# Portillo's

> Portillo's is a Chicago-born, publicly traded restaurant chain (NASDAQ: PTLO) built on Italian beef sandwiches, Chicago-style hot dogs, char-grilled burgers, chopped salad and its cult-favorite chocolate cake shake. Founded by Dick Portillo in 1963 as a $1,100 trailer hot dog stand, it now operates roughly 90 company-owned restaurants across more than a dozen states, generating about $730 million in annual revenue. The company runs no franchises, ships food nationwide, and is pushing a smaller-footprint 'Restaurant of the Future' design as it expands into the Sun Belt.

- **Founded:** 1963
- **Headquarters:** Oak Brook, Illinois, United States
- **Founders:** Dick Portillo (Founder)
- **Team size:** ~7,900 employees
- **Products:** Italian Beef Sandwich, Chicago-Style Hot Dog, Chocolate Cake Shake, Char-Grilled Burgers, Chopped Salad
- **Notable:** Grew from a single $1,100 hot dog trailer (1963) to roughly 90 restaurants., Sold to Berkshire Partners for about $1 billion in 2014., Completed a 2021 IPO on Nasdaq (PTLO), raising more than $407 million.

## Products & services

- **Italian Beef Sandwich** — Thin-sliced, slow-roasted beef in seasoned gravy on French bread, served dipped, dry, hot or sweet - the best-selling item.
- **Chicago-Style Hot Dog** — An all-beef hot dog on a poppy-seed bun with mustard, relish, onions, tomato, pickle, sport peppers and celery salt - never ketchup.
- **Chocolate Cake Shake** — A whole slice of Portillo's chocolate cake blended into a milkshake; the signature dessert-drink hybrid.
- **Char-Grilled Burgers** — Char-grilled beef burgers, a core menu category alongside chicken sandwiches.
- **Chopped Salad** — A finely chopped salad with pasta, chicken, bacon, gorgonzola and a house Italian-style dressing.
- **Barnelli's Pasta & Sandwiches** — An in-house Italian concept offering pastas, soups and sandwiches within many Portillo's restaurants.
- **Catering & Catering Concierge** — Full-service catering including buffet-style setups, food trucks and large-event and corporate catering.
- **Nationwide Shipping** — Direct-to-consumer shipping of Italian beef, chocolate cake and other items across the United States.
- **Online Ordering & Delivery** — App, web and third-party ordering with drive-thru, pick-up and delivery channels.

## Achievements

- Grew from a single $1,100 hot dog trailer (1963) to roughly 90 restaurants.
- Sold to Berkshire Partners for about $1 billion in 2014.
- Completed a 2021 IPO on Nasdaq (PTLO), raising more than $407 million.
- Reached roughly $732 million in annual revenue with some of the highest average-unit volumes in fast casual.
- Built a national direct-to-consumer shipping business on top of a regional restaurant chain.
- Retained its entire workforce through the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns.

## Latest updates

- **2025-09** — President & CEO Michael Osanloo resigned; Board Chairman Michael Miles Jr. named interim CEO during the search for a permanent leader.
- **2025-08** — Reported first-half 2025 revenue of about $364.9 million, up ~4.9% year over year, amid margin pressure.
- **2025** — Outlined plans to open about 12 new restaurants, focused on the Sun Belt - expanding in Texas (Dallas, Houston, San Antonio) and entering Atlanta, Georgia.
- **2025** — Continued rollout of the smaller 'Restaurant of the Future' format to lower build costs, with a 2.0 version shrinking the footprint further.

## Links

- Website: https://portillos.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/portillos
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/portilloshotdog
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/portillos
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/portillos
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/portillos.hotdog
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@portillos

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/portillo-s
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-13