Missed this thread the first time around, but I'm just stunned that a Polish with hot peppers could mean a Polish with giardiniera. I have never seen or even considered such a thing.

Binko wrote:Missed this thread the first time around, but I'm just stunned that a Polish with hot peppers could mean a Polish with giardiniera. I have never seen or even considered such a thing.

Thank. You.

I'm going on record: Hot dogs and Polish sausage get sport peppers. Italian beef and sausage and red sauce is always giardeniera. Bratwurst can be either. Ordering a wet beef hot or a hot dog everything hot should be unambiguous in this way.

I went to Portillo's in Niles tonight and ordered something like 'Polish sausage, Maxwell style with mustard and grilled onions and hot peppers." I got the usual outstanding Portillo's sandwich, superb grilled onions, properly steamed bun, well cooked Polish.

BrendanR wrote:I went to Portillo's in Niles tonight and ordered something like 'Polish sausage, Maxwell style with mustard and grilled onions and hot peppers." I got the usual outstanding Portillo's sandwich, superb grilled onions, properly steamed bun, well cooked Polish.

And no peppers (apparently).

scottsol wrote:And no peppers (apparently).

Whoops missed the punchline! ...& festooned with glorious (& correct) sport peppers.

Having simple tastes, I always insist that the peppers be merely placed on the sausage rather than being festooned.

scottsol wrote:Having simple tastes, I always insist that the peppers be merely placed on the sausage rather than being festooned.

Live a little!

scottsol wrote:Having simple tastes, I always insist that the peppers be merely placed on the sausage rather than being festooned.

I walk the middle ground and request that the peppers adorn my Polish. A little more festive then mere placement while avoiding the frippery of festooning.

Dave148 wrote:

Portillo’s plans to open a third Chicago restaurant this year on the city’s Northwest side as the purveyor of hot dogs, Italian beef sandwiches and chocolate cake shakes continues its expansion. The restaurant will be constructed at Addison and Kimball streets, on the border between Avondale and Irving Park, on the site of what is currently a taxi repair facility and office.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/business ... story.html

Well they better get moving if they plan to meet their end-of-year deadline. That cab fix-it place is still there, fully intact.

Went to the Portillo's in the south loop recently. Had a cheeseburger, big beef dipped, cheese fries.



Burger was pretty decent, not great but definitely not bad. The cheese was a bit weird, at first I thought they put merkt's on it but it turned out to be shredded cheddar that was largely unmelted. Still tasted fine though, the cheddar was very sharp. I believe Portillo's cooks their burgers on a sort of oven with a conveyer belt, like a mini pizza oven that places like Domino's uses, so that's why they weren't able to melt the cheese on the burger.



Beef of course was on point. It's what they do best, really.



Fries were fine. Crinkle cut and I'm sure comes from a bag. I'm not a fresh cut fry die-hard, if a fry is well-cooked, fresh and salted, I'm fine with it whether it comes frozen in a bag or are cut from potatoes in-house.

It's Lemon Cake season at Portillo's, so you can also get a secret menu Lemon Cake shake!

Drover wrote:

Dave148 wrote:

Portillo’s plans to open a third Chicago restaurant this year on the city’s Northwest side as the purveyor of hot dogs, Italian beef sandwiches and chocolate cake shakes continues its expansion. The restaurant will be constructed at Addison and Kimball streets, on the border between Avondale and Irving Park, on the site of what is currently a taxi repair facility and office.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/business ... story.html

Well they better get moving if they plan to meet their end-of-year deadline. That cab fix-it place is still there, fully intact.

Portillo’s still plans to open on Chicago’s Northwest Side, just a year behind schedule

https://www.chicagotribune.com/business ... story.html

Here's another non-paywalled version of the article: https://outline.com/EdXUVE

It sounds a little like what it took to finally open the Deerfield location. First location was abandoned for land issues by Portillo's, the second chosen was eventually rejected by the owners of Deerbrook Mall who were hoping to put a Sam's Club or Costco there (which ended up being The Dump - thrilling ). Third and final location ended up being the first choice after the land issue was resolved.

Dave148 wrote:

Drover wrote:

Dave148 wrote:

Portillo’s plans to open a third Chicago restaurant this year on the city’s Northwest side as the purveyor of hot dogs, Italian beef sandwiches and chocolate cake shakes continues its expansion. The restaurant will be constructed at Addison and Kimball streets, on the border between Avondale and Irving Park, on the site of what is currently a taxi repair facility and office.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/business ... story.html

Well they better get moving if they plan to meet their end-of-year deadline. That cab fix-it place is still there, fully intact.

Portillo’s still plans to open on Chicago’s Northwest Side, just a year behind schedule

https://www.chicagotribune.com/business ... story.html

Ram4 wrote:It sounds a little like what it took to finally open the Deerfield location. First location was abandoned for land issues by Portillo's, the second chosen was eventually rejected by the owners of Deerbrook Mall who were hoping to put a Sam's Club or Costco there (which ended up being The Dump - thrilling ). Third and final location ended up being the first choice after the land issue was resolved.

Mediocrity has a high constitution.

=R=

Drover wrote:

Dave148 wrote:

Portillo’s plans to open a third Chicago restaurant this year on the city’s Northwest side as the purveyor of hot dogs, Italian beef sandwiches and chocolate cake shakes continues its expansion. The restaurant will be constructed at Addison and Kimball streets, on the border between Avondale and Irving Park, on the site of what is currently a taxi repair facility and office.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/business ... story.html

Well they better get moving if they plan to meet their end-of-year deadline. That cab fix-it place is still there, fully intact.

Progress:

https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/2020/ ... all-avenue

Coming soon to Springfield = https://www.sj-r.com/news/20200528/port ... pringfield

It will be interesting to see how these buildouts go. The company has huge debt (something like $550 million for a company with 60ish stores) because the private equity guys that own it have been looting it, so not sure how long until they run out of $$$.

-Will

WillG wrote:It will be interesting to see how these buildouts go. The company has huge debt (something like $550 million for a company with 60ish stores) because the private equity guys that own it have been looting it, so not sure how long until they run out of $$$.

-Will

And I think I was told that Dick Portillo sold to these equity guys, but kept ownership of the real estate, so he's still going to get his.

jnm123 wrote:

WillG wrote:It will be interesting to see how these buildouts go. The company has huge debt (something like $550 million for a company with 60ish stores) because the private equity guys that own it have been looting it, so not sure how long until they run out of $$$.

-Will

And I think I was told that Dick Portillo sold to these equity guys, but kept ownership of the real estate, so he's still going to get his.

Not necessarily. If the tenant operators cannot or will not pay rent, or cease operations, or file for (some forms) bankruptcy, then no. He'll have vacant, specialized-use properties in what is likely to be a brutal real estate market.

Also, they've expanded the number of stores greatly since the sale. Do you know if DP has any piece of the post-sale real estate?

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:Do you know if DP has any piece of the post-sale real estate?

=R=

Several months after he sold the business he bought back the real estate and entered into a deal to purchase future sites as well. Gotta have a little passive income to supplement his Social Security checks.

Chicago-Based Portillo’s To Open 1st Michigan Location In Sterling Heights

https://wwjnewsradio.radio.com/articles ... ng-heights

They're finally making good progress on construction of their Kimball and Addison location.

Dave148 wrote:

Chicago-Based Portillo’s To Open 1st Michigan Location In Sterling Heights

https://wwjnewsradio.radio.com/articles ... ng-heights

Figures they go there now. Not when I was living in the area for 4 months in 2018.

As thrilled as I am to have a Portillo’s opening up within an hour of me, I question their choice of area to open. Opening on the west side of the state ( closer to Indiana/Illinois), or closer to Ann Arbor ( given the high number of Chicagoland students ) might have been a wiser choice, lest they suffer the same fate as the Detroit Giordanos.

moose734 wrote:As thrilled as I am to have a Portillo’s opening up within an hour of me, I question their choice of area to open. Opening on the west side of the state ( closer to Indiana/Illinois), or closer to Ann Arbor ( given the high number of Chicagoland students ) might have been a wiser choice, lest they suffer the same fate as the Detroit Giordanos.

I have to agree. Detroiters are fiercely loyal to their Coneys so outside of curiosity will they truly embrace Portillo's there? They do know where their fans are. Dick Portillo based his first out of state location on where they shipped the most food (Buena Park/Anaheim). I doubt I'll go to Portillo's in Michigan even if I am in Detroit every 2-3 months for years to come because I want the food I can only get over there, not what I can get here.

Ram4 wrote:

moose734 wrote:As thrilled as I am to have a Portillo’s opening up within an hour of me, I question their choice of area to open. Opening on the west side of the state ( closer to Indiana/Illinois), or closer to Ann Arbor ( given the high number of Chicagoland students ) might have been a wiser choice, lest they suffer the same fate as the Detroit Giordanos.

I have to agree. Detroiters are fiercely loyal to their Coneys so outside of curiosity will they truly embrace Portillo's there? They do know where their fans are. Dick Portillo based his first out of state location on where they shipped the most food (Buena Park/Anaheim). I doubt I'll go to Portillo's in Michigan even if I am in Detroit every 2-3 months for years to come because I want the food I can only get over there, not what I can get here.

Portillo's will do well in Michigan. Their drive thru service is best of any fast food chain, plus they have more to offer than hot dogs and at reasonable prices. Since the virus, drive thru restaurants have become the norm and has kept Portillo's busy. Near by Shake Shack and Hippo's already offer Vienna Beef hot dogs to the Detroit area. Both have their own Chicago following. FYI, Vienna Beef sells lots of corned beef in the Detroit area.

CSD

There was a real authentic looking Chicago fast food joint in Trenton, MI about 5 minutes from where I was living. They had natural casing Viennas, fresh cut fries, beef sandwiches - I was ready to run over. Then I noticed it said "permanently closed." I did a search for Vienna and there were a few joints in the far northern suburbs and that was it. I agree with your point Mark, they have a great operation and they have a bigger menu with many options.

Drover wrote:They're finally making good progress on construction of their Kimball and Addison location.

Opening November 2nd - https://abc7chicago.com/6838374/?ex_cid ... ce=twitter

Heads-up that Minnesota relatives I trust reported today that Portillo's employees indicated tamales have been permanently discontinued in (at least) the North Star State. YMMV, hoping this is not heading in the direction of Popeyes dirty rice and KFC potato wedges.

Santander wrote:Heads-up that Minnesota relatives I trust reported today that Portillo's employees indicated tamales have been permanently discontinued in (at least) the North Star State. YMMV, hoping this is not heading in the direction of Popeyes dirty rice and KFC potato wedges.

We're probably safe in Chicago. It was probably just distribution thing since those tamales are only made in Chicago.