Whats the LAST restaurant you went to?

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by dtvmcdonald

We have a Portillos down here. When it started up the lines were a half mile long
(of cars). It wa highly touted by my friends. Is a 2 minute drive from my house.

I went two or three times. Absolutely nothing special at all. Hamburgers are
not very good, hot dogs are good but nothing worth a special trip.

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The last restaurant I visited, arriving an hour ago, was the Champaign Black Dog Smoke and Ale (original is in Urbana, temporarily closed by the unmentionable topic).

Now THAT's special .... worth a special trip from anywhere (e.g. Kansas City or Fort Worth or Charlotte). Once rated by Maxim magazine as #2 BBQ joint in the USA. And it really was, and may still be. "May" because their premier product "Burnt Ends" (the fatty part of beef brisket) went downhill last summer when they reopened, from being cooked 24 hours to only 12. Their pork ribs and especially rib tips remain the best. They also have exceptional "baked beans" which are not actually baked, but have "cuttings" from the brisket in them. Ditto cornbread ... the absolute best. Finally, a creation called Texas Caviar, which is Black-eyed peas, hominy, and mild, just spicy enough, peppers (cold). Some people swear by their catfish, but not me.

Their hot dogs are average (I almost never order them). Their Burgers I consider to be the best of any chain restaurant I've ever eaten at, but I don't order them standard...I get mine with mozzarella cheese, NO Ketchup (sweet catchup on a burger is about as unappealing to me as ice cream on a burger is to most people), and extra plant matter (every kind). That combined with the char broil is my standard for what a truly good hamburger is. They usually botch my order and I usually ask for a package of whatever they forgot...The Brookfield crew started calling it the "infamous burger" as I often got lunch there 3 times a week and often dinner(s) too.

Where Portillos really shines is with their Itialian beef...As a suburban Chicagoan kid theirs is my standard for it. Always sweet Peppper, maybe with mozzerella, maybe dipped, maybe as a beef and Italian Sausage combo. Often when I'm with my family we'll order one and a Tamalie (and other stuff) and cut them into thirds so everyone gets some of each.

Their broiled Chicken sandwich tastes a lot like a small closed restaurant from my home town and is nostalgic for me.

Their ribs are good but I limit intake.

Their Chocolate cake and Eclair cake is legendary.

Now one thing to keep in mind is the restaurants made after they went corporate (essentially everything outside of Chicagoland except Merillville In) didn't have the same love or attention to quality as the older family-run establishments....
Case in point Brookfield about %95 of the time sucks at making fries when compared to the original establishments. And Brookfield variably sucks at other things other locations do well too.
Corporate killed the old good lent season fish sandwich and replaced it with something cheap and nasty...

I virtually never eat BBQ. No matter the source it almost always gives me raging stomach acids and or reflux. I rather eat a more neutral/alkaline diet to prevent the issue from starting than aggravate it and medicate it...I'm not much for spicy-hot foods either. The banana Peppers Olive Garden gives you with their salads are about my heat tolerance limit...Much more and I tend to look like I've just been poisoned and or am about to breathe fire...Or so I'm told.