8390 La Palma AvenueWhat happens when you send two guys from Illinois to California?
They find the Portillo’s.
We had a pretty large gap in our day where we didn’t need to be on the road around Los Angeles. We hung in the hotel for a while working on some things but then needed to go out to Glendale for an assignment.
That wrapped up around 3:30. Our next task was back in Anaheim so we headed across town to deal with that.
As we were sitting in the car waiting on something, I started looking for some place nearby to eat. I was shocked when a Chicago staple popped up not too far away.
Portillo’s of Buena Park is on La Palma Avenue near Dale Street in a very busy shopping center in the city of Buena Park. This is one of two Portillo’s locations in California. The other is about an hour away in Moreno Valley.
Every Portillo’s has a theme. The theme for the Buena Park location is 30’s Prohibition. That theme is reflected in the decor of the dining room…which is a pretty popular theme amongst the ever increase number of restaurants. There are also signed pictures of all the famous people who have eaten at Portillo’s. My co-worker made the comment that it seems like they’re the same pictures in the same places at each location…so they must just make copies of the originals.
We headed to the order side of the counter both knowing exactly what we wanted. It’s pretty easy to spot a Chicagoan at Portillo’s. Both of us ordered a Big Beef. I got mine dipped and hot (with giardiniera). I also added on fries and a large Coke to round out the meal.
After ordering, we walked down the pick up side. Orders are called out by number and usually with a quirky way to say the number (ie. “Number 9 and I’m feeling fine”) but that wasn’t really happening here. They were just calling out the numbers as they packed orders up.
The dining room was pretty full so we headed out to the four season patio (is that what they call them in California since they don’t really have seasons?). It was a nice night out and actually felt pretty good sitting outside. There were heaters out there as well since everyone wears winter parkas when it dips below 65 degrees.
I started with the fries which is my M.O. when it comes to beef places. I don’t really like Portillo’s fries. I mean, they’re fine….but they’re just frozen crinkle cut fries. Chicago has so much more to offer in the fry department. It’s really the thing that I think makes Al’s stick out as my go-to when I’m in the city.
I eat the fries first so I can let the beef sit and soak in it’s own juices. The Italian beef sandwich is the best food Chicago has to offer. Everyone focuses on hot dogs and pizza but Italian beef is where it’s at.
This sandwich was a typical Portillo’s Italian beef. The crusty French bread stands no chance once it’s soaked in the beef, oregano-y gravy. I always think Portillo’s could stuff their bread a little bit more with meat but I’m fairly certain I would eat just a loaf of bread soaked in the gravy. I didn’t eat just beefy gravy soaked bread though, I had a whole sandwich and it was glorious. There was quite a bit of giardiniera so the beef flavor was enhanced with a little heat. I joked that I was going to go get another sandwich…not because I was still hungry but just because I wanted to eat another one.
The cost for this delicious Chicago meal in LA was just under $20.
I’m still laughing a bit that we went all the way to California only to eat at Portillo’s but we both got really excited when we saw this Portillo’s close to where we were in Anaheim. This particular co-worker is a big beef fan too….we took a detour on our way home from Green Bay last year to stop at an Al’s Beef, so beef stops are kind of becoming our thing.
Now if we could just get one in Southwest Michigan…..