Will famed Chicago restaurant chain ever open in Las Vegas?

Is it beef, interrupted?

In September 2023, Portillo’s, the chain known for its Chicago-style food, including Italian beef sandwiches on Turano French rolls (with a splash of house gravy), announced it was “looking to enter Nevada, including the Las Vegas market, for the first time as part of its long-term plan to scale the brand and open new locations across the country.”

Almost a year later, where are we in Vegas with Italian beef sandwiches, char-broiled burgers, and Chicago hot dogs provisioned with kosher pickles, sliced tomatoes, spicy sport peppers, chopped onions, mustard, relish and celery salt? When is Portillo’s coming to town?

Nothing so far

An online search of the publicly available business license and planning records for the cities of Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and Henderson, and for Clark County, did not locate any filings listing Portillo’s restaurant (with name variations). Even if a parent company submits such filings, the name under which a restaurant does business should eventually appear in the public record.

So: Has the expansion into Nevada been delayed? Or even canceled? Delays aren’t uncommon when chains enter new markets. Remember how long it took Zippy’s to arrive in Vegas, even accounting for the pandemic?

The Las Vegas Review-Journal’s requests for comment to a representative for Portillo’s and to the company’s corporate office have not been returned.

Expansion elsewhere

The September 2023 announcement also indicated Portillo’s would “seek development opportunities in Georgia and Colorado in the near term.”

In a Wednesday LinkedIn post, The Shopping Center Group, an Atlanta commercial real estate firm, indicated it was seeking sites for the chain. According to reporting by BusinessDen, a Denver business publication, Portillo’s submitted plans in February for a location near Denver International Airport.

In 1963, Dick Portillo invested $1,100 in a small trailer to open a hot dog stand, called The Dog House, in suburban Chicago. Today, Portillo’s has more than 80 locations across 10 states.

Contact Johnathan L. Wright at jwright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @JLWTaste on Instagram.