Sky Islands Grill and Grocery

This place is terrific! What a gem in such a remote area. If you're passing through the area and looking for a place to stop, this is it.

This is a great little place to stop by and visit. The owners and staff are friendly and the food is really good. Overall a great experience and a place we will continue to come to every time we visit the area.

Excellent food and quaint atmosphere. Service was great. I had to try their chili to begin with. Being a Texan, this didn't pass as chili, but was more of a three bean soup. But none the less, it was absolutely delicious. And I'll be back for more before we leave the area. I also had fish & chips, and they were pretty darn good. Followers it all up with some good chocolate ice cream. Give this place a try.

If you've spent time in Portal, AZ, you know there aren't a whole lot of options for dining out in the area. But the Sky Islands Grill isn't "good considering the limited choices" -- it's just good! I ate dinner there with a group during a weekend trip to hike in the Chiricahua Mountains. The restaurant itself is very bright and airy, with high ceilings and big windows through which you get lovely views of the mountains. Two of us got grilled chicken sandwiches, one person got a garden burger, and one got a black bean burger. All the sandwiches/burgers are customizable, so I got grilled chicken with an Asian sweet chili sauce, sauteed jalapeños, avocado, pepper jack cheese, and the usual lettuce, tomato, red onion, and pickles. Everyone added their favorite elements, and we all got a combination of onion rings and fries as our side. The menu is pretty straightforward: salads, sandwiches and burgers, and pizza. Within that, there's a lot of room for customization, though, so you're able to build a meal that you're sure to enjoy! Sky Islands also has a well-stocked grocery store, so I recommend heading there to pick up supplies if you're camping and need to get snacks or something. One very important thing to keep in mind: this restaurant/market is right on the New Mexico-Arizona state line, so depending on where you're coming from, you may need mentally shift the hours to account for the time change.

I was sad today. I work around the area and was wanting to grab a sandwich and fries. There was a blonde short haired lady that was helping the customers in that dining area. She walked back-and-forth on each side of the bar area never even looked towards the front or the register to see if anybody was waiting to pay or standing there to order. It was almost up to 10 minutes that I had been waiting, patiently. As I was going to change my mind, A younger girl with long brunette here asked if she can take my order. I said well I have been standing here for at least 5 minutes and no one had acknowledged me. Even one of the cooks in the back, he was wearing all black, saw that I was standing there at the front and did not even acknowledge me or inform anybody that I was waiting at the front to be helped.I was going to order but I lost my appetite and pulled the young lady that's OK forget it and walked away pretty sad. Whenever I would go in there and I believe he is the owner, middle aged man with short hair, he acknowledges customers right away. I believe everybody, even though they don't handle the front responsibilities, shouldn knowledge customers and then let someone that does work the front know that there's a customer at the register and then pick it up here waiting to order or that needs to be helped.Now I will have to wait till I get home to eat, which will be after 10pm. I went in around 545pm.

Seeing all the other positive reviews, I couldn't wait to come to Sky Islands. Unfortunately however, my experience did not match the remainder of the respondents.While the grocery is the better of the area (that being the groceries of Rodeo Cafe, Animus Fuel, Portal Cafe, Sky Islands,) the grill was a significant disappointment.I came for lunch, and had the appetizer of the loaded tater tots, and an order of BBQ wings.While the tater tots themselves were cooked well, the "loaded" was a sprinkling of grated cheddar, a raw onion, and cold bacon bits sprinkled atop. Nothing held together. Not even the cheese on the tater tots - not melted; just fell off and littered the basket, along with the onion and bacon bits. Eating it, searching for flavors, one had to pick up individual components and gather them together.The wings could have been fabulous; except they were pre-cooked, and microwaved at order time. What I received in the basket were wings that were warm atop, and refrigerator cold below. The cold sections actually were juicier than the nuked; which were touch and chewy as a result of the reheat.Sky Islands Management -- the wait staff was impeccable, and served up with a smile; but the order cook the day I was there just didn't seem to care; there was no effort or delight in the preparation or delivery. Go down to the Portal cafe some afternoon and order a lunch there -- the attention to detail in the order and delivery there is phenominal; and Sky Islands could be so much more.

For dinner, she had a very good burger and I an exceptional breakfast burrito. Fresh ingredients, served hot. Great service. What a nice "oasis" in what is not quite the middle of nowhere (although you can see it from here).

Food with a view, indeed! Spectacular views of the mountains from every window. Open and airy and the food is excellent and abundant. The Club sandwich has half POUND of meat, the Cobb Salad is filled with lots of goodness and the quesadillas are delicious! A real find in the sky islands of SE Arizona!

Love their black bean veggie burger & salads. Baklava is excellent too. Great place to stop not just for the food but mostly for the people!

We went there yesterday for first time, it always looks so good on Facebook.The place was clean, very few people there.We ordered food, waitress was not very good at all. She delivered our food and we never seen waitress again until I went to pay bill.We got a hair in our sandwich, I told her and showed her. She basically said "it happens" and we left.Very mixed feelings about my experience