#8 Villa Park Portillo's

Last Friday night was the first Portillo’s we hit at night and it was a special one at that.  The Portillo’s on North Avenue in Villa Park is either at, or near, the location of “The Dog House.” Back in 1963, coincidentally the year I was born, Dick Portillo opened his first hot dog stand.  With nearly 47 years of practice it’s no wonder Portillo’s has the best hot dogs.  For those of us who eat out often, we pride ourselves in finding the best location for each type of cuisine.  What’s really depressing to me is that whenever I find these places they seem to go out of business.  I don’t think Portillo’s has anything to fear, but it really is impressive when someone has not only the entrepreneurial drive, but comes up with the right combination of food, location, etc., to make it work.  I often watch the food network, foolishly right before bedtime, and what strikes me about the locations that Guy Fieri of “Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives” visits is that none of them are located anywhere close to me!  Just kidding, the point I wanted to make is that at the heart of any successful restaurant is great food.

All of that was a buildup to something you can only get at Portillo’s during Lent; the famous pepper and egg sandwich.  It just dawned on me that it should really be called the ‘egg and pepper’ sandwich, since it’s mostly eggs.  Even for those of us who can enjoy all the extra meat we can handle on Fridays, we do appreciate the non-meat options.  Joy and I both agreed that last Friday’s was exceptionally good.  Joy commented that it was, “fresh and fluffy”.  It’s something we both look forward to annually.  Even though we live close to this location, this was the first time we’ve been inside.  Joy liked the cow patterned tables and the fact that it wasn’t crowded.  She also made a great suggestion, to which I agreed, because I always agree with her – ha, that Portillo’s should work on a good chocolate chip cookie.  It’s something to consider … oh, and if Portillo’s needs some taste testers, we’re available.

Jeff
Pepper & Egg (added hot peppers and salt, superb)
Joy
Pepper & Egg (fresh and fluffy)
Josh
Cheese Burger
Onion Rings (he shared)

#7 Naperville (Route 59) Portillo's

As far as I’m concerned there is nothing pleasant about shopping.  That goes for everything, with the possible exception of electronics and tools.  Even for those items, I prefer to shop on-line.  What a hassle it is going to B&M stores (for those of you unfamiliar with on-line shopping terminology that’s a physical ‘brick and mortar’ store).  Last Monday was a day off (it sure is nice to work for a bank) and I had planned on spending some time remembering and reflecting on our former presidents.  However, the day was nearly, but not completely, blown by furniture shopping.  For some reason, Joy wants to buy a new chair for the living room.  She mumbled something about the color of the old chair not being compatible with the new couch, or walls, or carpet, or dog, or something, and the next thing Josh and I knew we were being carted in and out of furniture stores.  Seriously, we hit at least 5 stores in three hours and for some odd reason every store seemed to be filled with … sleeping gas. I kept getting more and more tired.  Thank goodness furniture stores are filled with … lots of furniture to sit on.  This is monumentally better than clothing stores, where the only place to sit is in the fitting room.  Furniture stores also have lots of very eager salespeople who like to wait by the door and pounce on you like praying mantises.  It can be entertaining, and annoying, at the same time.  One tip I can give you is this, the moment you walk in the door tell the first mantis that you are already working with someone.  That throws them off, at least for a few minutes.  At one store I asked one of the salespeople if she knew how many ceiling tiles there were in the building.  I was surprised that she didn't know.

The day wasn’t a total bust. I got to spend the day with the family and Joy agreed, or maybe even suggested, that we stop at Portillo’s.  So, we decided to stop at the one in Naperville on Route 59, near the Fox Valley Shopping Mall and it's coincidentally in the ‘Land of Furniture Outlets.’  I’m trying to put this politely, so here goes, this Portillo’s does not have the greatest exterior.  You’ll see in the photo that the color of the building is pink, or Pepto-Bismol color.  However, to be fair, this is one of those clichéd "don’t judge a book by its cover" situations.  Whoever was the interior decorator did a great job.  This location so far has one of the best interiors we’ve seen.  The inside is decorated in a gold-rush / ‘49ers / Old West style complete with a faux mine shaft and jail, which we sat in for lunch.  If you get a chance, don’t just drive through, make a trip inside.

Jeff
Halibut Fish Sandwich (hot, crunchy, good)
Joy
Broiled Chicken (going healthy)
Josh
Combo (going unhealthy)
Fries

#6 Willowbrook Portillo's

Yesterday was perhaps one of the best and worst days of the year. Why? Yesterday was Superbowl Sunday! So … it was the most important game of the season and, unfortunately, the last. Boo!! That’s about it for sports, as far as I’m concerned. I don’t really watch, or track, any other sport. It’s not that I don’t enjoy playing them, or seeing them in person, I just don’t watch any other sports on TV. It seems to me that other sports go on forever, like baseball, right - Jim? The Cubs lost 78 of their 161 games last year. At 3 hours per game I figure I saved a minimum of 234 hours. At least with football every game counts.

Yesterday we went to the Portillo’s in Willowbrook. We hadn’t really planned on going to Portillo’s this weekend but our Sunday plans changed. We were slated for a birthday party at our friend’s house, but illness thwarted (look it up Dodie) our plans. Happy birthday Grace!! See you in a couple of weeks. Hope you feel better Beth!!

I know I’m all over the place with this post, but I wanted to let everyone know that I finally let Portillo’s know my plans to visit all the restaurants this year. I received this nice response from them, “Thank you for your email and for sharing your blog with us. I will be sure to pass it along to Mr. Portillo so he may enjoy it as well. We appreciate your business and look forward to serving you again soon!” That was nice. I’ll probably send them an update after I hit another 5, or so, restaurants. I also heard on the news the other day that Portillo’s is planning on opening a breakfast restaurant.

Jeff
Asian Chicken Won Ton Salad (needs work.  not happy about the breaded chicken)
Joy
Chopped Salad (normally comes with a muffin, but got bread.  liked the bread)
Josh
Chili Cheese Dog (not sold on it, but had another Strawberry Malt - weird)
Fries
Jeff / Joy
Caramel Pecan Pie (nice rich cake - very sweet)