Portillo's Avondale

Reviews

• MH

  mike heffner

  Feb 18, 2026
  2.0
  I have tried to get Avondale to fix ongoing problems with assembling the food. It’s a disaster and messed up last 3 times there. I would love the owner of Avondale and Tempe stores to talk to me. NOBODY is fixing this problem that has been ongoing for 2-years+. I have had requests for help on X-platform and I get nothing.
• K9

  K C over 9000

  Feb 4, 2026
  5.0
  Went to portillo’s for lunch got me the two hotdog combo it was so delicious and the cashier was an older woman she was very polite and kind. Overall the place was really clean and nice. And my order was ready fast! The food was yummy!
• L

  [Rhyme Scheme Lyrics]

  Jan 25, 2026
  3.0
  The food itself was fine, but the overall experience felt a little off. The interactions with staff were awkward, and the vibe just wasn’t very welcoming. One moment that stood out was being told everything was in the bag before I even had a chance to check it myself...which rubbed me the wrong way. I prefer to quickly look through my order without feeling rushed or dismissed.
• NB

  nick barneys

  Jan 23, 2026
  1.0
  I have been eating tortillas for half my life and I understand what it is. Fast food is my expectation but never have I ever eaten at a pirtillos that failed on every dish the way this one did today. A burger so overcooked that there was no way to finish it, a salad with brown lettuce, a completely DRY beef sandwich with what can only be described as old and maybe spoiled tasing beef. The French fries for the first time in 30 years went uneaten. Disappointing is not a descriptive enough word, I wish I would have donated that $50 to the church and gone hungry instead.
• NR

  Nefertiti Van der Riese

  Jan 17, 2026
  5.0
  This location has the best food of the three locations I've visited across the valley. For perspective, most of the time at Portillos, the single cheeseburger burger patty tastes a little strange, and the single bacon cheeseburger tastes like a normal burger. However, I had the most delicious bacon single cheeseburger from here one morning enroute to Tucson. It was the most delicious burger I have had in over twenty years and probably better than the one I remember being the best I'd ever tasted (which was in a Boston "suburb" back in 03 maybe, between Quincy and downtown). The saying goes that one doesn't know what "good food" is until you eat/taste good food - I've experienced this. Good food will have you eating things you don't eat because you'd never before experienced having that thing prepared well/correctly. Fortunately, most food is good enough, but this particular Portillos bacon cheeseburger gave me that, "Woah, this is good food," moment. The char on the Portillos bacon cheeseburger was perfect around the edges, it had the right taste of smokiness, the bun was perfect (although I can't remember how), the toppings were crisp and flavorful, just the right amount of sauces, and food was hot and moist, which no doubt allowed the flavors to both blend and shine. The ingredients were definitely "quality" and the preparation must have been Michelin-star level. Not only was the Portillos bacon cheeseburger perfect in taste, it was also aesthetically "beautiful." I regretted not taking a photo, but I was driving, hungry, and dug right in. I had a visceral regret that I could not take a photo as the entire thing was truly art. This was probably back in 2024, but I returned yesterday morning for a single cheeseburger, and it was dang near almost the same as that bacon burger! I didn't take a photo because it was a little more messy and fell apart when I picked it up, but the patty was chargrilled to near perfection and didn't have that strange taste. This location does a pretty good job on the food. I've been to three locations around the valley, and I would rank the McDowell location at the top, with Waddel and Scottsdale (around 90th or 91st?) at second and third respectively. I will also add that the food seems to be better quality when you go through the drive thru versus ordering ahead with pickup. To be clear, I have not ordered at the counter at THIS location, but at others, counter food quality has been consistent with the quality of food via app pickup. Not sure why it seems altogether prepared differently. Think I've noticed two kitchens in the back and maybe drive thru is its own world. The drive thru is usually the best quality, in my experience, and it appears that first thing in the morning is when the burgers are going to be perfect or close to perfect. The drive thru staff are very courteous here as well. Fries are the weakest thing about Portillos. Are they frozen grocery store crinkles? I will never understand this. I didn't know restaurant chains could still get away with this unless they have their own chemical recipe for fries, like McDonald's (and Burger King fries of old). I feel like a toddler eating Portillos fries, but I still get them with my meal. Purchase one of those ridged dough cutters and cut and fry your own crinkle potatoes to see how this fry experience could be (be sure to first look up how to prep potatoes for fries). That's at all Portillos, unfortunately, and not unique to McDowell. They do have the best food and some of the greatest attitudes though. Waddel location would come close to or equal for good attitudes. (You have to order the sandwiches not "wet" to get em not soggy. The hotdogs at all locations can be a bit soggy regardless, and I've ripped off wet dough because I can't stand that taste/texture, but I would still take my mother or someone who prefers hotdogs over burgers to Portillos and maybe request toppings on the side).

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