Portillo’s celebrates 60 years of Chicago style hot dogs, Italian beef sandwiches and cake shakes with an official Portillo’s Day on Wednesday, as declared by Mayor Lori Lightfoot in a proclamation.
Lightfoot may not have made it to the runoff election Tuesday, but will still serve as mayor until winning candidate Brandon Johnson or Paul Vallas is sworn into office.
Dick Portillo founded his namesake restaurant chain with a hot dog trailer he dubbed The Dog House, parked in the lot of a discount store on North Avenue in Villa Park in 1963. Four years later, he moved into a brick-and-mortar building, and renamed his business Portillo’s in 1967.
To mark the milestone anniversary, Portillo’s will take a replica of the original Dog House trailer on a 10-stop, two-month tour to restaurant locations across the city and suburbs beginning Thursday.
The replica won’t sell hot dogs as the original did, but only limited-edition anniversary-themed merchandise.
“Each stop of the tour will also feature Portillo’s prize wheel, giving fans the chance to spin and win Portillo’s swag and offers,” the company said in a statement. “In addition, the first 10 fans to visit the Dog House at each stop of the tour will receive an offer for one free slice of Portillo’s legendary, homemade double-layered chocolate cake.”
Birthday freebie food fans know they can join a birthday club for a free slice of chocolate cake on their own birthday. You can also enter a birthday sweepstakes for the chance to win free Portillo’s for a year at the trailer or inside any location starting Wednesday.
Portillo sold his business to private equity company Berkshire Partners in 2014. He wrote in his autobiography “Out of the Dog House” that after the sale he was “worth over a billion dollars.” That’s a lot of hot dogs, Italian beef sandwiches and cake shakes for the son of Mexican and Greek immigrants who grew up so poor his parents had to sell his tricycle when he was about 5 years old.
The restaurant company went public in 2021, and unveiled its first vegan Garden Dog in 2022. Portillo’s now has more than 70 restaurants across 10 states. That number could grow to 600 locations over the next 25 years nationwide, according to expansion plans.
Meanwhile, the 60th anniversary Dog House trailer will be open weekly from 4-7 p.m. Thursdays, parked in the Portillo’s parking lots at the following locations:
Thursday: 520 W. Taylor St.
April 13: 4020 W. 95th St., Oak Lawn
April 20: 134 E. Boughton Road, Bolingbrook
April 27: 1500 Butterfield Road, Downers Grove
May 4: 1992 W. Jefferson Ave., Naperville
May 11: 235 North Ave., Glendale Heights
May 18: 1020 S. Randall Road, Elgin
May 25: 855 Cog Circle, Crystal Lake
June 1: 6090 E. State St., Rockford
June 8: 6351/2 North Ave., Villa Park
For more information, follow Portillo’s on Instagram at @portilloshotdogs.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story included information from Portillo’s that stated it had locations in nine states. The article has been updated with the correct information.
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