+1 for Portillo’s. I heard they were going to take it national but I’d be willing to bet things will change and quality will suffer. Don’t know if you have any experience with Pompei, but after my friend’s family started franchising it out, it went to shit. Stay away from Firehouse, we have it here in Colorado and I think it’s terrible. I do get a kick out of going there though because they yell “welcome to firehouse” every time somebody walks in and they seem to hire more butch lesbians than any other business.
Grew up with one of the Portillo granddaughters. Girl was fucking nuts. Definitely can see the rest of the family falling in line.
Damn good food though. Beef + 2 dogs and a rootbeer is a great hangover cure.
Only just recently discovered Earl’s - the burger was my first meal there. I’ll remember that cajun chicken thing for next time. Didn’t realise it was Canadian, I’d assumed it was 'murican.
Regarding a “sleeve”, the Aussie equivalent would be a schooner (about 3/4 an imperial pink, so about 15 imp oz). Good to know it’s cheaper per ml!
But god damn Portillo’s looks good - might be worth the 8+ hr drive to IL to geddit. Shame there’s none in MI.
You can get Portillos shipped to your front door. Tastes the same. They send the beef in vacuum sealed packets. Throw it in a crockpot, get some Turano French bread, and you have the exact same thing.
Best hot dogs in Chicago are Gene & Judes. They blow Portillos dogs out of the water in my opinion. http://www.geneandjudes.com/
Portillo’s is really good - I’m there once every couple of weeks. I’d rather have a Portillo’s burger than any of the mentioned chains that I’ve tried. I, too hope the sale doesn’t change the food, but it’s hard to believe that it won’t…
Haven’t had “The Habit”, but have heard it’s great.
Hadn’t had In&Out for years until last week - pretty good, but I still prefer Portillo’s. (We were in SoCal for my daughter’s UCSB Freshman and Parents’ orientation visit)
Also really like Jimmy John’s and Chipotle, though Chipotle’s calorie counts are off the charts, so I don’t hit it too often… (yes, I know that Portillo’s is no champ in that regard either, but still…)
Had a fire house sub the other day. Opted for the smoked brisket. It was fantastic.
The drink they give you with the combo is literally big enough to use as a reservoir for a small farm.
^my go to is the hero sub on wheat with some of their firehouse sauce. Once you try it, you’ll have a hard time ever ordering anything else.
I’ll give it a try next time I’m in Niagara Falls
The smoked brisket was great. Ever try that?
When I’m down in Texas I try to hit up Whataburger, good stuff.
Around here I’ve had hit and miss luck with Union burger…some times great, some times just average. Recently I’ve tried “Real Burger” and it was damn good.
Yes I have and it was good but didn’t blow my mind. It was a good sweet/heat combo though iirc. But down here where I live you can get a lot of really good BBQ all around, so my judgement on brisket is a bit skewed.
good point. proper BBQ basically doesn’t exist up here
Except in my backyard. I have a smoker and am a bit addicted to it…
^You’ve got a big green egg don’t you? I thought I recalled you saying that somewhere before? They can do some mean cooking if you know how to use it.
My father-inlaw has one, but he just uses it to char the shit out of the meat b/c he’s a germaphobe and he only trusts “well done” meat. I sneak over and try to pull my steak off when it’s at medium-rare, and he’s thinking it hasn’t even been on the grill yet lol. We’ve got a charcoal webber I love to use. We’ll do anything and everything on it, I think we’re actually doing hawaiian pizza tomorrow night on it. I would like to have a cold smoker one day though to play around with. Nothing is better than slow roasted ribs.
hahaha is your father in law a depression era person? or is his family from Eastern Europe?
I don’t have a green egg. I have a big gas grill and for smoking I have a Weber Smokey Mountain 18.5"
X100 for portillo’s. Love that place. Was home 4th July week(end). Had a Chicago dog, combo cheesy beef/sausage combo and fries. So good but so bad. I’d be huge if I moved back home :D. They do already have locations outside chicagoland. One in Riverside, CA just south of the 60 off of 215. Its good as any Chicago local. Like much in life not all are created equal. The one out by my folks sucks (better local dog/Italian beef options anyway). The one on Golf Rd in Schaumburg is great!
S. Rosens poppy seed buns are a must for a good Chicago dog IMO.
The habit is good. A lot like in n out as far as quality and taste IMO. I got burnt out when I moved to CA