For the first time in its history, Portillo’s will offer customers the opportunity to pick up an Italian beef, hot dog or cake shake near the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field.
The Chicago-based hot dog chain is opening a new location about a block south of the ballpark, including a small indoor dining area and takeout service featuring Portillo’s first walk-up window.
While the restaurant won’t open until 2027, the Wednesday announcement was timed to coincide with National Hot Dog Day, ostensibly whetting fans’ appetites for next season.
“There’s no better day to announce a new Portillo’s location than National Hot Dog Day,” Brett Patterson, president and CEO of Portillo’s, said in a news release. “Our Chicago-style hot dogs are at the heart of who we are, and there’s no better place to celebrate them than near another iconic Chicago institution and one of the nation’s most recognized baseball stadiums.”
The 4,600-square-foot restaurant — about half the size of Portillo’s legacy stand-alone restaurants — will be built on the first floor of 3519 N. Clark St., a sprawling mixed-use building that also contains a Shake Shack and a UFC GYM.
There’s already a Chick-fil-A restaurant across the street in the fast-food-friendly Wrigleyville neighborhood.
The new location will be Portillo’s fifth restaurant in the city and 46th in the Chicago metro area, giving Cubs fans a chance to grab a hot dog or Italian beef just a PCA home run away from Wrigley Field. The closest Portillo’s is currently located about 3 miles west of the ballpark, on Addison Street.
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The Wrigleyville restaurant will be designed for high foot traffic, reflecting a shift to smaller-format stores and takeout locations as part of the chain’s broader growth strategy.
After launching a Villa Park hot dog stand in 1963, Dick Portillo expanded his menu to include Italian beef, burgers, salads and more, and built his chain to 38 restaurants in Illinois, Indiana, California and Arizona before selling to private equity firm Berkshire Partners in 2014.
When Portillo’s went public in October 2021, it had 67 restaurants in nine states, raising $405 million through the offering with an ambitious plan to expand to 600 locations nationwide.
Since then, Portillo’s has grown to more than 100 company-owned restaurants across 11 states, but the chain slowed its rollout of new stores amid sluggish sales, precipitating a strategy reset and changes in corporate leadership.
To celebrate the Wrigleyville announcement — and National Hot Dog Day — Portillo’s is opening a pop-up location Wednesday night near the location of the future restaurant, at the corner of Clark Street and Patterson Avenue, featuring giveaways and a meet-and-greet with the chain’s Pokey mascot.
Portillo’s is also offering its Perks loyalty members a $1 hot dog with the purchase of $5 or more through Thursday at any of its locations nationwide. The $1 offer includes the limited-edition Char’diniera Dog, a specially crafted Vienna Beef hot dog infused with giardiniera and provolone cheese, which Portillo’s added to the menu in celebration of America’s 250th birthday.