“Where can we get a good Chicago dog?” is what we often asked Chicagoans during our recent trip to Chicago. The response by most: Portillo’s Hot Dogs. And if someone asked us the same question, we’d give the same answer.
Rewind, what’s a Chicago dog?
A Chicago-style hot dog is a steamed or water-simmered all-beef frankfurter nestled in a steamed poppy seed bun, topped with yellow mustard, chopped white onions, bright green sweet pickle relish, a dill pickle spear, tomato slices, and sport peppers. Oh, and there’s no ketchup. Which is fine. You don’t even need any ketchup with these snappy dogs.
The Char-grilled Maxwell Street Style Polish is another item worth trying out. The sausage is grilled in the traditional way it was done on historic Maxwell Street and prepared with mustard and grilled onions. A little greasy, but worth a try, especially if you’re here for the first time. It is, after all, another Chicago ‘dish’ to try.
Portillo’s also sells Chicago Italian Beef sandwiches, which we love. When in doubt, try the Combo & Char-grilled sausage, a sandwich made with a perfectly grilled Italian sausage topped with Chicago Italian Beef served on perfectly baked French bread dipped in au jus.
There are three ways to get an Italian Beef sandwich:
- Dry: Very little gravy
- Extra Gravy: A splash a bit of gravy on the sandwich
- Dipped: The sandwich is dipped in the gravy
We got ours with extra gravy – not too moist to have the sandwich break in consumption mode, but just right to marry all the flavors of the beef into the bread. So delicious.
And to wash down all the sandwiches, grab a fountain soda, beer on draught, or indulge in a shake or malt. Who’s counting calories? =X
Portillo’s Hot Dogs
100 W Ontario St
Chicago, IL 60610
Tel: (312) 587-8910
portillos.com
