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    Norwalk Maid-Rite

    2.7 (36 reviews)

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    Original maid rite. Tenderloin plain
    Tim B.

    First off -all the people complaining about bad customer service are being too sensitive. I had extremely friendly experience when ordering and while eating in, saw continued friendly service and it was busy. Ordered the Original w/everything and the tenderloin *plain. Both were as good as always. Not much else to say other then the loose sandwich is a staple in Iowa and give it a try. My only gripe is they are a little small for $4

    Cheese Rite sandwich
    Jeremy G.

    I was driving back to Kansas City from Chicago and remembered seeing Maid-Rite on one of the Food Channel shows many years ago and knew it was an old Iowa institution. I looked up and found a location that was on my route and was able to perfectly time my lunch. All I remember from the food show was that the sandwiches were "loose meat" sort of like sloppy joes, but no sauce. I ordered the Cheese Rite (classic with cheese) and fries. The flavor was good and it really is just a simple sandwich with great seasoning, but there isn't much too it. Clearly it remains a local favorite based on the number of people already there around 11:00. I give a solid 3.5 stars. It was a good and reasonably priced lunch from a local establishment that has stood the test of time and I would definitely recommend trying at least one when in Iowa.

    i ordered vanilla  and instead i got milk with mustard in: people in the restaurant were giving me bad looks and the services was bad

    DONT RECOMMENDED. I went to the bathroom and ants were crawling on the walls. they bathroom stank

    the interior of a diner

    Great find! We haven't had Maid-Rites in ages. This popped up while we were at a baseball game. Based on the former reviews, I wasn't expecting a lot. But this is just how I remember! Kind, helpful people all around with the SAME INCREDIBLE food as always. :)

    Front Desk

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    1 year ago

    Food is ok. service is horrible and employees are not nice. Wouldn't go back. Ice cream is good

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    Ask the Community - Norwalk Maid-Rite

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    3.1(126 reviews)
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    Yay!!! Portermill now opens at 4am. This is a win-win!…read more 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).

    Airport food. I don't know what happens to it, but somewhere between the kitchen and the departure…read moregate, 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.

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    Smitty's Tenderloins Shop - Breaded Tenderloin

    Smitty's Tenderloins Shop

    4.1(200 reviews)
    4.0 mi
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    After a long day of driving, we stopped for the night in Des Moines and decided dinner needed to be…read morea true Iowa experience -- a pork tenderloin sandwich! My wife had never had one, so we chose Smitty's Tenderloin Shop, and this turned out to be much more than just a good meal. Knowing how HUGE Iowa tenderloins can be, we wisely split the King Tenderloin. It arrived exactly as expected -- a massive, thin, crispy, golden-brown tenderloin absolutely dwarfing the bun. More importantly, it tasted fantastic! The pork was tender, the breading crispy, and it delivered exactly what I wanted from a classic Iowa tenderloin. We also tried the fries and handmade onion rings, which were excellent. But what really made our visit memorable were the people. We met sisters Wendy and Mindy, who were absolutely delightful. We spent quite a bit of time talking and laughing with them, and they eventually introduced us to owner Ben Smith. Ben took several minutes to talk with us and shared some of Smitty's history. He started working here around age eight, learned every part of the business and eventually worked alongside his father carrying on the family tradition. You quickly understand why Smitty's has become such an important part of the community. The old-school atmosphere, red stools, checkered floor and decades of newspaper clippings on the walls only add to the experience. Some restaurants serve you dinner. Smitty's made us feel welcome. Fantastic tenderloin, wonderful people and a genuine piece of Des Moines history. If you're visiting Des Moines and want a true Iowa pork tenderloin experience, Smitty's Tenderloin Shop is absolutely worth the stop!

    Wow!!! What a perfect stop!! Simple sandwich done…read moreperfectly!! A staff that makes you feel like family the minute you walk in the door! Couldn't have made a better stop on our road trip back home!!

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    Smitty's Tenderloins Shop - Plain tenderloin

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    Norwalk Maid-Rite - newamerican - Updated September 2026

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