Portillo's Vs Wiener's Circle: Who Has The Better Chicago-Style Hot Dog?

There's no shortage of food options in the great city of Chicago, and in fact, you can find restaurants that serve just about any type of cuisine in the world. Of course, when visiting the Windy City, it's always a good idea to try those classic foods that are quintessentially Chicago: an Italian beef, deep-dish pizza (or maybe Chicago's other regional pizza, tavern-style), or perhaps a good old handheld hot dog. If you go the hot dog route, though, you can't just order any old dog and call it a day. It has to be a Chicago-style hot dog, one nestled into a poppyseed bun and topped off with the works.

For those unfamiliar with the delicacy that is a Chicago-style hot dog, it's an all-beef dog on a poppyseed bun topped with yellow mustard, white onion, tomato, sport peppers, sweet pickle relish (the kind that's neon-green), a dill pickle spear, and a sprinkling of celery salt. Now, there are countless places one can find such a delicacy in Chicago, but two ever-popular purveyors are Portillo's and The Wiener's Circle; the only question is, which one sells the better Chicago-style hot dog?

As a Chicagoan myself and someone who has consumed more Chicago dogs than I'd like to admit, I knew I was up for the challenge in comparing those hot dogs from Portillo's and The Wiener's Circle. I purchased a Chicago dog from each vendor, compared and contrasted the assembly quality of each (looking at the amount of toppings on each, topping disposition, etc.), and ultimately pinpointed which one tastes just a bit better than the other.

Portillo's has a decades-long history in the Chicagoland area, and one that didn't actually start with the name Portillo's. Originally opened as a stand called "The Dog House" in 1967, Portillo's is now wide-spread across Chicago, Illinois in general, several Midwestern states, and it even has locations in Southern states like Florida. The fast-casual chain also has an impressively extensive menu, with different types of hot dogs (including the beloved Chicago-style hot dog) being just one faction of the menu. Other popular Portillo's menu items include Italian beef sandwiches, charbroiled burgers, an iconic chocolate cake shake, and a personal favorite of mine, crinkle-cut cheese fries. 

Other popular menu items aside, there's no denying that Chicago-style hot dogs are one of the most sought-after items on Portillo's menu. Simply labelled as a hot dog on the menu, a Chicago dog cost me $4.29 (before tax) at the Chicago location I went to, but this price may vary depending on which Portillo's you order from. There's also an option to get the hot dog in jumbo form, which ups the price to $5.29, or to get a plant-based Garden dog, which makes the price $4.59. 

While Portillo's has rapidly expanded its number of locations over the years, The Wiener's Circle is a Chicago staple with just one single location. The Wiener's Circle has also been around for several decades, with its sole location tucked away in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood. So, obviously, you have to be in Chicago to be able to get a Chicago dog from The Wiener's Circle. The hot dog stand offers much more than hot dogs, with char dogs and char burgers being what Wiener's Circle is especially known for. Other menu items include char polishes, char chicken sandwiches, and cheddar fries. There are also plenty of plant-based offerings available like char Beyond burgers, char veggie burgers, and char Beyond sausages.

As for the price of a good old Chicago dog at The Wiener's Circle, it'll run you $6.71. A char Beyond sausage will run you the same price, whereas a double dog (two hot dogs on one bun) costs $8.94.

Upon first inspection of my Portillo's hot dog, it was clear that all of the necessary toppings made it into that bun. While Portillo's does offer a char-grilled Polish sausage on its menu, the regular hot dogs just come steamed, so the wiener in question was your standard, steamed beef hot dog with no grill marks. My only qualm with presentation is that the pickle spear was slapped on top instead of nestled into the bun, which sort of buried all of the other ingredients. Also, the bun did get a bit soggy by the time I made it home, but I can't really fault Portillo's for that.

As for the taste of this Chicago dog, I don't have any complaints there. Something I've always appreciated about Portillo's hot dogs is how snappy they are, so even when you take a bite of something as heavily-loaded as a Chicago-style dog, you can still enjoy that nice bite of the hot dog itself. All of the toppings were on point, and the distribution was pretty good, meaning that nearly all of my bites had a little bit of everything (save for a few that didn't quite get any sport pepper). All together, this hot dog was savory, crunchy, chewy, fresh, acidic, briny, and a little bit tangy — everything you'd want from a Chicago dog. The soggy bun did sour the experience just a touch, but the flavor of the hot dog made up for any slight textural issues.

Something immediately notable about The Wiener's Circle Chicago dog, as opposed to the Portillo's one, is that the toppings were distributed a little better. That pickle spear was nestled into the bun, with the tomato slices and sport peppers making more of a pronounced appearance on top. And, yes, I'm only talking about topping distribution because I do think that it matters in something like a Chicago dog, since it's so essential to get all of the goods evenly dispersed in one bite. I also noticed that the poppyseed bun was a bit heftier on this dog compared to the Portillo's one, and this one didn't get soggy on the way home. And, since char dogs are so paramount to The Wiener's Circle, my Chicago dog's wiener was indeed charred as opposed to steamed.

One bite of this hot dog and I knew it was an absolute winner. The toppings were immaculately distributed, so nearly every bite had that perfect balance of bun, hot dog, pickle, tomato, onion, mustard, and celery salt (some bites were missing the sport pepper, however). The char dog offered a certain bitterness that contrasted nicely with the other ingredients, and though it didn't really taste a whole lot different than a steamed dog, I did appreciate the subtle char flavors it provided. I have no complaints about this hot dog — it's pretty much the perfect iteration of a Chicago dog, loaded with crunchy, crisp flavors and a hefty-enough bun to stand up to the overload of toppings.

I knew that comparing a Portillo's Chicago-style hot dog to a Wiener's Circle one would be a difficult challenge, but I didn't realize it'd be a nearly impossible one. I have to say that both of the hot dogs I ate were very tasty, so there's really no loser here. If I did have to pick a winner, however, I'd give it to The Wiener's Circle.

There are two main reasons that I'm claiming The Wiener's Circle to have a better Chicago dog than Portillo's. The biggest one comes down to the poppyseed bun. The Portillo's bun got the job done, but it did seem a bit bogged down by the toppings, and it ultimately got a bit soggy. The Wiener's Circle bun, on the other hand, had a little more structural integrity to it, meaning that it could absolutely handle all of the toppings without a bite feeling like it was overpowered by bread. Plus, despite having an equal amount of juicy toppings on top, that bun did not get soggy, so it did make for an overall better eating experience.

The second reason I'm dubbing The Wiener's Circle the winner is that I felt the toppings were better distributed, making for a more balanced hot dog eating experience. Obviously, I can't predict how every hot dog will be served from either The Wiener's Circle or Portillo's, but I can only base my judgement on what I personally experienced, and The Wiener's Circle overall delivered a better dog, if only by a small margin.

When comparing any two foods, unsurprisingly, flavor is going to be the most important factor. When it came to these hot dogs, however, the flavors were pretty much as good as they could get for both. Both hot dogs had all the right ingredients to make for a good Chicago dog, and the only real difference between the two was that the Portillo's hot dog was steamed whereas the Wiener's Circle dog was charred. I didn't necessarily have preference for either the steamed or charred dog, and I liked them both, so that ultimately comes down to personal preference (and, for what it's worth, you can get the dog steamed at The Wiener's Circle if you so choose to).

Since the flavor of both hot dogs was so similar, my dubbing The Wiener's Circle the winner ultimately came down to very small, nitty-gritty factors like the bun thickness and distribution of toppings. But the reality is that you won't be disappointed with your Chicago-style hot dog regardless of which place you purchase it from. Also, it's worth noting that I ultimately didn't factor in locations or price when determining the best dog, because Portillo's would be the obvious winner there since it has lots of locations and its hot dogs are cheaper. Instead, it truly came down to the Chicago dogs themselves, and while The Wiener's Circle narrowly won this race, both places are winners in my book.