Iconic Chicago company Portillo’s has opened in Collin County. Texas’ second Portillo’s made its debut Sept. 7 in the Dallas suburb of Allen on the Central Expressway frontage road.
The first Portillo’s opened in early 2023 in The Colony to long lines of raving fans eager to order Portillo’s famous hot dogs and Italian beef sandwiches for the first time in Texas. The second opening in Allen saw similar fervor as Chicago ex-pats and Italian beef enthusiasts made their orders.
The founder of Portillo’s, Dick Portillo, started selling hot dogs in Chicago in 1963. For decades, Portillo’s was a Chicago staple that couldn’t be found outside of the Midwest. In 2021, CEO Michael Osanloo took the restaurant public and the company is now expanding at a quicker pace. Texas is a focus because it’s No. 1 in the country for Portillo’s “shop and ship” program, where customers can have the ingredients for its famous sandwiches mailed to their homes, Osanloo said.
“We want to be a hometown restaurant chain for Texas,” Osanloo said in 2022.
At that time, he predicted that Portillo’s could open up to 20 restaurants in Texas in five years.
So far, the focus in Texas is specifically on Dallas-Fort Worth. Now that The Colony and Allen restaurants have opened, Portillo’s will open next in Arlington and Fort Worth, then Denton and Mansfield.
The new Portillo’s is at 1955 Central Expressway, Allen. It opened Sept. 7, 2023.
Texas’ first Portillo’s is at 4560 Destination Drive (at Grandscape), The Colony. It opened Jan. 9, 2023.
