This is a compensated post on behalf of PEPCID ®. All opinions are 100% my own.
Today is one of those days where I get to be a little more personal! I know I have mentioned many times before that I was born in the Chicago area.
I grew up knowing and loving all the Chicago staple foods: deep dish pizza, Chicago style vienna beef hot dogs and Italian beef.
Yes, Italian beef. It’s a sandwich, a glorious sandwich. I have heard it proclaimed as someone’s last meal. That someone is Jeremy, a Floridian turned all-things Chicago lover.
It’s a simple sandwich consisting of extremely thin sliced beef, piled high on a baguette then DIPPED into the glorious juices in-which the beef was cooked. Served with sweet or hot peppers if you wish. I always get hot peppers on the side myself…
I’m getting ahead of myself… my mouth is literally watering just typing this up!
All Chicago-ins know of Portillo’s. It’s a staple restaurant, extremely busy but fast and efficient. A “working man’s” lunch stop as my Grandmother would say.
There are a bunch of them in the Chicago area, with just a few scattered around the country, on the west coast. BUT, my friends… a new one has opened up, and in my state!!! I know you can imagine how insanely pumped we were when we found out they were opening one near us.
It is literally a dream come true. It is in Brandon, FL in the Tampa area, a little drive for us but SO worth it!
We were signed up to receive email notifications of updates and such while they were still under construction and had the opportunity through that to go to a sneak peak before the grand opening. My Dad drove down from NC just to go with us. Yes, that is how dedicated we are! It was a wonderful experience… I may have even shed a tear or two, I know… a little dramatic but it literally felt like I had returned home.
Since then we have gone back another time. This is where we arrive at this post now, to tell you all about our trip! The decor inside this Portillo’s (they vary at each one) is from the prohibition/gangster era.
They offer a wide variety of options from the Italian beef and Chicago style hot dogs to amazing salads, sausages and decadent desserts!
There are a bunch of worker bees in the back cranking out food non-stop.
Since it is a little drive for us, we got a variety of foods. BUT, for us one thing we just cannot forget is our PEPCID ®. Always handy, just in case!
This is our spread:
A beef each, fries (cheese fries for Jeremy!), a hot dog and Maxwell street polish.
It was literally Heaven.
The beef is my favorite but just look at this dog, have mercy.
Everything tastes EXACTLY like the real deal… because it is. Like we are sitting in a Portillo’s in Illinois, it’s identical. I cannot tell you how happy this makes me.
We came back about an hour later and got some beef to go from the catering area. We keep it in the freezer so we can enjoy our favorite sandwich at home. I also got an Italian Strawberry Shortcake and Jeremy got another beef sandwich for the road… woops?
Needless to say, we were pulling out that PEPCID ® on the way home! Normally heartburn will strike me a few hours after a meal like that. It’s no secret these are fatty foods. Heartburn always shows up when I eat barbecue too! But that doesn’t stop me from enjoying what I love, in moderation of course!
Do you get heartburn too? Have you tried PEPCID ® products?
www.Pepcid.com is a great website to find our more about their products. www.Facebook.com/Pepcid will inform you more on the brand and @PEPCID on instagram will show you more local food journeys!
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Dana DeVolk
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