Prior to Portillo's coming to Milwaukee I had only had it once or twice as a treat when visiting the Chicago area. Naturally I was excited to have them locally.The food is surprisingly varied, and pretty consistently good quality. Where Portillo's always suffered was service. Lines and wait times were long, and it was basically a given that there would be at least one issue or missed item in every order. The food was good enough to justify going anyway, but it was always very confusing because they had plenty of staff.Happily, these issues have really been addressed in the past year or two. The last several times I have been to Portillo's the service has been quicker and orders have been accurate. I don't think my experience is unique as I no longer see people going back to fix their orders when dining in either.So with that in mind, Portillo's is easy to recommend if you're looking for Chicago-style hot dogs or Italian beef. And don't sleep on their other options: the salads are great too!
Great hot dogs, great fries, and great shakes. 2nd best in Milwaukee. I'm a Sammy's guy myself and have been going there since I was 5 with my Dad.But sometimes I can't make it to Sammy's, or they're closed....and Portillo's is a nearly suitable substitute. Plus its almost across the street from where great grandma lives and she's a huge fan of the chicken sandwiches so we go pretty often. The chocolate cake shakes are awesome.
I love portillo's food and I love some of their restaurants. Others are just horrible at customer service. This particular one is usually pretty good until my experience picking up an order made on the app. The food was ready on time and it was fresh. Per usual. The drink was not there so I had to ask and when she returned with the drink she went on her way to point out the label on it that said large Coke. When I got about a mile down the road I realize it was definitely a diet Coke. I had an over an hour drive home so I decided to turn around and get the right drink. When I went to the counter, the young lady was extremely courteous and helpful, but I noticed that when she tried to fill up a new Coke the dispenser was out of the beverage. It was quite obvious from the look on her face that she knew what had happened and why I got the wrong drink. Just like I knew the other person was just too lazy to deal with it. She looked to the ground and said I'll be right back and went to a different drink dispenser and another part of the kitchen and returned with my coke. Clearly this was intentionally done out of laziness by the first person filling my order. I always go back and fix ratings and erase reviews like this if my next few visits are good. So I hope that's the case.
I went on a whim. After visiting "Floor and Decor" (I didn't find what I was looking for), I asked Google to "navigate hot dog". I got a hot dog, because that's the trademark item at Portillo's, as well as a hamburger. I looked around, and everybody seemed to have been there and eager to eat the food they ordered. My number was 340. The numbers, as stated on signs, were not called in exact order. I got my meal and the hot dog. I tried the hotdog first to ensure I had the appetite to properly rate it. It was LOADED. And everything was perfectly proportioned. I was hoping the meat would be the flavor of this salty-sweet super flavorful hot dog I got at a New York stand, but the meat was the same old American hot dog; kind of bland on its own, but the toppings were absolute fire! The hamburger was basic. Akin to burger king's whopper, but way better. I spent about $12 on these two items plus a small coca-cola (which is more like a medium, in actuality). Overall this is a great place, with great vibes. I highly recommend going here.
Our first experience here. Very groovy place to eat and listen to the old time music! Great vibe and decor! Looks like Mike and Frank of American Pickers designed the place. Old oil cans on the shelves, gas station pump globes, old signs of the 50's and 60's adorn the wall as well. Not to mention a lot of neon signs!As neat as the decor was, the floors and tables could definitely of been tended to better. My family and I had to choose the third booth we looked at because of table tops and seats being dirty from previous customers. Also saw fellow customers after me doing the same thing.Now on to the food. Both the wife and myself ordered the Chicago style dog, my son had the bacon burger and my daughter had the Caesar salad. The dogs were good, smokey hint to them, the vegetables were all good as well. My son approved the bacon burger with two thumbs up and my daughter said the Caesar salad was nothing special but nonetheless good. We also ordered onion rings and crinkle cut cheese fries, vanilla and chocolate shakes. All the extras were very good especially the onion rings which were either in the fryer too long or that is how they are, very crispy, which is how I prefer them. The chocolate shake was very thick and excellent.We will definitely be back!
Horrible experience twice in a row now, at the Brookfield WI location. I am super disappointed. The order taker just stared at us without speaking. We had to repeat ourselves to ensure she heard us and all she did was nod. I was charged twice to substitute my cheese in my salad, and every table in the restaurant was dirty. We came when only a few tables were occupied so this is obviously inexcusable. Too bad because we always enjoyed the food.
Portillos is always a great spot. Great for families. And really good food, with lots of variety. Very close to hotels and it does have a drive through. I ate in. Always fun to people watch.
I have been told how good this place is by a friend . So finally was near one and gave it a try. I ordered the big beef and fries. Also a chili cheese hot dog. If you are gonna try it out you gotta try it out. Walking in you stand in line to place your order and then go wait for your number to be called. Cool setup for that. Got our food and sat down. First off was the chili cheese hot dog and it was amazing. The Vienna beef hot dog was great and then you have chili to go with. It was perfect. The fries are good to and make sure you get cheese sauce. The big beef I got plain and dipped. I added cheese sauce to it. Not a pepper person. The bread eventually turned to mush. The beef was really good but needed some more flavor. If I had been at home and gotten it to go I would’ve added more flavor in seasonings. All around it was pretty darn good. I am all for second chances and would do the big beef again. I could eat those chili dogs all day long.
Absolutely disgusting customer service. Called ahead of time to find out times of operation on Easter and showed up and the place closed at 5pm after being told 10pm. We had a party of 12 individuals. Please train your staff to not only understand your hours of operations but a bit of customer service as well. We encountered this short plumpy girl in an orange hat and both nostrils pierced with a really crappy attitude. Very snippy for no reason after being completely caught off guard that your facility was closed. Please note: on Easter, open till 5pm, not 10pm for whoever who reads this.
Ordered two sandwiches in the drive thru at 8:45 pm. Rounding the corner after we ordered, we noticed we were the third car. After 20 minutes at a stand still, we finally slid forward and no one was at the pay window, so we moved to the next window. We saw at least 5 employees standing around doing literally nothing, none of which came to the window to collect our money nor deliver food. We ended up leaving after two of the cars behind us left. Worst service I have EVER encountered and unfortunately it was my first and last trip to Portillo’s.