Portillo's Harwood Heights — Restaurant in Norwood Park Township

I've been eating at Portillo's in several places in and around Chicago since 1998. I've always had excellent dogs and burgers there. The service is usually fast and efficient.

There are lots of local favorites on the board, but the true aficionado will order at least two hot dogs. This is the venerable Chicago Dog (sometimes called a "red hot"). A Vienna beef dog nestled in bun filled with chopped onions, a "neon green" food-colored pickle relish, mild peppers, and a quarter slice of a dill pickle. Please avoid embarrassing yourself by asking for mayo or ketchup. It's considered a terrible gaffe and will instantly mark you as a tourist.

You are given a receipt with a ticket number when you pay. Then you wait near a second window for your meal to be prepared.

Portillo's is a very noisy place, and the noise usually helps to provide a fun atmosphere. If you'd rather enjoy your meal in peace you will be better off going someplace else.

When your meal is ready, a staff member at the pick-up window calls out your number. You may not be able to hear them at first (see "noisy place") and comedy ensues while you try to find out if your number has been called.

There's seems to be a simple solution to this: the staff member (I'll call them the "delivery boss") who calls out the numbers to alert you that your dogs are ready for pick-up should be provided with a high quality microphone connected to a high quality sound system; then they can effortlessly announce it over the speakers.

The high quality system is required so that the delivery boss's calls are not a garbled, noise-filled, unfathomable mess, as one can experience any day at other fast food places. We've all pulled up to a drive-thru to be greeted with "Wel--- to ---Dona--'s. May - ---ke --ur (unintelligible)."

Since "Oldies" recordings are constantly playing over the sound system, it seems reasonable to use that same system to call out your food order's number.

But Portillo's always presents itself as a 50s/60s vibe hotdog stand, so it's appropriate to have a colorful character calling out the orders. When I last visited the Portillo's in Harwood Heights, the delivery boss shouted out the order number with a rhyme ("322 - ready for you!").

It's a fun little touch if you're forced to try to figure out what's just been said. If you are accompanied by someone, you will almost always have to ask that person "what number was that?" to which said person will be almost be guaranteed to respond "Huh? No idea." If nothing else, this interaction can provide a little bonding over a shared cluelessness.

One other bothersome thing. There are no drink fountains as are standard in most fast food places now. So I don't think refills are free. Even if they are, you'll have to go back to the counters to request one.

All in all, Portillo's is a great place to get a dog, a burger, Italian beef, or a "Maxwell Street Polish" (as in the nation, not the furniture or silverware). The latter is a special treat and should be consumed with an appropriate level of reverence (in other words, wolf that sausage down as fast as you can; you never know when you'll get...

Food was good, as expected - I needed my Portillo's fix. However the staff was just in complete chaos. I had what I would call a medium sized order - take-out food for a hungry family of 3. It wasn't terribly complex. I stood at the pickup counter for about 10 minutes watching the action. Multiple employees doing a lot more standing around than working. I saw what turned out to be my order dropped on a tray about 5 minutes into my 10 minute wait. After the 10 minute wait, a manager lady came over to the counter as there seemed to be a number of orders stacking up. She worked through them (newest to oldest) quizzing the other staff on what was needed to release each order, getting them completed, and pushing them out to customers. While she was doing this, another employee started working the orders from the oldest side. Mine was first up. He reached into the big bag, pulled out a smaller bag, inspected the contents of both, and called my number. Seemingly, the order had sat for 5 minutes needing nothing. I was not happy and I told the manager so as I was leaving. She mentioned she'd "have a talk" with the team.

I walked out to my car and thought I should inspect the order before I got on my way, and I am so glad that I did. It was missing a few items. So I went in and spoke to that same manager. She was really good about re-making the entire order since by now it was going to be cold. She personally watched each item get re-made and I was happy & confident it would be correct, which it was. And it was delicious as usual.

I'm sad for this experience. While everyone has a bad day or a bad shift, this seems to be more and more frequent when I visit Portillo's - a lack of consistency is creeping in upon them. Perhaps they are growing too fast, I don't know and it's not my role to diagnose the root problem. But if the symptoms continue I'll have to find another 'joint' to crave when I visit the Chicago area. And perhaps I should taper my constant requests for Portillo's to expand to Seattle - it seems their...

Worst service I’ve ever experienced at a fast food restaurant and especially at a Portillos!?!? Ordered my food via google at 9:43 PM, which was to be ready for pick up in 15 minutes. Posted hours 10:30 (nowhere did it say doors close at a specific time and you have to go through the drive through). We parked in front of the doors 9:47 and saw two people try to open the doors which were locked). We drove through the drive through, which had a crazy line. I didn’t get to the drive through window until 10:27. We were about to drive off, but I was missing my Greek chicken salad. Due to the line and the front door closed, I walked to the window and knocked. The girl came and I told her I was missing a salad. She went back to get it. Another 5 minutes later comes back and I check the bag again to see there’s no salad dressing. Unbelievable! There were employees goofing off, jumping on boxes and running around, when there’s a backed up line of cars waiting! This is crazy! Such a stark difference to the exceptional service I’m used to. Portillo's is known for their efficiency in fulfilling orders. I’d be by surprised and if this location stays open, if it continues to operate in such a disarray. Such a disappointment of a beloved local restaurant that started as a lil’ shack. It’s one of Chicago’s signature fast food restaurants. Unless the reviews on Yelp improve, I will not return. I wish I would’ve checked the reviews 2/5 that support my exact same experience before I wasted my money. The food isn’t enjoyable after that. I’ll drive out of my way to get quality service in Skokie or Des Plaines. Stay away!!! Especially in the...