Eh, I guess I just don't get the hype but then again I'm not from Chicagoland so Portillo's doesn't tug at my heartstrings with some great wave of childhood nostalgia. FWIW, I'm also no fan of Chicago style pizza either...
Today I had Portillo's for lunch, a chili cheese hot dog & cheese fries. They do not offer Dr. Pepper so I had bottled water. I liked that they sell spring water and for only 99 cents. Usually with bottled water you pay twice that for only 'purified drinking water' so definitely nice they had the real deal.
My food was delivered hot and fresh but simply lacked flavor. I found no condiment other than ketchup and even that wasn't available in to go form. The hot dog was all beef and had the snap of natural casing, but the chili was bland and featured beans (an abomination to any old-fashioned traditionalist-minded Texan). It just needed SOMETHING, even salt & black pepper would have helped. The fries were hot and a little salty but the cheese sauce was like what you get on bad ballpark nachos.
Overall just unimpressed...