North Dallas Portillo's (DNT service road just North of the Galleria) is now open.
Posted by mattgoldey@reddit | Dallas | View on Reddit | 135 comments
BlueHorse_22@reddit
I know it's part of the economy, but this place just isn't worth the price. Too expensive.
kabob21@reddit
It’s not? My favs are the Maxwell polish and the Chicago style polish which are $6.89 each and the regular Italian beef is $8.49. For a sit down restaurant in 2026, those are average prices.
BlueHorse_22@reddit
It's not even a sit down restaurant
kabob21@reddit
So what are all the tables & chairs and booths? Decoration? They’re a fast casual restaurant.
Lord_Blackthorn@reddit
Absolutely dead on.
Way to expensive for food that tastes like it's on par with Sonic.
Ch1_Alo@reddit
Gotta get something that’s worth the price then, like the The Combo - Italian beef and Italian sausage, ask for it dunked in Gravy, with extra hot peppers.
You’ll thank me later 😉
Saamari@reddit
How much would the hotdog/fries in the picture run me here?
v4por@reddit
Right! I went shortly after it opened and paid $20 for a sandwich, some fries and a drink. Itcwas good, but I don't know about $20 good.
blucivic1@reddit
So Five Guys is reasonable again
RadPhilosopher@reddit
Not worth either the price or the wait time (if you go duding peak hours).
dallascowboys93@reddit
What? The Chicago style dog was about $4 I paid for
mattgoldey@reddit (OP)
I'm happy with what I paid. It was about $15 for everything I had today.
erod100@reddit
Portillos is not that great 😬, gladly take Whatabuger back
aquariuslovingya@reddit
Love this pce it's just so damned expensive
mattgoldey@reddit (OP)
I didn't think it was that bad. About $15 for everything in the picture. I'm not going every day.
RealRichOne@reddit
It literally looks like crap.
Marcush214@reddit
Their chocolate cake >>>>>>> every fucking thing else 😂😂😂
ciscokidwasa@reddit
Their burgers are good, they would be a lot better if they weren’t super greasy to the point that the buns get soggy. That was my experience with the colony location
Exquisite_D@reddit
I've been wanting to try this place. Is it reasonably priced?
Weaponx-BDawk@reddit
No and Portillos is just never worth it (even in Chicago)!
mattgoldey@reddit (OP)
$15 for my Polish sausage, fries, cheese sauce and Dr Pepper.
boldjoy0050@reddit
That's the running price for fast food now. But in Chicago, there are a ton of these corner hot dog/burger places and normally a polish with fries is $6-7.
mattgoldey@reddit (OP)
With Dallas being so spread out, we don't really have a good street food scene here, sadly.
boldjoy0050@reddit
To be honest, most places in the US don't. Chicago and NYC are some of the few I can think of that have junk food places on just about every corner.
mattgoldey@reddit (OP)
Maybe Philadelphia to a lesser extent.
Exquisite_D@reddit
Decent.
BlueHorse_22@reddit
No. It's not. It's overpriced.
XIPWNFORFUN2@reddit
People will say no, but you do get fresh food everytime.
Exquisite_D@reddit
I don't mind paying for quality product.
RadPhilosopher@reddit
No
streminem@reddit
In a word, no. But it is one of those places you go back to even though you think it should cost $5-10 less than what they charge. It's damn good.
ice-eight@reddit
Finally the prospect we got back from Chicago in the Whataburger trade makes its debut
SgtBadManners@reddit
We should send it back, even my friend from Chicago said it must have just been a fond memory of going with his father.. lol
ChicagoRay312@reddit
Name checks out.
PantherCityRes@reddit
Broski…it’s just not as good as back in Chi
ChicagoRay312@reddit
Not denying that. Still better than many of the options here though.
Xkwizito@reddit
Ehhh...I've never been to an original Portillos, but I've been to the one in The Colony. Wife wife and I were thoroughly unimpressed. Besides everything just being meh the fries were like death by salt.
I have heard good things about Portillos in general, but this seems like a bad representation of it if this is the quality to expect.
PantherCityRes@reddit
But dude…if they gave Lou’s the same treatment as the Italian beef? Yeah, no, I’m not eating an uncooked or burnt meat pie and calling it pizza. The original is just fine and worth the plane ticket if I ever need a fix.
ChicagoRay312@reddit
You don’t need a plane ticket. Goodbelly FTW 🙌
Delicious_Hand527@reddit
Oddly enough, their restaurant cups and stuff look so close to Whatburger I thought they were corporate family members.
Justincase9719@reddit
Another L Dallas trade.
ChicagoRay312@reddit
This comment is underrated!
callous13@reddit
😂
Soundwave234@reddit
It looks weird and unnatural in the spot they built it in.
mattgoldey@reddit (OP)
The parking lot is very awkward to get in and out of. Doubly-so because it's right on the service road. I had to go Spring Valley --> Noel --> Alpha --> DNT to get into it.
spam_lite@reddit
🤮
Few_String545@reddit
I've been to the one in Frisco and a couple in other states. It's just another overpriced fast food place, honestly. The food is fine. That's it.
Gonzalla@reddit
Every year I get the chocolate cake shake for my birthday. It's 2000 calories, but absolutely worth it.
Exciting_Drawing_553@reddit
I don’t think it’s very good
mattgoldey@reddit (OP)
Ok. Didn't ask.
Exciting_Drawing_553@reddit
Is this a sponsored post? Lol
HughJazz123@reddit
Italian beef is just sadder version of a Philly. Tried it once in Grandscape and it was bland AF. Can we give this back to Chicago and get 2010 era Whataburger back?
StrangeLingonberry28@reddit
Portillos here just doesn’t taste the same as Chicago, it’s not bad but different
boldjoy0050@reddit
What makes it different? Do they use Vienna beef hot dogs and S. Rosens buns on the hot dogs?
StrangeLingonberry28@reddit
Idk the specifics, but my favorite is the Italian beef. Here it tastes dry and when I order dipped in sauce the whole thing is soggy so I’m eating a soggy sloppy bun, maybe chicagoans know how to do it better 🤷♂️
Usopp_Spell@reddit
they haven't tasted the same since they sold out and switched vendors
winecat5@reddit
How was it? Ive been to the grandscape location and it was good
itsToTheMAX@reddit
I've been to the Grandscape location twice and was underwhelmed. They wrap chili dogs up like they don't have chili all over them.... Like I'm eating it here... The hell?
Dale_Gurnhardt@reddit
Grandscape location sucked DICK. Can only compare to the OG in Chicago (which was awesome) but God damn what a waste of money and taste buds at Grandscape
boldjoy0050@reddit
And what's funny is native Chicagoans complain about the Chicago city locations. They claim the locations in the suburbs are better. I have been to both and the service in the suburbs are better, but food is about the same overall.
slowro@reddit
Man we went to the one over here in Grapevine and after a long ass wait.... this is it?
RadPhilosopher@reddit
Thank god I wasn’t the only one. I legit don’t see the hype around it. Costco hotdog is more satisfying per cost, the fries are wack, and I didn’t like the stupid sticker system they have at the drive thru.
Rockm_Sockm@reddit
I love the smoked sausage Chicago and New York dogs. The rest are regular terrible fast food.
MeatCrack@reddit
At the end of the day its still a fucking hot dog. Never been to portillos without almost shitting my pants within the hour
arlenroy@reddit
That sounds delightful!
mattgoldey@reddit (OP)
I enjoyed it very much.
DaDidko@reddit
This has to be Portillo's propaganda, I don't understand how people can eat this and actually enjoy it, its like 90% oil.
I swear there is some reddit campaign or something because the Portillo's near my house was busy for like a week after opening and has been dead ever since, I assume because everyone realized it was overpriced turd in the shape of food.
boldjoy0050@reddit
A lot of regional chains are like this. Culvers in Wisconsin, Whataburger in Texas, Cook Out in NC/SC, Blakes in NM. The story is always that they used to be better, but enshitification over the years made them worse. And today people just eat there for nostalgia reasons.
mattgoldey@reddit (OP)
I just happen to work in an office building 5 minutes away. I pass by it all the time and had been waiting for it to open. I happen to like it. To each their own, I guess.
kmcilro@reddit
I’ve never had a Portillos, for a reference point, what are your thoughts on In n Out burger. I know it’s not the same food, but I think In n Out is fantastic fast food.
mattgoldey@reddit (OP)
The burgers at In N Out are great and the vegetables they put on them is always fresh. Not a fan of their fries unless they're done Animal Style.
Dick_Lazer@reddit
In n Out fries well done are also great imo.
mattgoldey@reddit (OP)
I'd heard that and tried it once but they just seemed dry and hard. Maybe I should give them another chance.
kmcilro@reddit
Thank you, I will take your advice and skip Portillos, or maybe I’ll try it with very low expectations 😊
HolyRomanPrince@reddit
Portillo’s makes Italian beef for people that have never actually had Italian beef
boldjoy0050@reddit
In Chicago, Portillos is a good middle of the road place. It's not the best Italian beef, but not the worst either.
DoctorJiveTurkey@reddit
Jimmys is definitely better
classyspliff@reddit
Actually crazy in my mind how long it took to open, it seemed 100% fully done when I moved out of the apartment complex basically right beside it in December and seemed like it had been fully built out for a month even then
Dick_Lazer@reddit
Right? I could swear they've had lights on and everything for months now.
mattgoldey@reddit (OP)
Yeah, I remember driving past it at the end of 2025 thinking it looked ready to go.
Dick_Lazer@reddit
I thought that had been open for months, did they just open it?
mattgoldey@reddit (OP)
Yep. Had a Grand Opening sign outside.
downtime37@reddit
Way to over priced
frenchezz@reddit
Any word on what took them so long to open their doors, there's a taco place near us that's similarly appeared to be ready for business for months but sat there with the lights on and closed doors. Wondering if this is a common occurance for new restaurants in Dallas.
inteii@reddit
permit wait times are ridiculous
Delicious_Hand527@reddit
I'm not sure it's common but there is a bakery in Plano- San Martin - near Kohls on Preson - that's been planning to open for 2 years now.
Kanarakettii@reddit
Worked in the industry for a while and there are countless reasons this could happen.
Waiting for permits, even with expedited permitting it can take months to hear back, then if even a single thing isn't up to code you have to start the process again, but there are tons of reasons why this can be a massive headache, especially for smaller individually owned restaurants.
Meeting city regulations, (seriously a spot near me wasn't allowed to open because the sign for their restaurant was more than two colors and had to wait over a month to hear back from the city), the regulations are also ever changing, one month you might have everything sorted, the next month you could be temporarily closed until X issue is dealt with and, even once you deal with it, have to wait to reopen.
Having the proper suppliers or hardware for your restaurant, some suppliers are notoriously annoying to work with. Having the right hardware can also be a massive headache. A smoker with a certain cover in one county/city might be completely fine, but drive 10 miles into the next county and suddenly you're outside city regs.
And that just scratches the surface, there are a ton of other bureaucratic hoops to jump through. There's a reason 50% - 80% of restaurants shutter within 5 years. Even restaurants with tons of patrons, constantly full, popular with locals, can fall victim to changes in code/regulations and fees/wait times that come with them.
Brutal industry.
frenchezz@reddit
Very interesting stuff, thanks for typing all of that out I figured it was regulations in some way, but this breakdown helps to show the variety of hoops restaurants need to jump through.
Sairo_H@reddit
At a guess; Staff Training or Operations Permits.
mattgoldey@reddit (OP)
I didn't think to ask. I was just hungry.
Ok-Goal-8767@reddit
My butt can’t handle that
OvenBakedChickN@reddit
Shit is garbage
MissYouDesertRat@reddit
Hheeell yeeeaahh
Responsible-Agent-19@reddit
I went once and really wasn't impressed. I probably won't go back.
JohnnyChuttz@reddit
F the haters. Italian beef with hot peppers + a Chicago dog hits the spot.
Parkers_Iguana@reddit
Their chocolate shake with an entire piece of chocolate cake in it is DIVINE! It sounds weird but I had to try it. Delicious but definitely the kind of treat you only have a couple times a year otherwise hello diabetus!
eindar1811@reddit
Midwesterner here. The Italian Beef is below average by Chicago standards, and the hot dogs and fries are overpriced. The sausages will be better than most options in DFW, but the only real reason to go to Portillos is the cake shake, which is one of the best desserts on this entire planet.
iwantahouse@reddit
I wanna try the shake so bad!
Darth_Molotok@reddit
Their beef n cheddar is fantastic
ChakaCar@reddit
place is gross
KwisatzOtaku@reddit
The epitome of MID
dallascowboys93@reddit
Yep I got the Chicago style dog they the drive thru and it was pretty good! Only like $3 too
Skateboardbeester@reddit
Trash
Salt-Dragonfruit-552@reddit
I fw the maxwell street polish so much 🤤
mattgoldey@reddit (OP)
It's the only thing I've tried there, but I've had it 3-4 times and really like it.
arlenroy@reddit
I thought their food was pretty good, I mean for fast food technically. Yes, I get the comparison to the Chicago locations, but this is the best we got. Granted, I rarely eat fast food anymore, but I thought it was pretty good. I mean, I didn't shit myself in excitement like some people, but it was a solid meal.
hey_ooo@reddit
I live in Chicago now but used to live in Dallas and there’s a lot of parallels between Portillo’s and Whataburger. Both chains that used to have pretty rock solid reputations in their regions and took a dive when they got bought up by venture capital. Portillo’s is still well known here, but not really a place locals are recommending to people from out of town. With that said, that polish in the pic looks good and it’s worth a shot if you’re looking to try an Italian beef.
Mercy_Rule_34@reddit
hot take: Chicago Original in Allen has a FAR superior Italian beef, and is much less $ than Portillo’s. Fight me.
pamalamTX@reddit
Oh thank goodness I don't have to drive to Allen any more!
fancrazedpanda@reddit
It was pretty bland to me. Seems high quality though, the bread was great.
I_SmellFuckeryAfoot@reddit
what is it?
mattgoldey@reddit (OP)
Polish sausage with mustard and grilled onions. Fries with cheese sauce. Dr Pepper.
I_SmellFuckeryAfoot@reddit
oh. there is a hot dog under there? damn
SipoteQuixote@reddit
Buy a Costco dog and top that bitch up with whatever you want.
AnastasiaNo70@reddit
Do they have the chocolate cake?
mattgoldey@reddit (OP)
I think so, but I didn't look that closely. I just ordered at a kiosk and took my food out to the patio. I assume they have the standard Portillo's full menu.
rickyroca73@reddit
overrated as fuck.
camp1728@reddit
How would you rate the meal from 1-10?
DaDidko@reddit
This has to be Portillo's propaganda, I don't understand how people can eat this and actually enjoy it, its like 90% oil.
I swear there is some reddit campaign or something because the Portillo's near my house was busy for like a week after opening and has been dead ever since, I assume because everyone realized it was overpriced turd in the shape of food.
mattgoldey@reddit (OP)
I'm not going to give it a number, but I enjoyed it very much. My only complaints are minor.... I wish they'd put a little more mustard on the sausage, and a little bit less onions (there were a TON).
camp1728@reddit
Was the restaurant clean?
mattgoldey@reddit (OP)
It's brand new. When i got there at about 11, there was a lady cleaning the patio area. I ate out there and it appeared clean.
brtmns123@reddit
Portillos social media team should be banned on this sub...
ChicagoRay312@reddit
You’re right. We need more videos of random bugs and less about informing the thread of new restaurant openings. 🙄
EvanOnTheFly@reddit
Sorry are you saying OP is employed by Portillos?
iwantahouse@reddit
What’s the cheese sauce like? Is it like a whiz or a nacho cheese?
mattgoldey@reddit (OP)
It's nothing particularly special. Maybe just Whiz. It was.... ok.
ChicagoRay312@reddit
I really wish they had the Tom Tom Tamales at the Portillos outside of Chicago. ☹️
soggyypancakes@reddit
Diabetes speed run🔥🔥🔥
Sirsnacksalot23@reddit
That chocolate shake any good?
Hoopy_Dunkalot@reddit
I don't get it.
mattgoldey@reddit (OP)
Ok.
hipyounggunslinger67@reddit
I want it
vegt121@reddit
Good timing! I was wondering what to have for lunch...
Independent_Inside23@reddit
Looks legit!