-better than average and fairly priced. read more

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DesMoines Airport is not that big. You don't get much for options for food. This is a nice spot to sit down and enjoy food or watch TV at the bar if you are waiting for your flight. We were needing some substance before getting on a flight. The restaurant wasn't a super busy this early in the day. The waiter was quick to our table and help us. We started with a 2 top and turned into a 4 top. He was completely adaptable to the situation. You can get cocktails an app or a meal. Hubby wanted to try the Tenderloin and fries. When the other half of our party made it through security they got the chips and guacamole. The chips were rather salty but the guac was good. I stole a bite of the tenderloin and thought it was also rather good. Really if you have the time and need something substantial, you dont have to pass it up. Its pricing is reasonable for airport and location. read more

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There is a lot that could be improved by the ONLY sit down restaurant/bar in the Des Moines airport. The first issue was being served a martini in a sticky and dirty glass. This was replaced, but I was bothered by the lack of garnish. It was ok. I drink Empress Gin at home, and this martini just lacked. Maybe just an indigo gin? My catfish sandwich was NOT catfish. It was breaded cod -- like fish and chips fish. Placed on a bun with lettuce and tomato and no sauce. The fries tasted as greasy as the sandwich. The server was spectacular, but she started closing sections at 5:30 for a place that allegedly doesn't close until 8:00. I honestly felt like I was being rushed to exit so they could close early. The place needs TLC and it's clear the parent company isn't going to do squat because they see DM travelers as a captive audience. read more

Great pit-stop for that "downtime" between flights! HUGE selection of local beers, including special seasonal varieties. One of the few airport bars/restaurants that offers a menu with breakfast, lunch and dinner, in addition to an extensive drinks menu. Prices are consistent with typical airport mark-ups; well worth it though, when there's amazing service and a great food! read more

Portermill - FROOT SMASH (PEACH IPA) - this beer is brewed in Oskaloosa, IA - Bars Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

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I came here after checking in for my flight home since I had 1 hour left before boardibg time. .When I got here I was given a drink me and a food menu. Breakfast was done and I had lunch to eat on plane. I ordered Big Grove American Lager 16 oz beer. I waa not given a bill. The beer was a local lager style beer and pretty good. When I was done I asked for the check because it waa getting close to the time I should be at the gate. I got the bill and paid the bill. Courteous friendly service and decent ambiance for airport bar read more

Grabbed a quick bite and felt so taken care of, even though there were quite a few lunch travelers. Shout out to my server Matthew who was attentive on refills and so helpful. Thanks guys! read more

Service wasn't great. It was about 10 min before someone came to take my order. At the airport, that's a really long time. The meatloaf and mashed potatoes looked and tasted great. Really enjoyed it. The steamed broccoli, however, had a fishy taste. Not sure if it was overcooked or what, but I couldn't eat it. read more

Portermill - Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes with steamed veggies - Bars Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

The Des Moines Airport has limited food options, an issue that will (hopefully) be solved when the airport redo is completed in the next two years, but luckily, Portermill is on the premises to offer a simple menu with no frills and spacing to allow for comfort prior to a flight. Located immediately off the TSA Check-in emptying positions, Portermill has a bar area along with tables for 2-8. It's bar food, and they do serve breakfast. I enjoyed their Portermill Breakfast, which was a tasty combination of eggs, hash browns, toast, and bacon. Miguel was a kind and efficient server, pleasant throughout. read more

Service was excellent but c'mon, can you put a decent amount of lettuce in the Mediterranean salad? It was the wimpiest $15 salad I've ever had. At least my husband's Cobb salad had plenty of protein with meat and avocado for the same price. There was maybe a handful of lettuce in mine and took me 5 minutes to eat. read more

Excellent. We got there at 10 so we waited til 10:30 for lunch. We got wings and burgers. The burgers were so good! The wings are the full wing and looked excellent. Pretty sure the ranch is homemade. Excellent service. Helped me get over the flight delay for a while. :) We would go back! read more

Really good food. Never know what to expect at an airport restaurant. Service was good, quick and staff is pleasant.

The bartenders here are super friendly!! Their upbeat energy and positive attitude for an airport bar where a lot of people have been delayed made my day. They recommended the pollo - chicken sandwich w fries and it was really good especially with the fresh relish. The back wall of the bar is all windows so its nice and bright during the day and you can watch the planes. read more

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Our experience could not have been worse. It was obviously busy so we sat down at an open table which had not been cleared. Our server told us it would be 20 minutes before she could even clear our table but proceeded to clear two next to us, take their order and serve them. I went to the bar and the manager cleared our table and took our drink order. That was it, no more service, nobody to check on us etc. We asked for our bill and left. This was shockingly bad and very much not like Iowa. Don't know what was going on or if anyone managing the place even cares. Good luck to you if you try this place. read more

Not even 7pm and the kitchen is closed?? Being the only restaurant in this airport & they close the kitchen before 7pm is ridiculous

With Jimmy's closing at DIA, this is now my favorite airport restaurant experience. Granted this is on the airport scale, so temper your expectations appropriately. With that said, they have beer flights! And tons of delicious craft options on tap. On my most recent visit, I had two faves from my previous visit and two new ones. I highly recommend the Ice Scream. The flavors hit your mouth at different points and it's one of my favorite dark beers. I had the Iowan as my entree last time. The mustard sauce is delicious--I wish there was more. The tenderloin itself is lightly breaded--similar to a pork chop. Fries are run-of-the-mill, no pun intended. One area for improvement: The menus don't seem to be updated in a timely manner. On both visits, I've been told that a certain beer is no longer carried. This should be a 30-second fix with an all-digital menu. read more

Portermill - Flight before the flight! All local beers... - Bars Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

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It's an airport restaurant so how much can one expect? Big and loud was expected. The server was rude. She was busy and they were short staffed but I can't let that be a justification. The burger was interesting. The Bloody Mary was good. I guess I'll be back since it's the only choice I've got. The salad bar might be better. Dang she was rude. She must hate her job. read more

Portermill - Sunday Supper Burger - Bars Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

Great spot at the airport to drink and dine before your flight. Fast service and not very crowded read more

Portermill - Excellent martini with blue cheese stuffed olives! - Bars Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

Walk away. It is the only sit down option with table service but don't be tempted. The service is horrible. We waited for 15 minutes and no one came to our table even though we asked for service. We moved tables and ordered immediately. 30 minutes and no food. This place does not understand we have flights. read more

Looking at my past reviews, this place stays pretty consistent. Early morning delays could have really slowed things down but it didn't!! The service guys are really friendly- focused when busy but as soon as it slowed just a bit they both were very personable with customers. Reasonable prices- reminder this is an airport- the Portermill breakfast is only $14- 2 eggs, meat choice, generous serving of hash browns and TOAST. Okay, I'm not a toast eater usually but these think slices of chewy and a just bit crisp bread was delicious. I even asked the brand of the bread! Guess there is a reason I wait to eat breakfast here. And even without the cocktails today. read more

Very disappointing. I was waiting for my flight to go home. I ordered the Octoberfest beer and they didn't have it, so I settled on a different beer. I ordered the Bavarian pretzel, and they didn't have it, so I ordered a Caesar salad and street tacos. The salad was not cold, and took almost 10 minutes to be served. The street tacos took over 10 minutes to be served and they had very limited meat on each taco. When I grabbed the taco to eat it, it fell apart. Not the best place to eat prior to flying out at DSM. read more

Portermill - Bars Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

Flying out of DSM this morning and my flight was delayed, no huge surprise, I fly a lot for my job, so this something that happened. With a 2 hour delay, I through I would try our Portmill. I have come to accept that airport food less than good. I've eaten at a lot of different dishes that were lacked real taste. I tried the fried egg and bacon breakfast sandwich. Frankly because it's hard to screw that up. Let me start by saying the presentation was great, crips bacon, melted cheese, sriracha mayo. The hash browns were loaded , cheesy and looked amazing. From the first but I knew this was a meal I would remember. All the flavors played well together frankly I was shocked how good everything tasted. I stopped eating for a few mins to savor the experience as it was that good. The wait staff was very friendly and came back to check on me a few times. If you happen to to find yourself flying out of DSM in the morning, do yourself a solid and give the Portmill a shot. Just wow, and at 5:30 am.. read more

Portermill - Fried egg and Bacon breakfast sandwich with loaded hash browns. - Bars Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

Stopped in prior to my flight back to Dallas, TX. Was prime lunch time but the restaurant still had plenty of open tables. Allthough they had a hostess stand it was self seating with a waitress promptly addressing you. Service wise the place was great. Ordered one of their daily soups (southwest chili) and chips and salsa. Chili was lukewarm which was dissapointing in the winter time. Did have a bit of kick which made up for the cooler temperature. Chips for the salsa were fine, had a tiny bit of salt but other than that it was nothing special. Salsa at first was quite good but aftEr taking out a couple tablespoons it had no flavor. Saw chunks of white but they weren't onions. Not sure if cheese bits made it into the salsa at the prep station. All in all nothIIng special but if you need a quick bite this will do. read more

Portermill - Bars Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

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Airport vendors come and go, and I believe that Portermill sits in the place of the former Iowa Tap Room. I've been coming to this space for several years as I've been waiting from my flight out of DSM. It remains a pleasant place to hang out, especially if the table is by the window and an outlet (of which they need more). I enjoy the fall and winter views the best, even though one might argue that all I'm looking at is planes at the gate or tarmac. The beer selection here has always been good, and I appreciate the made in Iowa selection. And when we were here a couple days ago, Gayle enjoyed her wine. That visit was just for drinks, although I've enjoyed both Breakfast and Lunch here either alone or with Gayle and sometimes David. The service has also been consistently good. DSM is a small airport and of course you can wait for your flight at the gate. But why not for not that much money, sit in a nice place, with your favorite beverage, and relax in comfort? read more

I always stop for a meal at Portermill when I fly out of Des Moines. Contrary to the norm of terrible airport food, this place is always excellent. They use locally sourced ingredients, have attentive servers, and offer a fairly wide ranging menu and se local craft beer on tap. The lightly-salted, fresh cheese curds are a incredible. And I recommend one of the Iowa staples for an entree - burger, meatloaf, rueben or pork tenderloin. When in Rome... read more

Portermill - Cheese Curds - Bars Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

UPDATE:::: After you replied me here and sent me email address to contact you, absolutely nobody answered to my email. This is a shady business folks, stay away from this place!!! BEWARE, service here will try to scamm you!! Had a quick stop here before my flight back home, I had one beer and fried cucumbers, check was around 21$ and I left 5$ tip, however server decided to add one more zero so he charged me 50$ tip, such a shady move. If you go to this place make sure you save your copy of a check!! Had to dispute the check! read more

This place is really the only option at the airport in Des Moines. The beers are good. The ambiance is alright. The food is just meh. I ordered a Juicy Lucy and it was so well done that there was no juice left in it! All the cheese (assuming that once-upon-a-time there could have been some in there) had melted out long before it made it to the plate. It was edible but cooked to hell and not good. I would avoid the burgers unless you like them rubbery. It was not worth the $15 for a tough piece of meat. My server was nice and personable though, so props to the wait staff! read more

Positive: Dark beer flight was very good. Serious negative: Two of us ordered the Tenderloin Tips entree; we were served some kind of processed mystery meat with a strangely sour gravy that was barely edible. The restaurant was crowded and understaffed, but the staff got to us as relatively quickly and service was efficient. read more

YES!!! All brews at Portermill are brewed in Iowa! They don't have any of the large corporate brews that you might be looking for, so be forewarned. However, you can ask the bartender to suggest a beer similar to what you usually drink. They seem to be very knowledgeable. Available brews include IPAs, stouts, pilsners, ciders, and even two of my favorites: they have a hefeweizen and a golden ale! It gets loud in this place but there are plenty of tables, a huge bar, and great views of the tarmac. This is an awesome place to hang out at. It's so awesome that I might even show up a couple of hours earlier for my next flight out. Why not five stars? They're very busy. Even when you sit at the bar, it's difficult to get the barkeep's attention. I had: Big Grove Boomtown Golden Ale $7.50 for a pint Fox Brewing ClusterFuchs Hefeweizen $8 for a pint Don't hate on them too much for these prices - it's an airport bar after all. read more

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FINALLY, airport food that's wholesome and delicious! I got the rustic salad with steak and it hit the spot. This salad is full of crunchy veggies and packs full flavor! A must try for the healthy option lookers! read more

Portermill - RUSTIC SALAD WITH STEAK - perfect for the healthy option looker! - Bars Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

Portermill is a hard one to review for me. So, I will rate each aspect, then average it. Service: 3 stars. Our server was super nice, but obviously had too many tables to take care of. Our water was not always filled, but she was super apologetic when food came late or incorrectly. She always tried to make it right. Drinks: 5 stars for the draft non-alcoholic ginger beer! Not overly carbonated. It was also under-sweetened. Love it. It is pricey at $8 per pour, but delicious especially when your stomach is upset or cramping. Downside, we had to wait a long, long time for it because they were changing the keg. Food: 2 stars.I loved the idea of locally sourced ingredients. I enjoyed the juiciness and flavor of my fried Iowa pork tenderloin. However, the crust was a tad on the burnt side. The homemade buns were tasty. However, our fabulous burger came out with the onion jam sauce. They were out of the sauce, but no one in the kitchen bothered to tell us. Our server offered to bring out sauteed onion, but it just did not make our dried up burger palatable. Our server took the item off our tab, but our food was underwhelming. Seating: 4 stars. Comfortable booths with accessible charging outlets. If I had a choice, I probably would pop in at Portermill for another glass ginger beer while we waited for a flight. read more

Portermill - Bars Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

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