Portillo's
 

Had dinner at Portillo's in Middleton today. Great vibe as us oldies shared space with families including young kids and 1 baby. The splash pad was being used. Enjoyable time.

Hope you didn't splash anyone too badly ;-)

The chocolate cake is wonderful!

Is it a sit down and be served restaurant or fast food?

You walk up to the window and order, pay, and then you to another window to pick up your order. At least that’s the way it was back in Arizona and my husband loves it.

Look at the menu, it’s fast food at best.

Is that bad if that’s their menu? So you know what you are getting…..

Who said it was bad? Just answered the question, is that a bad thing?

We ate lunch there today on the last day of their soft opening. The grand opening is today (Tues the 12th). It’s okay, but I’ve had better fast food. The interior is half the size of the one in Clermont, but there’s a large outdoor covered patio with splash pad view. The bathrooms are one person only, which was very inconvenient but not a deal breaker. The theming, 50s music, and location IMO are the best features about the place.

We went to the Eastport Welcome/Sales Center after lunch and wow, it’s beautiful! There’s a coffee bar inside too with snacks, pastries, prepackaged sandwiches, etc. You can walk out the back doors to view the lake, plus all outdoor amenities for the Olympia rec center are now open.

Portillo’s
 

It’s basically a fast food restaurant. The menu is on the wall, you walk up, place your order and pay for it. Then you move to another area where you pick up your order after it has been prepared and find a seat.

IMO, they have a better selection from hot dogs, burgers, beef sandwiches to salads and dessert. Everyone has a different palate so some will love it and some will not. Enjoy! 😊

Their chopped salad is great! People not from Chicago don't know Italian Beef, so it's some will like it others won't. Oh and hot dogs great. I'm from Chi town.

Actually, it’s fast food at its best!

We went there last week for the soft opening. The chopped salad (with chicken) was excellent. The onion rings superb. The staff was friendly and the atmosphere was great. Will definitely be going back.

The cake is good. I don't even like chocolate. The secret ingredient is mayo.

Cross a salad off the menu. Would not even consider that. I prefer the Chicago Beef sandwich served dry. I went to the soft opening and will stopping back once a month.

To each his own, but the proper way to consume an Italian Beef sandwich is dipped (soaked) in au jus. Next you'll be suggesting to put ketchup on a hot dog? :MOJE_whot:

I went to Portillos last night and really enjoyed the food. It is fast food, but that is okay, I am always in a hurry and I like that. I also liked that you can order in the kiosks. Very efficient.

I ordered a hot dog with everything, a beef sandwich, and a spicy chopped salad in order to sample the menu (but did not eat is all by any means). The hot dog was great with jalapenos, tomatoes and a big pickle on it. One hot dog was all I really needed for dinner. The salad was also very good it had a definite kick, with some peppers in it. Lots of stuff besides lettuce, that I couldn't really identify but it was good. I had it for lunch today. My daughter ate the beef sandwich. It comes with au jus for dipping. My order said "med wet" on it, so I think you can order the beef "wet" or "dry". She liked it.

I know nothing of Chicago cuisine, but if this is the fast food version of it, I like it.

Yup, invented at Phillipe's in Los Angeles. About Us - Philippe The Original

Those aren't jalapenos, they're "sport peppers".

Fact check: True

there is a video of it.
 

Mustard on hot dogs yes!. You must be from Chicago. They have weird hot dogs there. We do not like the taste of their au jus. We had the au jus on the side and dipped the sandwich to taste. The au jus was just nasty. It's probably just grease from the meat (yummy). The sandwich meat is moist enough to eat.

Well I'll cross Portillo's off my list. I would've gone to check out their hotdogs. But I'm not paying $10 for a boiled/steamed hotdog. I'll stick with my $9 dogs at Johnny Rocket's, with chili and cheese, split and grilled like hotdogs are supposed to be.

The hot dog with everything at Portillos costs $3.89.

You can also get chili dogs with cheese, but they are not grilled.

If you want grilled you can get that too, but those are polish sausages, or they also have Italian sausage.

I wouldn't drive 30 minutes to get fast food, but for those of us who live close to the place its great.

It is fast food, nothing special. I never heard of Portillos until now, so off I went to find out for myself.
Verdict: Waste of time for a variety of reasons.