‘Pretty big dill’: Portillo’s announces plans for third Chicago location

Chicago-style hot dogs, Italian beef, char-grilled burgers and chocolate-cake shakes are coming to the Avondale neighborhood on the Northwest Side, where Portillo’s plans to open its third Chicago location.

At Addison and Kimball, the new, 9,000 square foot restaurant will include seating for more than 280 guests, an outdoor patio, a double drive-thru and adjacent parking lot. The restaurant will be themed as “Chicago in the Roaring Twenties to the Great Depression and the New Deal.”

The design will feature Prohibition-inspired posters and photos of gangsters, robbers and the World’s Fair, plus a 1920s antique truck suspended from the ceiling.

“Since 1963, Portillo’s has called Chicagoland home,” Michael Osanloo, CEO of Portillo’s said in a release issued Thursday. “We look forward to expanding the one-of-a-kind Portillo’s experience to Chicago’s Northwest side.”

Portillo’s plans on opening the new location by the end of the year and will be looking to bring 150 jobs with the new restaurant, with hiring to begin this summer. The location, 3357 W. Addison St., is owned by GW Properties. The other two Chicago locations are in River North and the South Loop.

Dick Portillo opened the first Portillo’s as a hot dog stand in Villa Park in 1963 with an $1,100 investment, which he called “The Dog House.” He sold it to Berkshire Partners in 2014 for nearly $1 billion, and the chain now includes more than 50 locations across several states.