#5 Glendale Heights Portillo's

“Five different Portillo’s in one month,” I said on the way to lunch Saturday. At the Portillo’s in Glendale Heights, Josh asked if I thought I would get tired of going to Portillo’s. I told him I didn’t think so. So far I haven’t eaten the same thing twice, and that’s how the journey is going to play out, at least in my mind. This Portillo’s has some personal memories for us. Years ago this is the one where my sister, her kids, my mother, and my step-father would meet us for lunch. When my sister would come up for Christmas, she would stay with our mom in Bartlett. Since we’re in Elmhurst, and our brother Carl lives in Oak Park, it made sense to meet at this one. This location is large enough that a group of 20 can easily sit together.

If I look a little peeked, or as Joy used to say “punk,” in the pictures below it’s because I was forced into having an emergency root canal on Friday. For those of you that haven’t had one, it sounds a lot more painful than it is. The fact that the dentist removes the nerves from your tooth actually eliminates the pain. There’s only a minute or so where ripping your hair out with your bare hands would hurt less, then it’s over. My tooth still feels a little sensitive, but it’s a lot better than the toothache that made me want to drive the car into a bridge abutment on the way to the dentist office. Well, they used to say, “no pain, no gain.” Interesting, I gained - less pain. It turns out that neither Josh nor I felt very good Saturday, that was until we ate at Portillo’s, then we felt much better!

Jeff
Chicken Club (not as good a Chick-fil-A, but hot and crunchy … with bacon no less!)
Joy
Cheeseburger (“Really good, better than last time.”)
Josh
Cheeseburger (“If you took the double cheeseburger and stuffed the chicken club in the middle, that would be awesome.”)
Fries
All
Chocolate Éclair Cake (May be a Barnelli’s exclusive. If you love chocolate and they have it, order it!)

#04 Skokie Portillo's

I’m going to start this post with a big "thank you" to my wife (Joy) for the Garmin GPS she bought me for my last birthday; without it I would surely have gotten lost Friday on my way to Skokie. I cannot for the life of me fathom why the Chicago city planner, or whomever it was, decided that no one would ever want to go east on the Kennedy Expressway and then decide to go north, though it’s labeled ‘West’, on the Edens Expressway.  The same buffoon(s) apparently never thought anyone would go back the other way. It’s totally ludicrous, and time consuming, to be forced onto surface streets to navigate your way from one highway to the other! Someone should call Daley and complain.

Despite the detours, I was able to make it to Skokie in 20 minutes to pick up two of my best friends, Dodie (dough-dee) and Kathy (kath-ee). Perhaps I don’t need to help with the pronunciation of Kathy’s name... In any case, back to the story. Friday (fry-day) we went to the Skokie Portillo’s. It sits just south of the Old Orchard Shopping Center, though my friends didn’t know that, even they work on the north side of the mall. Seriously, they’ve been working there for almost a month and they don’t know all the restaurants in the area! Can you believe that? I can’t, but I digress. What’s interesting about this Portillo’s is that I am unable to show you pictures of the inside. It’s not that I don’t have them, but apparently someone in the restaurant is in the witness protection program and requested, "no photos."  However, I can show you photos of my friends. Dodie is sitting behind me supporting her tiny head with her fist. It's not that her head is that small, it's just that my head is so much larger.  Kathy is the extremely slow eater pictured with the half eaten salad.  Joy, she may be slower than you, if that’s possible.

Jeff:
Chopped Salad (dressing on the side - great)
Dodie:
Chicken Caesar Salad
Kathy:
Chopped Salad (no tomato - should have requested no red cabbage too)

#03 Forest Park Portillo's

"For much of its history, Forest Park was known as a 'city of cemeteries,' with more dead 'residents' than living ones; some figures estimate the ratio at 30:1, dead to alive."* In fact, that was the nature of our visit today.  We were down to visit the grave-sites of Joy's parents and grandparents.  It's hard to believe that her parents have been gone since 1996 (Al) and 1997 (Lorraine).  We miss them a great deal!  So it is with fitting tribute (Joy's mom was a great cook, and Joy's dad a great eater) that I dedicate this Portillo's visit to them.  However, before I start, I will tell one of Al's favorite jokes.  When asked why he ate so fast he would always reply with either, "you should have seen how fast I ate before I got ulcers," or, "I'd hate to lose my appetite half way through the meal!"

The Forest Park Portillo's sits on the corner of Roosevelt and DesPlaines.  Interestingly enough it sits directly across from the street from, you guessed it, a cemetery.  And if you have any doubts, check out the map, even though for some odd reason it's labeled 'Quiznos' - not the cemetery, the Portillo's.  Joy liked the design of this location, even though it's one of the smallest.  It looks like a 50's diner.  Josh had no comment, other than he tried a strawberry malt for the first time and enjoyed it, though he was covered with goosebumps or goose-pimples if you prefer.  There's one other thing about Forest Park you should know; it's the home of Ferrara Pan candy company - lemonheads, atomic fireballs, red hots, etc.  Not everyone knows this, but there is an outlet store on Harrison St. near Harlem Ave.  Here's a shout out to my friend Carla who works at FP!

Jeff:
Beef-N-Cheddar Croissant (yum - almost too good)
Joy:
Italian Beef (she said she needed some protein)
Josh:
Char-Broiled Chicken Croissant (tried to eat healthy but ...)
Fries
Strawberry Malt (interesting)














*Thanks Wikipedia

#02 Niles Portillos

The Niles Portillo's is directly across the street from Lutheran General Hospital.  This could be very convenient - assuming that you haven't been mortally wounded, you're hungry, and you can get your ambulance driver to drive through.

I brought two buddies from work along with me today.  Jim is the guy hiding behind the giant cup (picture below).  Tom is the guy with the glasses.  It turns out that Jim used to work for a bank that had a branch right next door, so he's very familiar with this location.  The branch is still there, but the name has changed.  As far as observations go, Jim said he was impressed with his Garbage Salad.  This is the first time he noticed that they actually used a cheese grater to put fresh parmesan on the salad.  However, he was disappointed that he was given bread instead of the lemon poppy seed muffin.  I haven't met a person yet who doesn't like that muffin.  Tom, well, he'll eat just about anything that doesn't have cheese on it.  He mentioned that the fries were a bit salty, but then again he doesn't use salt!  I emphasized that because both Jim and I agreed that an unsalted fry is like a day without sunshine.

Jeff:
Broiled Chicken (no mayo - trying to save a few calories - superb)

Jim:
Garbage Salad (one of his favorites)

Tom:
Burger w/Bacon (seriously - cheating - bacon makes everything great)
Fries (too salty - yeah, if you don't eat salt!)

#01 Naperville Portillo's (Ogden)

Here we go with the first of 32 Portillo's to visit in 2010 and we weren't disappointed.  We visited the Portillo's on Ogden in Naperville.  We had driven through this location once, but this was our first peek inside.  

What's interesting about this location is that it's much larger inside than it appears to be from the outside.  It doesn't have the vaulted ceilings found in larger locations, but Joy remarked at how comfortable it was.  Josh said the toilet had fantastic suction.  It was one of the most powerful he's ever seen!

Jeff:
Chicken Pecan Salad (one of my favorites)
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffin (awesome)

Joy:
Chopped Salad (tomatoes were super fresh)
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffin

Josh:
Italian Beef (sweet peppers)
Fries

Shared:
New York Cheesecake (Joy - great crust)
Snickers Cheesecake (Jeff - too chocolaty)

 

Welcome

Every New Years starts out with a resolution.  As my neighbor Kraig says, "It's generally some thing like, 'I'm going to lose weight, exercise more, stop smoking, bla bla bla.'"  How many people actually accomplish these goals?  Nobody ... well, I'm sure that someone has, but I've never met them.  For me, I set a more realistic goal.  I plan on eating at every Portillo's in the Chicagoland area.  As of 1/1/2010, there were 31 in Illinois, and one in Indiana*.  In addition, I plan on trying everything on the menu.


Why would I pick such a goal?  There are a number of reasons.  First, the food is great.  As far as I'm concerned, Portillo's has the best hot dog in Chicago.  I'm not putting down the other 20k vendors, but Portillo's is consistently good and easy to find.  Second, my family loves Portillo's.  When they make their annual Christmas pilgrimage (from Kansas), that's the first place they go.  Their favorite is the Italian Beef, which can only be found here in Chicago.  Finally, this goal is S.M.A.R.T. - it's Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely.  It can be done.

With all that said, I'm going to start posting my / our voyage (as I bring along the family).  Follow me as I hit the road.   



 

*I know.  There are also two in California.