A Taste of Chicago

A Taste of Chicago is located on SW 3rd Avenue, between Washington and Stark, in downtown Portland, Oregon.

I headed down on a sunny Saturday, so naturally that meant the town also decided to embark somewhere. Downtown had some good foot traffic. Among the crowd on March 26? The Houston Dash, NWSL professional women's soccer team.

The guy taking orders here is probably one of the best I've seen in Portland. He advertises heavily and gets people to stop for food. Gotta make that money somehow.

The menu has Chicago Dogs, Italian Beef Sandwiches, and a Chicago take on Philly Cheesesteaks. If you're wondering what the latter is here, it's really just an Italian Beef sandwich with some cheese sprinkled on. Same beef, same roll. Seriously, if you want a cheesesteak, there are a few other Portland food carts that do those justice. I stopped here because I wanted...a taste of Chicago.

"Philly" Cheesesteak here

Cheesy fries are free and come with each sub. The fries are nicely done, thin sticks with some crispiness. It's more the garlic butter and herb blend that makes the fries delicious. There isn't that much cheese on them, so I would hesitate a bit on calling them "cheesy fries."

I got the Italian Beef here ($7.95) with onions and jalapenos. This sub also contains sweet peppers. Wonderful job on the beef; a generous helping of paper-thin slices that retained juiciness and had OK flavor (nothing over the top). A nice roll that holds together as you continue to eat. Thought it needed some giardiniera, though.

Italian Beef Sandwich

I should have asked if they allow the sandwich to be dipped before serving. I feel that can make a difference. Gotta get more au jus for me.

The service was good and they whipped through the orders pretty quickly. If you pay with a credit card, add a 50-cent charge.

Overall, I thought this place was fine, yet nothing that really blew me away. 6.75/10