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| - As the Chicago area hot dog critic one thing I've noticed is that when traveling to other metropolitan areas hot dogs aren't nearly as popular other places as they are in Chicagoland. I did a search for hot dog stands near where I'm staying during my trip to the Phoenix Arizona area and found a place called "Ted's Hot Dogs" and the next closest place was immediately familiar. It was Portillo's, a very popular and abundant chain started in suburban Chicago that has apparently made its way to Arizona.
I finally had a chance to stop by and the first thing that I noticed is that it's every bit as busy as the Chicagoland locations. The parking lot was completely packed and there was very little available seating inside. There were also tables outside, but people had birds coming up to their tables,sometimes managing to get away with a french fry before fluttering off.
Now, I've been to the Chicago area Portillo's many times and have reviewed a few locations. As a child I met Dick Portillo on a number of occasions and used to be a very big fan of Portillo's as a chain. Over the years, the quality control at Portillo's has diminished. The same quality ingredients are being used, but it seems like the training on how to properly assemble hot dogs, burgers, and everything else has suffered. Or management has simply stopped paying as vigorous attention to quality control. With a location over a thousand miles from Chicagoland I wondered if the menu would be different, if the way things were made would be different, and if being so far away the same degradation in food preparation that has infected the Chicagoland locations was present here.
Upon walking in and looking around it sure looked and felt like a Portillo's. I didn't thoroughly inspect the menu as my order was taken while in line by a lady who wrote it down on the back of a bag, it appeared to be the same as the Chicago locations. I placed my order, and then got into the pick-up line to wait for my food. One trend I've noticed at the Chicago locations is repeated rhymes based on your order number. So they would call out things like "Number two, your order is due", "Number three come see me". I noticed with certain numbers they were doing the rhyming as well (this must be something they train on), but it wasn't the constant irritation of hearing it at the Chicagoland locatons to the point where you're trapped in a Dr. Seuss book.
Finally my food was ready and I struggled to find an open seat without subjecting myself to eating outside where birds interrupting my meal was nearly a certainty. I finally sat down took my food out and snapped a picture. This was a regular Portillo's hot dog. The problem is we had the same inconsistent preparation we see at the Chicago area locations.
For any of those reading this review that are unfamiliar with what a Chicago style hot dog should be, I'll go over the basics. A Chicago style hot dog has a few different variations. The version served by Portillo's is the most traditional style which is an all-beef natural casing sausage. The natural casing is skin that when properly heated will give the frankfurter a nice bit of resistance and a snap when you bite into it. The classic Chicago style hot dog comes on a poppy seed bun which has been steamed to become soft and easy to bite into. It has a pickle spear or slice, tomato slice, sport peppers, bright green relish mustard, onion and celery salt on it. Ketchup is considered to be the worst possible addition to a Chicago-style hot dog as the sweetness overpowers the flavor of the other ingredients.
So how did the Portillo's of Tempe hot dog fare? The sausage itself was fine, but the relish application was a bit excessive. This added to the biggest problem, the bun was steamed too much along with being causing it to become a tad soggy. As a result the back half of the hot dog dissolved as I picked it up forcing me to struggle to finish the rest without getting my hands wet and sticky. The taste of the hot dog was roughly on par with other Portillo's, the big problem being a bit too thick of a pickle spear.
I also got fries with cheese sauce. These fries were a litle over cooked, I'd say they were crispy but a few were so crisp there was no potato paste to be extracted from the inside.
My overall impression is that this isn't any worse than the Chicago area Portillo's on any given day. But Portillo's food quality isn't what it used to be either. I did notice quite a few people at this Portillo's with Chicago themed shirts, Bears and Bulls jerseys. While I'm sure Chicago transplants and visitors only make up a small fraction of their clientele, it struck me as interesting. This is especially true since there doesn't seem to be a lot of other Chicago themed eateries around the area. Overall, I'm going to give my Portillo's experience here two stars. But for the Phoenix area readers your mileage may vary as its unique to the area.
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