A Taste of Chicago

really good philly cheese steak and garlic fries for a reasonable price 8.95 I would recommend this place to anyone.

So I’m a cart guy. Love the cart pods and all they have to offer. Tried a lot and this is my favorite. The number one with the works, omg… Free cheesy fries with every order!?! Who does that? The customer service is top notch, super nice, great food, can’t beat the price, what you’re about to taste is bliss. Wish they had more locations, but I drive from out of town to eat here. Simply fantastic food.
I started to follow then on fb just so I would know if they were open or not. There’s no seating at this pod. Keep in mind it’s on 3^rd downtown so parking can be a challenge, but worth every second circling the block!

Hot Dog was delicious. The owner (Johnny) was super friendly. He really takes pride in his business. On a side note, he even gave great travel advice.

I am the champion of this establishment’s famed chicken philly. A colossal flavor tsunami that goes toe-​to-​toe with my picky palate and voracious apatite several times per week and emerges unscathed and flawlessly victorious every time. The service is also very courteous and personable which is why I keep coming back.
If you rate this place less than 5 stars, then I think it says more about you than Taste of Chicago. Lol

I am from Chicago. These are not chicago dogs. I raced over here as soon as they opened excited hoping to get a Vienna Beef and was so disappointed.
The cheese fries are not like Chicago cheese fries.
In chicago when you get a vienna beef with cheese fries they are stringy fries with melted nacho-​ish cheese on it.
The italian beef is decent. It’s not like back in Chicago but it’s probably the most Chicago’ish italian beef I have had since I moved here.
I gave stars because the food in general is not bad, but it is not Chicago food.

Great omlet and steak and cheese sub.
We also sampled the biscuits and gravy. It was just like down south. Great friendly service

I’m big on prefaces — so let me preface this with saying that I have had a really mediocre Chicago Dog from an «Oasis» (read: rest stop) in Chicago (I wasn’t in charge of where we got to dine.) and a really fantastic one from a now defunct place in the San Jose, CA area.
While I was reviewing the menu, the people behind the counter really wanted my business and came on with the hard sell about the cheese fries and extolled the virtues of their food. They were convincing and I decided to give it a go.
The cheese fries tasted good. They had this crunch that one doesn’t expect from french fries — I think it was the buttery sauce. They were, however, lacking in cheese and I only had two fries that I could taste garlic on — and you get a nice helping of fries. The portion was quite adequate. They just didn’t quite deliver but I would try them again.
I’m a little confused on the hot dog. I do *not* like steamed hot dogs so I asked how they were cooked. The place in CA deep fried theirs so they had a nice texture. Looking at wikipedia, I guess steamed is the norm. In this case, they grilled the hot dogs. (Luckily for me, that was the best part.) The hot dog was of good quality. Looking at the review to my right from Doug S., I can’t speak to the other (possibly more authentic) brand’s flavors but these tasted pretty good. On to the toppings, they were out of the peppers and I don’t like pepperoncini so I had that left off. That left me with a lot of pickle and mustardy flavors which meant not much balance. I don’t think I got any onions and I couldn’t tell if there was celery salt.
My takeaway after reading the wiki is that I probably don’t really like Chicago Dogs all that much, mostly due to the steaming but also the preponderance of pickles. So, this review — grain of salt.
I liked the people behind the counter. I think they would keep me coming back if my fries could be a little more cheesy and garlicky and if they would just give me a nice grilled hot dog. We’ll see. I plan on going back. Their personalities won me over.
Last thought, the price and portions of food were good for what you got. I paid 7.95 for a large to-​go container of fries and a good sized hot dog.

I’m not a meat eater, so this may be my first problem, but they told me about this Veggie Philly that is all grilled veggies with mozzarella cheese and marinara sauce. It sounded good but really wasn’t. Pretty bland, just a lot of marinara sauce. For vegetarians this is not your place.

Me and my girlfriend were downtown and she just got off work, we were on our way to killer burger but they were closed so we walked towards the food carts across the street and looking for something quick. The owner was the only person that greeted us as we were browsing the different carts so we have it a shot. Food was amazing!!! They were super nice and their customer service on point. And we got into a really great conversation with them as we were waiting. We would definitely go back and would recommend it to anyone else in the area.

I’m from Chicago so this review is written with that experience in mind for those from the Midwest.
The Hot dogs they use are sabretts from New York, not Vienna beef, or best’s kosher. Not sure how they can say just like at Wrigley when not using the same dogs.
They said they got the Italian beef from Chicago so I gave it a try. Instead of heating up the beef in the au jus they warmed it on the flat top, which changes the texture and dries it out. Peppers were fine.
They also have philly cheese steaks on the menu, but use the same beef as the Italian beef instead of ribeye, so it’s really a cheesy beef.
Fries were fine.
Overall the sausage place next door is more like hot doug’s in Chicago than «a taste of Chicago» is like a Chicago hot dog stand. Close, but misses on execution and ingredients.
So if you’re from Chicago and missing that Chicago experience, potbelly up at pioneer square is a better mirror of home.
If the place didn’t say they were a taste of Chicago I’d give one more star but still not be a repeat customer.

I’ve never eaten here. Maybe the food is great. I have no idea.
What I do know is that every time I’m at the 3^rd & Alder pod to order something from not-​here, this dude yells at me. I think he sees himself as some sort of affable carnival barker and not the jerk who’s leaning out of his place of business and harassing everyone who walks by.
Also, I have to question the location — what kind of tool opens a competing hot dog cart next-​door to one of the only well-​established hot dog carts in the city? How can that possibly be good for either of you?
Maybe this business strategy works in Chicago, but in Portland we call this behavior «being a dick.»

Delicious good and excellent service! Definitely recommend! This place is new, but they know how to make a mean cheesesteak! They even give you free cheese fries… Yum!

This was my 4^th of July dinner, a polish sausage from «Taste of Chicago» on 3^rd Ave. Most food carts downtown were closed for the 4^th except for the food carts on 3^rd avenue which were open to serve the throngs gathering nearby on the waterfront for the fireworks show. «A Taste of Chicago» is unique in that it has a very loud front counter person functioning as a «barker» yelling at passersby with a heavy sale pitch: Free potato chips or potato salad with every purchase! Take one bite and if you don’t like it get your money back! I admit that I was in the mood for some good olé’ American food like a hot dog or hamburger so you didn’t have to twist my arm. It turns out that they had run out of their Chicago style dog so they offered a polish sausage instead (I docked one star for running out of their signature product). The hot dog I received was impressive looking but the polish sausage was salty although had a decent beef flavor (I docked another star for saltiness). I would have liked to have tried their Chicago style dog but I admit that I’m not super motivated to go back given the quality of their polish dog.

users, don’t try to use your coupon here. The dude who took my order said he has tried to get them to take A Taste of Chicago off the list. Hey, no big deal– we still wanted to try the place since the reviews are pretty good and I miss home.
I got one sad polish sausage that tasted like a store bought Hillshire Farms. Technically it was 2 sausages in the bun; definitely some sausage overcompensation going on. Crazy salty but not many other flavors happening.
Also, what’s up with the shredded white Chichuahua cheese on top of the fries? In all seriousness, I was hoping for cheese fries covered in goopy sauce in a radioactive shade of orange-​yellow. SO DISAPPOINTED! Both meals bought came with teeny portions of shoestring fries that were super greasy and soft… albeit tasty. Couldn’t bring ourselves to eat the ones soaking in oil on the bottom.
With that said, I’m throwing in extra star for having a pretty respectable Philly cheesesteak. Wouldn’t come back for it, though.

Heavy on the sales pitch but not on the customer follow through. This is the usual story of decent food but poor experience.
I wait and wait and wait until he asks why I’m still standing there. I’m waiting for my special double sausage… «oh we’re out of those how about something else»
Someone else comes and orders the special. He gradually remembers he’s out of them and talks her into a cheesesteak for $ 8.50 (price of the special instead of usual $ 8.95)
I finally get my Philly cheesesteak, not as quickly as promised, but fairly fast, but for $ 8.95 and I don’t even get my nickel back. Just a dollar.

Fantastic authentic Chicago food. Very nice people with a very nice attitude, representing Chicago in the very best manner. What more can be said.

Fantastic quality, great customer service, delicious food. I got the sausage: A+!
Will definitely be coming back, because this was great.

The garlic cheese fries are killer. This guys fries are the best I have had in town. I stopped in at my usual witching hour while I pedicab and tried the new cart and I can say this guy has some of the best food coming out of the carts. After all I get paid to know where the best food is in town.
The Philly cheese steak was stellar too. With a huge helping of beef. You must try this place.

Grand opening was great. Best Chicago food on PDX. Made from scratch can’t beat prices and will not go away hungry! A must try!!!

So I have never been to Chicago but if it tastes like this then hell yeah. So on my lunch walk through downtown this friendly voice called out and asked if I wanted a sample. I said why sure, then I was handed this little cup of juiciness. It was a piece of sausage from the Italian sausage sandwich swimming in a little puddle of au jus that he usually serves up with the steak sandwiches. Man I was glad I tasted both, the sausage was on point, moist and flavorful. That au jus I could put that on anything or just drink it out of the tiny cup I was handed. Super Tasty!
So with that tiny sip and taste he sold me. I ordered a sausage sandwich. Throw in some peppers, some mozzarella, a little homemade sauce and then heated through to melt the cheese. Ugh I had the office so jealous of how great it smelled I exclaimed that it taste just as good. I’ll soon return to test out the cheesesteak.
So this guy is top notch friendly, from the east coast, and apparently the family has two restaurants one on the east coast and one in Arizona (think they are pizza joints). He explained how he makes his oil with some basil and garlic, then also a butter that is used to drizzle on the cheesy fries.
The cart is down on the row of carts near SW 3^rd and Washington. They are going to start taking cards any day now. The guy states if you don’t like it he’ll give you back double your money. So give the small business a chance and make sure to wear a bib.