Portillo's Glendale — Restaurant in Glendale

Update June 2025: Never had their burger before so this time tried it and the charbroiled really does add additional flavor. Fries still mighty pale and wish they would be golden. Chocolate cake nice and moist and not too sweet. Jadah was very helpful making sure I got my birthday deal cake and answered all my questions. As always, fun atmosphere with all the time warp 50s decor, so scrap the plastic straws and plastic ketchup cups and let's go retro paper! **Update from reviews below: Aug. 14, 2024 visit found me having my first lemon cake shake which was really lemony and rich and delicious. Repeated the "dragged through the garden" hotdog I enjoyed before, but this time I took a picture of how efficiently those beauties are created. Update from 3 month old review below, but am leaving it since this one includes a new item and it was a to-go order: Update and info on takeout 10/24/23: My friend had to get the Italian beef as I've been yapping about it for months and he really enjoyed it, commenting that the even the bread was better than most around here; however, he missed the garnishes like the pickled carrots and hot peppers that you can add in when you're in the dining room. I assumed they would add in a little container or remind to ask for some, but maybe they don't. Since it was to-go, I advised he not ask for it "wet" as it might have gotten too soggy by the time we got home, so I did ask for some gravy for dipping so that worked well. I had my first hotdog "dragged through the garden" as I'd been advised to do should I ever order one, and it was indeed crammed with tomato, relish, onions, hot peppers, and mustard. It was indeed tasty on the poppyseed bun, although the hotdog skin was a little tough so biting into it was a bit of a challenge and at one point I had to slide the innards out and go back for the skin in the next bite, so that was a little weird. I like how except for the gravy, there was minimal packaging, just waxed paper and a paper bag. Prior review: This ain't no pressed meat paste glued together pieces parts faux roast beef that lotsa places sell: thank goodness! This Italian beef comes from actual roasts that you can see being thinly sliced on premises and soaked in "gravy," (but it's more like a flavorful au jus), then you can add in roasted green sweet peppers and choice of cheese (I had mozzarella) and then the sandwich can be splashed with some gravy or dipped in it, dipped for a few seconds, really wet, or wrung out dry with gravy on the side. I chose "wet" since my friend from Chicago said to do it that way and I'd never had anything served that way before.) and Italian sausage served "wet" and it was all soggy deliciousness all snugly wrapped in a paper wrapper that made it easy to take bites from.  Although it was a bit noisy inside, it wasn't overwhelming like some places can be so we were able to carry on our conversation without straining and it was fun to look around at all the memorabilia like a Statue of Liberty and old electronics and such. The crinkly fries were hot and crisp, and I was thrilled to be able to order a draft beer since most places similar to this don't have that available, and I was extra pleased to see a local one offered. The chocolate cake was moist and rich. I believe they bake it there but the frosting comes to them in tubs which the worker skillfully loads on in just the right amt. I must go back and try their Chicago hotdog, especially since my friend clued me in to ask for it to be "dragged through the garden" so I can get all the...

Was there today. Ordered in the drive thru. 2 burgers, a hot dog and large frys. Got to the window and was told that they were waiting for 1 burger patty and would I like a piece of cake. I said no. Continued to wait. Finally, the order arrived. I drove to the front and walked in because the food was COLD. The Manager, Cory, had the remake my order. Now, one would think that knowing I came inside because of cold food, SOMEONE would check to make sure my order was well made and hot. NOOO. I checked the frys. They were not fresh. I actually was standing and could watch the fry station while I waited. The girl there DID cook some fresh frys, but took mine from the rack of already made orders. When Cory gave me my order, I checked the temps again. The frys were warmer than the first order but not hot, by any means. Also, the hot dog was literally ice cold. I thought it would be because it sat on the rack where the guy doing the burgers was for quite a while before my burgers were done. Cory did, at the time he saw me check my, offer to remake the frys, AGAIN, but I had waited far longer than I had expected or wanted to, so I left.

Obviously, Cory's staff is not customer aware when they remade a poor order, with another poor quality order.

I hope your experience at Portillo's is better than mine. I will not return!!!!

Well, I did return. Today's visit WILL be my last! After my last visis and review and the apologies from corporate, and a 10.00 coupon, I returned. However, the food was the same. I ordered the Chicago Dog Special, online and picked it up. I had to wait a bit when I got there. No big deal. When my order was ready, I did check the temp of the fries. Not bad. So, I took the order and drove home. About 5mi minutes away. When I opened thebag and took out the food, both the dogs were ice cold. It was almost like they came out of the refrigerator and were put in warm water for a few minutes, then served. As before, my opinion is that if you order through the drive thru or getyour food to go, they figure you will be long gone when you go to eat and you won't bring the order back. Welll, I said the last time I was there, " I WILL NOT reture to...

Well, my experiemce was pretty good. The atmosphere was pretty cool and I like how you can see how the kitchen works and how they make the food. I ordered two chili cheese dogs with easy onions. First mistake was not ordering the onikns on the side. Service was pretty quick and I got my food and headed back to the table. I sampled a couple of frys, they are large crinkle cut frys which were hot and fresh and had plenty of salt without being overly salty. The outsides were nice amd crunchy and the inside were soft and tasted like a great french fry should. Next I opened up my forst chili dog. It was not made with easy onions. There were as many onions on my chili dog as my friends who did not order eash onions. Ok so not a huge deal, I pick off some onions, now keep in mind I did not add any salt or mustard or anything becaise I wanted to state a virgin chili dog that was made with their self proclaimed awesome chili..... well, I was severely let down. The hotdog itself had a nice snap to it and I was able to isolate some of the hotdog and could taste that it was a good hotdog but the chili was lacking in flavor. The chili was saucy and just did not have any chili flavor. I am pretty dang sure they could have opened upba cannof Hormel chili and gotten a better chili review. I do not want nor do I like super spicy chili but this chili tasted kinda like hamburger, ketchup and beans with no spices, even having excessive onions did not help the poor chili.

So, overall I would say I had a good experience, the restaurant was clean, the kitchen was also clean for a busy kitchen which is always good to see. The service was great from the point of ordering to picking up your food everyone was friendly and helpful and it did not take very long to get your order. Will I go there again? Absolutely just likely wont order a...