Orange County: Portillo's

I have never been a hot dog person.  (I'm still not.)  But there's a special place in my heart for the Chicago dog.  It's one of the things I really miss about living in Chicago.  So when I heard that Portillo's had opened in SoCal, I knew I had to go when I had the chance.

That chance came in December last year, when AG, CK, and I took a trip down South to meet up with CL.  After Jitlada for lunch and Brodard for dinner, we made a late night pit stop at Portillo's:

The amusement park-like interior took me right back to Chicago:

Late night meals aren't late night meals without onion rings ($3.89 for a large):

This is my preferred kind of breading on onion rings.  Beer-battered rings aren't quite my thing.

CK and AG reminisced their Chicago days by ordering a Italian beef sandwich ($6.99):

Whereas I couldn't wait to get my hands on Portillo's beef hot dog ($3.59):

It was exactly as I remembered, complete with soggy bun, mustard, relish, onion, tomato, celery salt, and pickle.  I wasn't even hungry, yet I couldn't stop until it was gone.

One thing that I never tried while I was living in Chicago and always regretted it was the chocolate cake shake ($3.59).  I made sure to fix that this time around:

They literally take a slice of chocolate cake and blend it with vanilla ice cream.  And it tastes exactly how you imagine it.  Like chocolate cake.  There's no way I could finish one all by myself.  It's just way too sweet for me.  I'm glad I finally got to try it though!

Going to Portillo's really brought me back to my Chicago days.  If only they'll open a branch in the Bay too...

If I keep repeating this, maybe I'll speak it into existence.  Fingers crossed!

Portillo's Hot Dogs

8390 La Palma Ave

Buena Park, CA 90620

(714) 220-6400

https://www.portillos.com/