What’s the Deal With Portillo Hot Dogs Invading Dallas?

Folks have been lining up around DFW to taste Portillo’s hot dogs — Chicago style. Even in this extreme heat wave, our friends at Axios Dallas reported a five-hour line downtown on Friday to try one.

Portillo’s started as a hot dog stand in the ’60s and will open up its first Texas outpost selling Chicago street food in The Colony at Grandscape later this year. Ahead of that, it’s been drumming up interest by serving Chicago-style hot dogs to Dallasites who are clearly curious. Those hot dogs include a pickle wedge, tomato, onions, and banana peppers served in a poppy seed bun. Maybe it’s the Keller’s effect, and Dallas is already programmed to love it because of the poppy seeds? So what makes these hot dogs unique, and why are they here?

Suppose that doesn’t sound like your cup of tea. In that case, the menu at Portillo’s also includes several other types of hot dogs, chicken sandwiches, salads, pasta, and beef and sausage sandwiches that will give fans of The Bear (which we know is several of you, thanks to some heated Facebook comments) a taste of that Chicago beef.

Speaking of Chicago beef: Easy Slider is serving up a slider of the month for a few more days inspired by The Bear. It’s got braised Italian beef, provolone, horseradish cream sauce, peppercinis and is served on a mini-baguette. So while Sydney would rather you try the risotto, Richie approves this sandwich. And it’s only available at the Deep Ellum location.

As part of its summer distillery series, Terra at Eataly Dallas is highlighting four local distillers to create unique cocktails featuring locally produced spirits that will stay on the menu for two weeks stretches, going from now through September 14. First up is Desert Door, sotol made from succulents that drinks not unlike tequila. It hails from Driftwood, Texas. $1 from each cocktail ordered during the special will go to the North Texas Food Bank.