Portillo's Oswego — Restaurant in Oswego Township

UPDATED 1/25/23 TO ADD CAKE DISAPPOINTMENTS.

THEY CHANGED THE FRIES AND THE CAKES!!! Their fries and cakes (chocolate & lemon). Why???

The fries were the best anywhere, even though they would constantly cheat you out of a full container (Don't bother ordering large because you ain't gettin' a large, man!). If there is any problem with your food, like the fry ripoff, you better hold onto that receipt or they will not replace it. We were charged an extra $10 for fries, salad, bread to go along with ribs. They didn't put these in our bag. My DH called, was told to mention it next time. We did, the two people at the counted acted like we were trying to get free food. We didn't have the receipt, so we're just SOL.

Anyway, back to the fries -- the main reason I go to Protillo's is because I literally CRAVE their fries. Well, I did. Now they are thin, tasteless, and turn very tough when they cool. Kind of like sticks of cardboard.

Their famous chocolate cake has changed! It has always been a favorite for many people in this area. The taste and texture is completely different, so there is no reason to buy this cake anymore. We normally get one for each birthday and all special occasions. We will not buy another unless they go back to the original recipe. A boxed cake mix with canned frosting has better taste and texture. I am not exaggerating. Don't waste the $26, you can make a better for under $5, and not have to wait in line to get it!

This past season the lemon cakes got very short, sometimes 1/2 the size they should be. I think they were cutting the size down to make more cakes and the frosting was paper thin.

Their system for mobile app and delivery orders is insanely slow and disorganized. Your food sits on the counter while staff stands around looking confused. You must wait in a line until they sort out what's what, and print sticker labels for some bizarre reason, there's already a paper copy... For delivery orders, they put your cold drink in with your hot food! If you order through a delivery service your food WILL be cold, and it's not the driver's fault.

My advice: NEVER order in advance, by your fries across the street, and buy a cheaper cake at Walmart or Meijer that actually tastes better.

And there is no way to make notes on the mobile about food allergies.

Images: 2 ripoff containers of skinny, tough, cardboardy fries (no, they didn't fall out...

Hate, just hate to give Portillo’s a one star review but after today’s order and the culmination of all of my recent experiences this is what they deserve. Portillo’s once delicious food and excellent service has gone steadily down hill since it was sold. Once the pride of Chicago fast food restaurant scene has turned into a miserable place serving cold and Luke warm food, not filling drive through orders correctly, and servers who every now and then show you verbally just how little they care about their job as well as their their customers. It’s come to the point where you can’t just drive away with your food order. Once they hand it to you through the window, 98% chance it’s wrong, at least with us. There is always something missing, today it was a hotdog and cheese sauce for the fries, and when I got home (5 minutes) the family was complaining the food was cold and there was still a missed item. That’s it we’re not returning to this Portillo‘s anymore, and probably will keep driving by any other Portillo‘s we see. The old Portillo‘s is definitely gone. I’m going to wince and try to take one more bite out of this COLD chili then press the send button. Oh and what do you get when you call the manager and explain thoroughly what has been happening... “Sorry”... Our experience has been that this was just another wasted call, - We won’t be making any more calls to attempt to let management know what’s going on. Guess they’ll have to find out by counting their receipts. Update: Emailed after I saw their response, and of course never heard back from them!!! Update as per Portillo’s response called the number they suggested and never got a response!!! So my review was right! Lately I’ve seen many less car’s in the drive through, another affirmation… Update 12/3/21 just came from Portillo’s and 1 large fry missing from our order And no sauce for chicken tenders, I don’t know why we bother.. Lindsay, called as per your instructions never heard from you guys. Guess customer service isn’t as important as it used to be when Portillo’s owned it. We won’t be visiting Portillo’s again. It’s not really...

The employees at this location can use some training on how to deal with customers. Some of them lack customer service skills and become flippant when you have a problem or concern. I experienced this with an order that I placed through the drive through. They gave me an extremely small piece of chicken breast nudie that appeared to be half the size of a normal one. When I voiced my concern, their response was to make me another one. They didn’t seem to care about me as a customer or the time I had already spent in the long drive through line. They also did not apologize for their mistake. Thank goodness I checked my bag before driving all the way home.

After experiencing the dismissive attitude from the team member, I asked to speak with a manager. I spoke with another individual who claimed to be a manager but, in my opinion, lacked the skills to be in that position. I cannot even confirm if he was indeed a manager because he would not provide me with his name and told me he didn’t have to give me his name. He became angry when I said I was going to report the issue to their corporate office and walked away. Yes, walked away from the window and never came back. I couldn’t understand that behavior especially coming from someone who claimed to be a manager. The conversation I had with him was held in a normal tone and there was no yelling. He just did not believe my concerns were important. If he had better training, he would have apologized for the issue instead of being dismissive. I do hope he is not a manager, because apparently, he doesn’t realize that you need regular customers for your business to continue to succeed. In the end, I got a refund for my entire order, as I refuse to spend my hard-earned money at establishments that don’t value me...