A hot dog without ketchup? Blasphemy. I didn't think I'd be able to handle it. When Kevin first told me about it, I thought he was lying. Do I have to carry around my own little bottle of ketchup in my bag to put on my hot dog? What was a Jersey girl to do?
With all of the great things I've heard about Portillo's I figure they have to be doing something right and decided to give it a chance. They had a concentrated menu of items primarily highlighting their hot dogs, Italian beef, some sandwiches and salad. Quite honestly, I didn't think I'd see that much salad on their menu but people do rave about them on Yelp.I came here to try one thing: the hot dog. Decided to go with their classic Portillo's Hot Dog with the beef dog with mustard, relish, freshly topped onions, sliced red tomatoes, Kosher Dill pickle, sport peppers perfectly enclosed in a lightly steamed poppy bun. There was an entire party going on on top of that hot. When I took my first bite into it, the party continued in my mouth. Just for experimentation purposes, of course I dipped it into some ketchup; I just had to try it. Honestly, no need for the ketchup. The items on top of the hot dog kept it light and fresh and the poppy bun was so good compared to the normal potato bun. As a lover of fried, some did accompany the hot dog (#teamcrinklecut).
Kevin was brave enough to get the Beef n Cheddar croissant which was their twist on the infamous Italian beef. It was an Italian beef with cheddar cheese inside a fresh, toasted croissant. When he wasn't looking, I stole a pepper or two. He'll never know.. I cannot wait for my next visit to Portillo's. I've already arranged with Kevin how we're going to tackle their entire, delicious menu. Will it compare to Johnny's Italian Beef? There's only one way to find out!
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