Portable cooler with side receptacle

A portable cooler construction having a main body portion having rigid insulating walls formed by a molded inner shell defining a cavity for receiving food products and an opening for affording access to said cavity through an upper surface of said main body portion and a molded outer shell defining an open volume in which said inner shell is nested, and a first closure for selectively opening and closing said opening, the improvement comprising said inner and said outer shells defining an insulating space therebetween and surrounding said cavity, a recess formed in a side wall of said outer shell of said main body portion extending into and surrounded by said insulating space and separated by a portion of said insulating space from said cavity so that said recess and said cavity are each insulated and are insulated from each other, and a second closure for selectively opening and closing said recess said second closure being formed of a double wall construction with an air gap therebetween, said recess and said closure being configured to form a storage area adapted to receive articles when said second closure is in its closed position and to permit insertion and removal thereof when opened, said second closure being substantially coextensive with said recess and said side wall when in its closed position.