I was underwhelmed after opening my chili dog. The chili was more saucy, with little meat or beans, and there wasn’t much of it. There was, however, a decent layer of nacho cheese underneath.
Portillo’s uses poppy seed buns for their chili cheese dogs, and although this is a delicious option, I don’t think it provides the support this dish needs. Although the bread didn’t break, things got messy and it became more of a hassle to eat than Freddy’s option.
Still, the best part of the chili cheese dog was the hot dog itself. Portillo’s uses Vienna Beef products, the signature sausage for a Chicago-style hot dog. Together, the Vienna Beef hot dog and poppy seed bun made the chili dog worth the extra mess.
The chicken tenders tasted good, too, but overall, I was disappointed by them. The breading was thick and had a nice crunch in some spots, but left little to no chicken in other bites.
Since the tenders were fried fresh, I ripped them in half to allow each to cool faster, but in doing so, the breading started to slide off, leaving me with naked pieces of white meat.
Finally, I ordered a large milkshake because Portillo’s didn’t have a medium option. My shake came in a huge cup and was $0.10 less than the medium I received at Freddy’s. It tasted like I was drinking a thicker version of soft serve vanilla ice cream.
