Rockford Portillo’s Getting in the Spicy Chicken Sandwich Battle

Portillo's is now in the spicy chicken sandwich war and it appears they came to 'light us on fire', with a very Chicago-esque spicy and creamy sauce.

My love of Portillo's food has been growing in the last couple weeks. I'm rarely hungry for a hot dog when I'm not near my grill, so I don't hit up the Portillo's drive-thru very often. For more than a decade, I've been told how good their Italian beef sandwiches are and it took me until a couple weeks ago to finally have one.

HOLY CRAP! Portillo's Italian beef sandwich is outstanding.

A couple weeks ago was also the first time I've had Portillo's onion rings. Also amazing. Like, really amazing.

Now, here comes something brand new from Portillo's. A spicy chicken sandwich with a Chicago vibe. That 'Chicago thing' is hot giardiniera sauce. The spicy sauce is a chunky giardiniera relish mixed into a creamy, hot sauce. The sauce is being made available for use in other entrees, too.

Portillo’s is teaming with Cameo for Business for the advertisingcampaign, with celebrities including Cedric the Entertainer, Mike Singletary, Snooki and Kenny G. (Singletary was the only one who could pronounced giardiniera, Portillo’s said), according to bookclubchicago.com

Steve Shannon is host of The Steve Shannon Show on 97ZOK. On the air weekday mornings from 6 to 10 a.m. and a special 'Rewind' show, featuring favorite moments from previous shows, on Saturday mornings from 5 to 7 a.m.. Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, and like his page on Facebook.