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Categories: Hot Dogs, American (Traditional) [Edit]
Neighborhoods: Near North Side, River NorthGrand (Red)
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What's it like eating a fully loaded hot dog around 12am in the morning? Pure bliss and deliciousness. Never had I had a hot dog that contained so much fixins'.
As it was my first time eating the Portillo Everything Hot Dog, I struggled to keep the ingredients on the hot dog and was surprised at how every ingredient fit in the bun (just barely). During one of my bites, the pickle flipped up and hit me in the nose, as if the hot dog was mocking me...I'll let you have the win this time hot dog, but next time, I won't be so forgiving!
When I went home, it took me a few handwashes to get rid of that hot dog smell out of my hands. If I didn't, I would have eaten my fingers.
On our East coast trip, I made sure that I went to a pizza and hot dog place. From all of the yelp review, I decided to go to Portillo's Hot Dogs (PHD). It was an interesting search.
To get around chicago, we need to walk a lot and go on a lot of buses. It was very fortunate that there was a bus route close by. It wasn't much of a long walk to find the place. The place was right across from Hard Rock Cafe Chicago.
When we got to the restaurant, we were confused with the layout of the place. At first we thought it was a food court and PHD was just part of the food stall. But then all of the stalls read Portillo's. There was portillo's dog, Portillo's salad, Portillo's BBQ, Portillo's liquor. It was confusing at first. But later we found out that all of the stalls are owned by Portillo's. Since we were there for the hot dog, we started to line up for the PHD.
The line was very short considering a lunch time period (around 1pm). Then we saw on the wall a lunch special only for mon and tues. It was perfect timing since we were there on tuesday. For 5 bucks, I had italian sausage with fries and drink, while my family tried the polish sausage (original and special).
The hot dog was a good portion. It was tasty and very meaty. It's different from hot dog place like Pink's in Los Angeles. Overall I think it's a good dog out of chicago. Later I found out that they have a branch out here in Buena Park, CA. Another food another day.
I'm a typical NY-er. I like my hot dogs plain (maybe with a little ketchup). Chicago hot dogs normally have a lot of stuff in with the hot dog, which I happily opted out of.
The hot dog was freshly cooked, and not plucked out of some dirty water at the side of the road. 2 thumbs up!
The hot dogs good and when you bite into one it pops! Fresh hot dogs, buns are steamed perfectly. Great for a small snack. Service is entertaining.
Chocolate cake shake you can pass on. Tasted like a chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream blended. Not really our thing, but we tried it.
Got the Chicago dog with everything except the peppers. Yummy and cheap.
If you like Italian beef sandwiches then you will really like this place.
I ordered mine dipped with sweet peppers.
The bread was soft and the meat was juicy.
I had no heart burn or indigestion afterwards - big plus.
Fries were ok. A bit too salty and charred.
Very good place for some "tasty grease."
Whats to say? Its Portillo's ! Now you can get a good Italian beef at smaller Mom and Pop shops, but the rating above represents consistency. The service at this location (wait time) is spotty. They still do pretty well though.
I have never even ate at this Portillos, and you know what, I don't need to. If you live in IL, and don't like Portillos, MOVE!
I'm not a big fan of hot dogs but if I visit Chicago, I gotta try some chicago style hot dogs
I ordered their famous Portillo's Beef Hot Dog with everything on it...my first hot dog in Chicago...& it did not disappoint :)
PORTILLOS IS THE #1 SPOT IN CHICAGO FOR AN ITALIAN BEEF. LOVE IT. CAKE SHAKE is delicious.
Barnelli's has really good salads and pasta. I LOVE the chopped salad and have gotten some of the pasta dishes. They give really good bread as a free size.
You can do no wrong at portillos. Very family friendly.
Mmmm. Yum yum.
One of the first places I heard to visit when I came to Chicago, was Portillo's. Never having a "Chicago hotdog" or even anything closely related to it, I jumped on this opportunity.
I visited both this Portillo's and the one in Skokie, over the course of two days and tried two of the main staples.
Chicago branch:
First, I tried the Italian Beef sandwich. This bread stuffed full of beef was super moist! I liked it because it was slightly peppery. Another plus, was that meat was not too dry. Usually I have a probably with the meat being dry- but this one was quite juicy. Mmm. It was big, but I ate it all.
I liked the atmosphere as well. As it's more of a fast food type of restaurant, it reminded me vaguely of a college campus food court. It was quick and the food came out quick as well.
Only gripe I had about this sandwich was that the way it was wrapped + amount of oil in it, was horrible. This sandwich was so horribly wrapped- as I tried to unwrap it, all the juices and oil started flowing all over my hands, dripping onto the table, etcera. Additionally, the bread was even slightly soggy in places that related to the oil and juices.
Skokie branch:
Secondly, I tried the famous Portillo's Beef Hot Dog. I got "everything" on it, as I'm not a picky eater. It came with onions, mustard, a long pickly, tomatoes, jalopenos, and other items. I especially liked the poppy seed bun- made it an interesting eat. As I have no idea what makes a "Chicago hotdog so good," I'm not sure how this hot dog appeared to other hot dog places.. but to me, it just tasted like a regular, slightly beefier hotdog, with good toppings. Worth it? Perhaps... but it was not mind blowing at all.
Tried the fries.. and they were already. Quite potato-y, but could have used more salt, and I was hoping it would come out hotter.
Everything else was fine though.
Portillo's is the best alternative to the hot dog stand. Just with better dogs, better toppings and better sides. It's definitly worth passing up the hot dog man.
I came here for dinner on my first day in Chicago. I figured that I would get two of Chicago's food staples in one meal, so I decided to get a Chicago hot dog, an Italian beef sandwich, and a small glass of Half Acre Lager beer.
The Chicago hot dog was good, but I got rid of the pickle since I'm not a fan of pickles. The Italian beef sandwich was too dry for my liking. Maybe I should of gotten it with cheese and sweet peppers. The Half Acre Lager was a good compliment to all of the meat I ate.
This place is a tourist trap (of course I am one) and could get crazy busy, but I want to try something more local.
Portillos is the best of the best. Order the "hot dog ever" and enjoy bite after bite of what can only be described as "mouthgasm". the italian beef dipped with hot peppers is the finest beef to be had anywhere, ever. I have traveled the world, dined at 5 star establishments and can state without fear of being refuted, under Dick Portillos management, this chain has the secret sauce to deliver a consistently high quality dining experience suitable for an informal date, family outing or catered event.
BE OPEN LATER.
What would be better then a 3am Portillo's run? How does this work - can we start a petition or something?
Stopped by here with a lovely friend of mine for a late night 'dog and chat. What can I say? While it may be a tourist trap, it's also pretty consistently good dogs and cheap!! $5 for 2 hot dogs? near north? My only gripe, is that their fries are pretty clearly standard frozen crinkles. But who is really hoping for authenticity or freshness while slurrily ordering a hotdog at midnight?
First overnight visit in Chicago and a friend sends me to Portillos for late night food. Great tasting beef hot dog with the works for just $2.45 (no ketchup on this dog). Was a bit disappointed with the beef and cheddar croissant though. When I unwrapped it, there was a bunch of meat and cheese stuck next to a soggy croissant. I guess I was expecting more of a sandwich. That being said, the taste of the hot peppers poured on top of the meat more than compensated for the randomness of some meat lying next to a croissant . Great grub food for under $10.
I work near-by, and sometimes it is a Portillos night. Whether it is due to a long day, totally empty stomach, or just to get away and stuff my face Portillo's does me right.
It is all about the cheeseburger... and... if you are daring... cheese fries.
Everything is great here: hot dogs, beefs, chopped salad. They pump people through the line efficiently, so a half hour lunch break is not out of the question.
All of this having been said, if you want a true Chicago experience, go to Al's Italian Beef just up the road (across from Ed Debevics). Or, if you're willing to travel, check out their original location on Taylor Street near UIC. yummmmmmmmmmm
Wow...for 5 bucks I got a HUGE Italian sausage hot dog topped with sweet peppers, a side of crinkled fries, and a large soda. I was starving after my 4-hour flight and expected to chow down on everything but wasn't able to even finish half of my hot dog. That's how big it was.
The sausage was extremely juicy and flavorful. I should have opted for the spicy peppers as the sweet were a little to bland for me. It definitely needed a punch of heat. Nonetheless, it was yummy, with the toasty roll quickly soaked up all the flavors of the sausage and peppers. DROOL.
The Italian beef and sausage were amazing! They were both flavorful and juicy, and come with tons of grease soaking through the wax paper wrapping...
The turnstyle door was awesome and I thought this place was going to be memorable.
The pictures and the memorobilia was the only great thing that I loved about this place.
The burger and hot that I had just to try them to see was burger and hot dogs was great in the city of chicago and I was truly dissapointed.
The meat patty was not cooked to order and my meat patty was extremely dry. I have to have it medium rare and juicy.
The crinkle cut Elementary school fries were stiff and not salted.
I wished I would tried the chili dog, ribs and or the italian food or even the salads.
I don't care that I've always had to wait in line.
I don't care that you never fail to be infested with windbreaker-wearing tourists from Michigan. (I saw one buying a Portillo's shirt tonight, awwww)
I don't care that I burnt my pinky finger on your cheese fries the other night. It was my fault, I was sloppy.
I don't care that I am probably going to have to up a dress size or two now that I know we are only 3 blocks apart.
I just don't care.
Portillo's, you're worth it.
I have gone in determined to get something other than the italian beef with hot peppers but once at the counter something comes over me and it is the only thing I ever order.
They are very very very good. Extremely consistent, tender meat, just plain tasty. I don't care that it is a chain or tourist trap, get over yourself!!!
Fries are not shabby, chocolate cake wonderful, had better chocolate shakes.
Brak's 2009 culinary gutbomb tour continued in Chicago this past weekend. On the agenda: hot dogs, and Italian beef sandwiches. Chicago-style deep dish pizza? Naah, I can do without it - I prefer mine NY style. But I digress.
Saturday afternoon we hit Portillo's, specifically to sample the Italian beef. Zombie Girl chickened out and walked over to a different station and ordered pasta. Brak, however, went for the gusto and ordered up an Italian beef sandwich with cheddar fries. I opted for the "regular" sized sandwich, fearing that the "large" might be of gargantuan proportions. As I suspected, the regular size was quite large and more than enough. How was it? Excellent. Tender, wet & messy beef, nice french roll, and tasty onions & peppers. The fries were good, though I passed on the cheese sauce for the most part (supplied in a separate container rather than drowning in it, thankfully). The joint is huge, and is well laid out, with several different stations from which to order/retrieve your meal, depending on what you're having, and tons of tables. I'll definitely come back again, and probably try a dog next time around. A solid 4-star experience, not quite earning a 5th star, because my socks remained in place.
Please note - this review is ONLY regarding their drive thru. I love the food but figure a one-star rating would catch some attention amongst all the 4s and 5s.
On a few recent visits to Portillos (notably last night), I can't begin to describe the frustration experienced at the drive-thru. For those who've been down this road, it seems like a relatively organized and efficient system. No ordering through a speaker - alternatively each car has a different attendant personally come up, take the order and payment so by the time you reach the front of the line you're ready to grab your food and go.
This, my fellow Portillo drive thru-ers is where the magic ends. The orders come out with no rhyme or reason so if you're not the first car in line you may get your food before the people in front of you. Sounds great right? Not so much. At that point, you are completely trapped in the drive thru line until every single person in front of you gets their order. Let's say theres a missing item for a car in front of you - tough luck, you're stuck. I'm talking 10-15+ minutes of sitting with your food in the car unable to leave. A more efficient system would be to ensure that food reaches the cars in order that they are lined up - this way your food would at least stay warm in the restaurant prior to being distributed out - especially when it comes to food like burgers and fries that lose their proper temperature fairly quickly.
If you happen to drive up and there's no one in front of you - go for it. Otherwise, come back for the good food when you're able to run inside and grab it on your own.
To be quite honest, I really did not know how well-known "Portillos" was until after I left. Otherwise, I would have gotten a hot dog. Still, my burger was good, my fries were good and my chocolate cake... was good. I really like the cafeteria, old-style Chicago setup inside. Cool place, even though it seems a little touristy.
Love me some Portillo's! Amazing beef sandwiches and hamburgers. The fries are quite good and always fresh. If you are in the mood for tasty, albeit not too healthy meal, you won't be disappointed.
Great Hot Dogs!
I now live in Portland, OR and wish I could still eat there. Though, I am now a vegetarian I would maybe consider breaking that for a great Portillo's Hot Dog!
I'm never dissappointed with the Italian Beef with HOT peppers. This is a must stop from me everytime I come to Chicago!!!!
Finally made a trip out to the Windy City... and was told that this place is not something to be missed.
On the must order list:
1. Jumbo dog with everything (minus the onions for me).. Chicago style: includes pickles, tomatoes, relish and mustard. mmmm.
2. Italian beef sandwich: We got it with the hot peppers. another yum.
Could do without:
1. The cake shake.. some people swear by it. I wasn't too impressed. I guess I'm just not into drinking my cake.. Although, the idea of it sounded amazingly delicious... which is why I tried it.
Everything else (fries and onion rings) were the usual. Nothing special.
This place is a total meat-fest, and I mean that in the nicest and most delicious way. I got the Portillo's hot dog which was loaded with onions, mustard, hot peppers, and a pickle...and I mean a whole pickle spear slapped right on top of the hot dog. Why hadn't I thought of that? A friend had the hot dog AND the Italian beef, which looked absolutely mouth watering. I followed my hot dog with a large schooner of Blue Moon and was a very happy girl. If you are not in the mood for meat, you can apparently order salads, which the 2 women sitting across from us had done. But why would you want to?
Some good beefs
Oh my! This was the second highlight of my trip to Chicago. I am from Kansas... Beef country. Dog's are available but nothing like this.
We saw Portillo's on our first day in the city. However, judging from the exterior, I was expecting a full fledged sit down and be waited on restaurant with pricey Entree's. I was wrong.
Once you walk in, it is a giant fast food place. Numerous different registers with a huge selection of items to choose from. I of course wanted to try a Chicago Dog & Italian Beef.
First off it is amazing how they operate. They print out the receipt from your order, write something on it and it somehow gets to the kitchen who prepare it at breakneck speeds. It is amazing to watch the kitchen staff accurately prepare your order.
The meal. Hot Dog was to die for. Tender, but yet firm to bite into. Prepared Chicago style it was the best Dog I have had in a long time.
Italian Beef was good. However, I was not as impressed by it as I was the Dog. I am sure it was excellent, but the sandwich itself is not much for me, no matter where I get it.
I did some research on Yelp before coming up here. I read that I needed to get the Chocolate Cake. What is a few more hundred Calories???? It was excellent. My mom used to make a home made chocolate cake this good.
I highly recommend it. If you have kids they might enjoy the bustle of this place. If I am in Chicago, I will go back.
What is not to like about cheap, tasty, and filling food? Portillos fits the description in what it has to offer: value, quality, and quantity.
Every restaurant is themed differently so you will never be dining in exactly the same atmosphere twice (unless, of course, you frequent the same location over and over). I grew up in Chicago, and more specifically, I grew up on Italian Beef.
Portillo's Italian Beef is one of the best I've had. Period. The harmonious combination of the salty, slow cooked meat with the tantalizing au jus, all resting on a soft Italian bread (soaked with more au jus, of course) and topped with a mound of hot peppers; what more could you ask for? Heaven is the word that comes to mind when I think of biting into that sandwich.
What could make the experience better, you ask? Try adding to the side a heaping helping of Portillo's delicious fries with a nice little tub of quite possibly the best melted cheese known to mankind.
Slurp all that down with some (insert regionalized choice of the word pop here) and you're good to go!
Don't even get me started on the chocolate cake. If you have any room left in your belly after that meal and you have a few bucks to spare, please do yourself a favor and get some a slice of the chocolate cake. It is moist, delicate, fluffy, rich, and everything else that a chocolate cake should be.
Portillo's just goes to show that you don't need your coffers filled to the brim with cash to eat like a king.
My friend recommended that I not get my Chicago hot dog fix at the ballparks I was headed to. So, I came here.
I had a couple of their dogs with everything, which is mustard, relish, chopped onions, sliced tomatoes, a kosher pickle spear and sport peppers. The wiener itself was wonderful. The perfect pop when you bite into it. The poppy seed bun was nicely steamed. All together, a damn good hot dog.
The service was very friendly too. The cashier smiled. The woman calling out the order numbers made me laugh. Good food and cheap too!
A hangout place with nice greasy food right in front of you.
Decor: It's dark and decorated with what I'd like to say Western feel. It reminds me a little bit of an amusement park restaurant. I liked it! It works like a food court, kind of.
Food: I got the thinly sliced roast beef DIPPED (important!!!!!! The juice makes it sooooo juicy). I could barely hold it all in with the bun getting soggy too, but for someone that's not the greatest fan of roast beef, this was delish!!!! I also got onion rings, which were average. My friends got the hamburger (she claims is the best greasy burger she's had in her life) and cheese pizza (average).
Bottom line: Come here with casual friends and don't be afraid to get down and messy :]
If you need Chicago essence fast, come here. Cheap respectable eats that can start a visit off well. Eating here on a daily basis if I lived here? I think probably not, but nonetheless a good place to grab a goblet and a dog wit everything that should be on it.
One thing to think about... If this place wasn't so good, would there really be somewhere near 100 people pumping out the food at once? Just go here and check it out. The visit won't cost you much.
This is my first experience with chicago style hotdog and I love it. I like pickle and hot pepper so. The hotdog also fresh and the bun is steamed I believe. Soft and rather chewy. I like the ambience. The space is so big, with the merriment of decoration not to mention there were a lot of people...So if you wanted just to be alone this was not your place. If you wanted to have a good food, cheap and fulfilling this is the one. I also tried their chocolate cake and onion ring. They were ok.
The legendary Chicago Style Hot Dog consists of a poppy bun, relish, a pickle stick and some peppers....
excuse my ignorance when I tell you I cannot eat peppers nor pickles...thus 1/2 of my Chicago Hot Dog experience is gone just like that however, Portillo hits the spot for sure. It could have been that we were just so hungover from last night. The place is very cheerful to the eye, especially the clothesline where a pair of long johns were clipped. I wanted to steal 'em.
Very very cheap...good hot dogs...and a very funny woman who called out the numbers. The french fries are a tad bit try and are reminiscent of cafeteria food, however I am not complaining. That is the charm of Portillo's. 3 cheers..
hip
hip
horray
Time/Date: Thursday, 9:30 pm
Type/Quality: Tastey American hotdogs, sausage, and shakes
Price/Quantity : Good price for the food. The beef and sausage dog is amazing! Its juicy and really tasty. I went with friends and we each had a full beef and sausage dog and split a hot dog. We also got a large chocolate cake shake and split it 4 way. That was plenty for dinner! The chocolate shake cake is tasty but be sure to mix it. Otherwise it becomes milk shake with betty crocker frosting for the last 3-4 inches of the shake.
Service/Accessibility: Lots of space, and regular fast food service. Since its in the downtown area of Chicago you'll probably have to
Structure/Ambiance: High roofs as if you are in an outside eating arena
DELISH! I am a native St.Louisan but just recently moved to the chi. I was instantly bombarded with the Portillo's word of mouth...and had to try it for myself. All of my friends were NOT mistaken.
I had the Italian beef with sweet peppers, SOOOOO GOOD! I loved everything second of the experience!! Great italian bread, loads of beef, and two huge pepper!
YUMMY!
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