Portillo's Hot Dogs

The food as always been delicious, worth the wait. However, today (02/17/21), I had an online order and when I arrived home, I found I was missing my slice of chocolate cake. Incredibly upset and saddened (because what woman who has been looking forward to Portillo's chocolate cake would be easily consoled?), I called and spoke to a man named José who went above and beyond to rectify the problem. Food 10/10, customer service 15/10.

Loooonnnggg lines at the drive thru but, be ready to order on the spot.... lines are moving fast. Don't let the long line Deceive you. They move pretty quickly. I was super surprised....

Highly recommend and will be back!!

As a Chicagoland native, I couldn't be happier to have the ability to go to Portillo's! It's a 25 mile trip for me but worth it!  The hot dogs (with snap!) on a steamed poppy seed bun, Italian beef sammies, crinkle cut fries, and chocolate cake shakes! Heaven! Worth the trip every time - no question. Tastes exactly like the food I would regularly get from the location on Ontario in River North!  

I appreciate how they've been willing to pack my sandwich ingredients for me so that I can get the to-go and not end up with soggy bread when I get home.  They also have a "catering" counter where you can order beef and cake and all of the other good stuff for a family feast.

Since the pandemic, they have really upped their drive-thru game. Think Chick-Fil-A style.   Friendly employees on foot greet cars lined up in the drive thru to take your order and collect payment. It makes the process more smooth and fast.

The staff are always friendly, too, making it an overall awesome experience! Pre-pandemic, when we would dine in, there are always a few employees walking the dining room keeping things tidy and clean. That helps quite a bit on busy weekend days when the place gets packed and you want to snag a table.

Was so worried about having to wait in line. Their drive thru was awesome. Almost just a rolling stop to give your order to someone standing in the parking lot then enter the actual drive thru and food is handed to you by someone running between the window and your car. Was in and out in less than 5 minutes. Tasted the same as I remembered but without having to fly into O'hare!

A location with a lot of history, we had to do another sampling of multiple items when we stopped for hot dogs at Portillo's! The Jumbo Hot Dog has great contrast in taste, there's a lot going on, pickled items, fresh items, all on the warm and soft poppy seed bun. Very well thought out.

The Maxwell St. Polish Sausage, full of character from the char-grilling, a hearty spread of caramelized onions with just the right touch of mustard. Not as salty as polishes can be at times and with Portillo's, there is a nice snap and smokiness to the sausage really transforms the flavor overall.

Lastly we got the Italian Beef sandwich, served on a roll that is perfect for dipping in their au jus, it is a sandwich that is spicy, savory and with a hint of sweetness, an incredibly wholesome meal.

Portillo's has much more to offer in their other entrees and desserts, be sure to check them out when you're in Buena Park!

So I took the time to really think about what I was going to say

On Sunday February 28' 2021 my mother n law asked us if we had ever tried portillos , we heard semi good reviews but was eager to give it a try for our selves

As we arrive there is 2 lanes for a drive threw experience, (highly recommend pulling up your own menu because they don't offer one ) we made the order which consisted of
1jumbo dog
1jumbo chili dog
1cheeseburger
2 cheese fries
1 regular fry
And 3 strawberry shortcakes
Totaled just shy of 40 bucks (39.87)
As we proceeded up to the drive threw we noticed customers who were behind us got there order first no big deal the drive threw was pretty quick ,
We get to the window we're there is a young chap with glasses Assisting a young woman (inside of course) by the name of Dahlia, he ask if the order at the window was our order and she replies "obviously it's not" I don't have thier order yet" very snotty for such a simple question, she gives him another order and almost immediately gives us our bags , she repeats the order in which she says "3 fries"
I ask my mother law to make sure they are cheese fries because I heard only fries

When she checks the bag there is no cheese fries only regular fries , we tell Dahlia this and she rudely says it's in the bag and proceeds to read us the order , yes it is correct however the cheese fries were still not in the bag , we tell her again , she reply's with "its on the bag so what's it supposed to be then" in the worst tone .
The chap with glasses comes back and says it's a cheese dip , so we said oh okay we didn't see any cheese and we have never been here before it must be in the bag as Dahlia proclaims ,
Well we drive home and she's wrong we have no cheese dip or anything with fries and cheese just regular old fries . I called to have this resolved and the manager at the time apologized and gives us the money back
Hey portillos , coming from a first timer , it ruined the whole experience. If that's how the workers are allowed to treat paying customers then it was deff my last time . I really hope Dahlia you learn to stay kind . Even on your bad days you just never know what someone else is going threw .

I'm a Chicago native and was craving a good Chicago dog, so I stopped into Portillo's the other night. They also recommended the chocolate cake.

Both were mediocre. The Chicago dog wasn't bad, but definitely not worth the hype. The chocolate cake tasted like any store bought or boxed cake, again, nothing special.

If you're in the area and craving a hot dog, stop in, but if you pass this place up, you're certainly not missing anything.

I work in LA, and every time I would tell someone I live in Buena Park, they'd ask if I've been to one of two places: Knott's Berry Farm or Portillo's. I've lived here for nearly three years and yesterday (Saturday 1/30 around 8pm) was my first time! I had high hopes knowing that Portillo's is so well-known.

Upon arrival, there were two drive thru lines. I noticed they weren't taking orders in-restaurant. The lines were super long and seemed intimidating - but it was reassuring to know that this business was still doing well despite the pandemjc. We paid the same person who took our order. And then after that, the line went by super fast! (I had actually planned to order delivery but the Doordash prices, etc. were super inflated...to no fault of Portillo's but expensive vendor fees).

The items I ordered:

-Maxwell Street Polish: YES YES YES!!! HIGHLY RECOMMEND! This was soooo freaking good. The sautéed onions were amazing. And the sausage was a lil' crispy on the edges and yummy, soft & savory on the inside.

-Chili Cheese Dog: The chili had a light taste but this was super satisfying!

-Jumbo Portillo's Hot Dog: My least favorite. I actually don't think I'll get this one again. I just was not a fan of the relish and tomatoes. Perhaps Chicago style hot dogs aren't my thing. I didn't take a pic of it cause I was disappointed in it lol.

-Onion Rings: SO CRISPY but I wish they gave us ranch...I feel like most places ask if you want ranch and/or provide it for you. I'll remember to ask for it next time (you should too!).

Everyone was friendly!  I'll definitely return for the Maxwells and onion rings :)

I gave 4 because their Shake machine was broken (sad face)...It was my first time here and wanted to try their famous Chocolate Cake Shake.
This was only drive thru and their Jumbo Hot dog and Chili Cheese dog was yummy and as their French fries, when we had it, it wasn't soggy.

Hotdogs had soggy buns today. Used to go to Chicago frequently for work and have been able to bring back lou mahnatis and other deep dish pizzas on the flight home, never attempted chicago dogs so I was very excited to have my brother and parents try them from portillos. Was super excited to find a local one not too far of a driveaway.

Major props to the Xmas Eve crew, the preorder and cater line was crazy, drive through went really fast. The lines at burger king and del taco looked a lot less efficient and slow.

Ordered 4 hotdogs, a maxwell st, fries, and a cheeseburger. Reason for the 2 rating is all 5 hotdogs had super soggy buns, had to throw them away and use plain bread at home :( not sure how this happened as even wienerschnitzel found a way to make the buns bread for takeout and I've walked blocks in chicago winter and had hot dogs last better than our 10 minute drive home.

For some reason the cheeseburger survived fine, this one was good and a little messy to eat. Fries were yummy crinkle cut fries.