Portillo's Restaurants facts for kids
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Trade name
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Portillo's |
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| Public | |
| Traded as | NASDAQ: PTLO |
| Industry | Restaurants |
| Genre | Fast casual |
| Founded | April 9, 1963 in Villa Park, Illinois |
| Founder | Dick Portillo |
| Headquarters | Oak Brook, Illinois, United States |
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Number of locations
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94 |
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Key people
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Michael Osanloo (CEO) |
| Products | |
| Revenue |  US$517 million (2021) |
| Owner | Berkshire Partners (72%) |
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Number of employees
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About 6,000 |
Portillo's is a popular American restaurant chain. It started in the Chicago area. They are famous for Chicago-style foods. These include hot dogs, Maxwell Street Polish sausages, and Italian beef sandwiches. Dick Portillo started the company on April 9, 1963. He first called it "The Dog House."
Portillo's has many locations. Most are in the Chicago area and Northern Illinois. They also have restaurants in other states. These include Arizona, California, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Texas, and Wisconsin.
Contents
The Story of Portillo's
How It All Started
Dick Portillo founded Portillo's in 1963. He had just finished serving in the Marines. He used his savings and some money from his brother Frank. They bought a small, 12-foot trailer. It had no bathroom or running water. They named this first hot dog stand "The Dog House." It was located in Villa Park, Illinois.
At first, the business struggled. Dick Portillo secretly visited other restaurants. He wanted to learn where they bought their food. He kept learning from different competitors. By 1967, "The Dog House" was doing well. It was upgraded to a bigger trailer. That's when it was renamed "Portillo's."
Growing the Business
In 1970, Dick Portillo teamed up with Harold Reskin. They opened a second Portillo's in a shopping mall. In 1983, Portillo's opened its first drive-thru. This was in Downers Grove, Illinois. By the 1990s, Portillo's was very successful. They had more than 25 stores around Chicago.
In 1994, the first Portillo's opened inside Chicago city limits. It was at Clark and Ontario Street. The company also tried new restaurant ideas. These included Key Wester Fish & Pasta House and Luigi's House. In 2010, they launched Honey-Jam Café.
New Owners and Going Public
In 2014, Dick Portillo sold Portillo's to a company called Berkshire Partners. The new owners planned to open many more restaurants each year. Dick Portillo still helps by buying land for new locations. He then leases the land back to the company.
In 2021, Portillo's became a public company. This means its shares are traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange. Berkshire Partners still owns most of the company.
Fun New Menu Items
In April 2025, Portillo's started testing a breakfast menu. This was at six Chicago-area restaurants. They offered items like a Polish sausage, egg, and cheese sandwich. They also had a chocolate cake doughnut.
In May 2025, during Italian Beef Month, they announced "The Leo." This special sandwich was named after Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost. He is a Chicago native who became Pope Leo XIV. "The Leo" featured Italian beef extra-dipped in its juices. A student of Pope Leo's shared that the Pope's favorite dessert is Portillo's chocolate cake.
Portillo's Outside Illinois
Portillo's has expanded beyond Illinois. They even had restaurants in Tokyo, Japan, in the late 1980s and early 1990s. However, those Japanese locations eventually closed.
California Locations
The first Portillo's in California opened on October 11, 2006. It was in Buena Park. A second California location opened in 2008 in Moreno Valley.
Florida Expansion
Portillo's opened its first Florida location in 2016. This was in Brandon, Florida, near Tampa. A second Tampa location opened that same year. The company created some fun buzz before opening. They wrote a funny letter on their website. It joked about the Chicago Blackhawks beating the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2015 Stanley Cup. The letter said, "Let's be frank: No matter whose jersey you're wearing, everyone will be welcome." The Tampa and Brandon restaurants have a cool 1930s Prohibition theme.
In June 2021, a new Portillo's opened in the Orlando, Florida area. It is in Lake Buena Vista. In April 2022, a fourth Florida location opened in St. Petersburg. This one has a 1950s theme. A fifth Florida location opened in West Kissimmee in 2022. In December 2023, the sixth Portillo's in Florida opened in Clermont.
Midwest and Southwest Growth
The Minneapolis-St. Paul area got its first Portillo's in 2017. It opened in Woodbury. Many people who used to live in Chicago have moved to this area. Soon after, the first restaurant in the Indianapolis metropolitan area opened in Fishers. In 2018, more locations opened in Minnesota and Indiana.
In early 2019, Portillo's opened its first restaurant in the Madison, Wisconsin area. They also opened their first location in Iowa, in Davenport, Iowa.
In March 2021, Portillo's opened its first restaurant in Michigan. This was in Sterling Heights, Michigan. A second Michigan location opened in Livonia in July 2024.
In December 2021, Portillo's planned a new restaurant in Gilbert, Arizona. In February 2023, they opened locations in Tucson and Gilbert.
In January 2023, Portillo's opened its first location in Texas. It is in The Colony, a suburb of Dallas Fort Worth. In March 2024, the company announced two new restaurants for the Houston area.
Honey Jam Café
In 2010, Portillo's Restaurant Group started a new idea called Honey Jam Café. This was a nicer pancake house. It was similar to other breakfast and lunch cafes. The Honey Jam Café in Batavia, Illinois, closed in 2019.
