I got to Porters last night to find out our meeting planner forgot to book a room. Â Even though the restaurant was completely booked Ben, the manager "created" a table for 10 in 30 minutes to accommodate us. Â This ended up being a $650 bill and a great tip for Denise our server. Â That's service! Â I'll definitely book meeting space here again.
Review Source:I've eaten at this place probably a dozen times or so in the last 2 years. Â We generally take our customers here as a nice steak restaurant on the Illinois side close to the refinery. Â
I've had excellent service and excellent meals on all but one of the visits. Â The steaks are cooked well, and their sides are delicious (lobster mac and cheese? yes please!). Â
My last experience, however, was not very good at all. Â I would give it 0 stars if I could. Â I won't go into the details, but our dinner took over 4 hours for only 12 people, and all of our food was cold. Â This is the main reason for 3 stars instead of 4. Â I'm not going to write off this place based off of one bad experience, especially when I've had so many other good ones.
Very elegant! We love going here for special occasions. The wait staff is stellar.
I will promise you that you will probably be full from the wonderful warm bread and butter that they fill you with before your entree comes. The spinach salad is absolutely wonderful and my favorite.
I recommend that your first choice at Porter's be the Pepper Loin. It is better than Sex!! (all kidding aside)
It is the greatest steak house in the Metro East!
Note: we didn't eat an entree here. By the time we stopped in, we had already eaten dinner a couple of hours earlier, and were looking for something quick but not a full meal. Thus, I can really only comment on the 3 appetizers we ordered. My rating is perhaps somewhat unfair then, because this is, after all, a steakhouse, and presumably the steaks would have to be evaluated differently.
Everything we got--the seared tuna, the crabcakes,and the fried calamari--was delicious, but we thought the tuna was the only dish that pulled its weight vis a vis its price. Service at the bar was great however, and we still had a fun little visit and maybe someday will come back for the full experience.
Had my birthday dinner at Porter's on Wednesday, October 3rd and it was GREAT as usual. Porter's is one of my favorite places to relax and have a great dinner with my wife. The service is always unbelievable and the steak is great. I had the pepperloin, my usual, and it was juicy and full of flavor. I had the twice baked potato's, which has been recently transformed, and they were evern better than before. We started with the steak sliders with their special mustard sauce - I have to say - the best sliders I have had. We ended up taking home our dessert because we were so full, and it was great the next evening.
The service here is impeccable! Our servers name, I believe, was Chrissy and she was professional, funny, and always at our service. You will not get this kind of personable service at Ruth Chris Steakhouse - you usually get service, but without the smile.
We will be back at Porter's soon!
A+ for quality
A+ for service
Great job Porter's for helping in making my birthday great!
Very pleasant restaurant for a Sunday Brunch. The staff was very accommodating and friendly, the food was very good and the price was 14 bucks a person. Good price point since they had fresh bagels and smoked salmon.
The place is clean and well-attended to as were the restrooms. This is always a plus in a hotel restaurant.
Next trip to St. Louis, you're our first stop!
Once again, Travel Zoo came through with a great offer! Â $59 for 2 got us each a drink up to $10, 2 appetizers, we got a Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail (4 HUGE prawns with creole seafood sauce) $13, and Calamri Platter $10. We got 2 entrees up to $39 a piece. I had a Bone-in Rib Eye and my husband had the Porterhouse for a $3 upcharge.
Included were 2 sides up to $9 each. We got the Lobster Mac and Cheese and a Twice baked potato. That's $80 we scored on this deal!
It was worth the trip and fun to try some place new. The staff was extremely friendly. The hostess asked our names and on the way out thanked us BY NAME. Nice touch!
So, if you read this and take away anything new,
I hope you stop what you're doing, and go sign up for Travel Zoo.
Not too impressed. I had the crab caked and pepperloin --no rave reviews from me. It was just ok. Porter house salad was pretty good, though.
There's a resident sommelier that walks around with a cart of wine bottles offering free tastings - a bit odd, but nice touch.
I hear the carrot cake is great. Others in my party ordered it and they were served a huge piece each!
This could be a world class steak house to the tune of Morton's, Ruth's, et al because they are very close. Â Hubby and I had dinner Saturday night. Â The sommolier, Jeff, was very nice and not snobby, but unfortunately for him, I'm Janey SixPack, not an oenphile. Â Our waiter was a moonlighting teacher who was first class but the food missed the mark. Â Hubby's steak that was ordered medium was most assuredly well-done and he would NOT let me send it back. Â Mine was perfectly cooked but a tad overseasoned and I had to send my raw broccoli back THREE TIMES to have it cooked to where I didn't chip my teeth on it. but the warm bread and butter was good. Â My husband asked to trade his baked potato for a twice baked potato and usually places charge the difference in the price for the upsell but they clipped us SEVEN BUCKS for the spud without crediting for the potato we didn't eat. Â I thought that was pretty chickenshit since his steak was 41 bucks. Â My steak was good until I got the the massive hunk of gristle that would have been cause for me to immediately send it back and it was a bit overcooked too--but it did have the pittsburgh crust I so desperately love and can't find anywhere. They didn't offer fresh ground pepper but there was a pepper grinder on the table. Â Cooking my husband's steak properly and not raping us for a potato would have gotten them the last star, but they are better than anyone else around. Â Pricey though--dinner for two with tip was $100. Â Probably the best hotel steak house in Illinois but still missed the mark, however, they were close.
Review Source:This is located in a recently redone hotel, now a Doubletree. Â I have been there a few times...I got a gift card from a former employer, and their computer does not seem to subtract the balance, so back I go, in the hopes that it will improve. Â Collinsville is an ok Metro East suburb, mostly a bedroom community and chain shopping. Â Porter's seems to attempt to appeal to a higher demographic, the price points for lunch, and especially dinner, are too high for the quality of what they are offering.
 I have had the wedge salad twice over a few visits, the last time it was noteably worse.  Their claim to fame is the "pepperloin", similar to Tony's in Alton...not sure what the deal is there in the Metro East.  The pepperloin sandwich I had for lunch was not very flavorful, and without the mustard sauce would have been a snooze.  And it was $13 to boot!  Service was middling, I got more attention from another server than my own.  Didn't pull out the gift card until the end - and since I was using it, got the creme brulee.  Don't.  The topping wasn't carmelized as it should be, and the custard was warm, indicating lack of technique.  I would skip the place...MANY better restaurants in Fairview/Belleville/O'Fallon, to say nothing of St. Louis and suburbs.  On the place side, it's a pleasant enough space.
I'll start with the good: service was very good, our waiter was very responsive and eager to make up for... well, I'll get to that in a bit... We liked the waiter and the steaks were wonderful. My fillet was melt-in-your-mouth tender and perfectly cooked & seasoned.
And the bad: Little to no beer options. I couldn't say for sure, because the waiter didn't bother telling me what they had. He essentially just told me they wouldn't have anything I wanted. Outside of the steaks and the deserts, the food ranged from nothing special to downright BAD. Broccoli was served cold, asparagus was bitter, hollandaise (on the asparagus) was flavorless, and the lobster tail scored a solid C- from my mom, who said it was rubbery and tasted like it had been frozen.
Overall, despite a very nice waiter, nice atmosphere, good wine, and great steaks, I can't recommend the place. I expect better for these prices.
I didn't expect to be impressed...especially since Porter's is attached to the Doubletree Hotel...in Collinsville, of all places. But my opinion of the place keeps improving with each visit. I've visited several times, from having some drinks and snacks at the bar with a friend who was at the hotel for a convention to several client dinners that have been hosted here.
Parking is a hassle especially on busy nights. There are maybe two rows of prime parking, and then you really do have to trek to the door. They didn't think of this problem when they built the hotel...but the property is also at a weird angle, so that may be it. The decor is fabulous once you walk in , very sleek and modern. I feel that the bar area is so much more spacious than the actual dining area...the dining area is one straight room composed of two aisles; at times it's very claustrophobic and you feel like you are walking over other patrons on your way to your table.
The drinks are pretty good, and the bar menu is standard bar fare. Â I've had the chicken fingers, quesadilla, peppered tenderloin sliders, the loaded potato skins, and crispy calamari. The best one was the crispy calamari, but really, none of them stood out.
During dinner events, I've had the colossal shrimp cocktail ($13). It's super amazing. The cocktail sauce isn't much to write home about, but the shrimp itself are cold, plump, and insanely fresh. Delicious by itself. The lobster bisque ($9) is not very exciting - it's good, but it's missing an oomph. I've tried all four salads (all $7 each): the Porter's, Classic Caesar, Spinach, and the Wedge. Ingredients are always fresh, but only the Porter's really shines. The other three are typical steakhouse salads.
The steaks are well portioned and nicely cut. I've ordered rare and medium rare, and they've been done to perfection. I've had the filets ($32 and $39), the ribeye ($29), and the strip steak ($32 and $39). Interestingly enough, the strip wasn't as flavorful at the table, but the leftovers at home were pretty good. If you're a seafood lover, the crab cakes ($29) are not to be missed. The salmon can be a little bit overdone. As for the sides, they are standard steakhouse fare, except the lobster macaroni and cheese is better than the rest.
I think they only have two choices for dessert: carrot cake and cheesecake. Neither are out of the world. Although I did take home the carrot cake once, and my boyfriend insisted that we eat it with vanilla ice cream...which made it awesome.
All in all, it's a solid steakhouse. It gets that extra star because service is spectacular and old-school, which just makes the experience better. And it's a surprise finding such a place in the Metro East.
Take into consideration any steakhouse is rather one dimensional by concept. Porters plays right along, serving a baked potato and steamed broccoli with their meat. I got the distinct impression veggies are an after thought here where meat gets all the attention from the chef.
I really wanted to like the onion bread and flavored butter. However, the consistency and flavor of the bread was like eating onion flavored cotton candy. Â Similar to Lone Star Steak House bread.
Porters is a winner for the diner with a simple palette and no interest in new flavors or complex side dishes. Â More adventurous or experienced eaters won't likely be impressed.
We stayed at the Doubletree hotel for Valentines day and included in the package was free breakfast at Porters. We arrived in the lobby at 10:00AM. It took them about 20minutes to seat us! Then they never came over to give us our juice! The servers were so busy they coudln't adequately serve the customers. There were about 2 servers in the WHOLE RESTAURANT. can you imagine a server running around serving people...and then running to the front desk asking how many people are in your party? running back to set the table....running back to the front to answer the phone and then finally seat the party?!! Because thats exactly what happened! It was a complete disaster. The breakfast was amazing for it to be free. Would i ever pay for Porter's breakfast buffet.......NO.....would I stay at the doubletree and eat at the breakfast buffet for free......YES, OF COURSE! We gave a minimal tip because we didn't have  a server. I had to chase different servers down to ask them for orange juice and ketchup. They need to have more servers so they can increase their customer service. Until then they'll have two stars. The breakfast buffer included...eggs...really tasty bacon and sausage....pancakes...hash browns, and omelets.
Review Source:Hotel restaurants are rarely distinctive or worth the price, but Porter's is an exception. Attached to a recently remodeled Doubletree hotel, Porter's showcases good steaks and fine wine. They have a sommelier (named Jeff) that will come to your table and let you try the wines he is highlighting that evening. This man KNOWS wine - be sure to tip him (and call ahead to make sure he is going to be there the night you want to visit).
I can't speak for any of Porter's non-beef items on the menu, because every time I come I order the same thing: The Pepperloin. It is a superb piece of meat. The side dishes and salads are great as well but the steaks are the highlight. If you're gonna add to your carbon footprint by eating beef you better make it worth it, and this place does.
The atmosphere is somewhat quiet. Decor is nice - not too trendy or stuffy. You don't have to dress up if you don't want to, but then again if you do that's cool too. My family often comes here for special dinners. For those in St. Louis, if you are prepared to drop some dough on a nice meal, it is definitely worth a trip over the river.
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