What’s with Portillo’s takeover of North Texas? Must be the Chicago-style hot dogs

Chicago-based Portillo’s hot dogs and Italian beef sandwiches are well known to northerners, but weren’t so much to Texans until this year.

The restaurant chain opened its first Texas location in The Colony in January at 5752 Grandscape Blvd. But it was only the beginning.

Since The Colony location, Portillo’s has opened restaurants in Fort Worth, Arlington and Allen. The chain also has a few more in the works for Denton and Mansfield.

Here’s what we know about the company’s Texas takeover:

What’s on the Portillo’s menu?

No matter which location North Texans visit, they’ll find a few Portillo’s staples.

A Chicago-style hot dog includes mustard, relish, celery salt, chopped onions, tomatoes, pickles and sport peppers all piled into a steamed poppy seed bun. Because of its appearance, the company says many Chicagoans refer to it as “dragging the dog through the garden”.

Other items on the menu include a chili cheese dog, a plant-based version and char-grilled polish sausages.

Another hot ticket item is the Italian beef sandwich, which is topped with slow-roasted beef and/or sweet/hot peppers. Portillo’s standard sandwich service sees beefy gravy splashed atop, but some like their sandwich “dipped”, where the entire thing makes it into the gravy and back out.

Portillo’s also serves sausage sandwiches, beef-n-cheddar croissants, beef bowls, chicken sandwiches, char-broiled burgers, salads and fries. There’s also a chocolate cake shake for those looking to end the meal with something sweet.

What’s Portillo’s history and where did they come from?

Portillo’s has been serving hot dogs since the early 1960s.

In 1963, Dick Portillo opened the first Portillo’s hot dog stand, or “The Dog House,” in Villa Park, Illinois. In the years since, the company’s brand became as synonymous with Chicago as deep dish pizza.

Today, Portillo’s has over 70 locations across 10 states:

• Arizona
• California
• Florida
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Texas
• Wisconsin

Where can you find Portillo’s in North Texas?

North Texans don’t have to look far to find a Portillo’s:

• Fort Worth — 8789 Tehama Ridge Parkway
• Arlington — 4200 South Cooper St.
• The Colony — 4560 Destination Drive
• Allen — 1955 Central Expressway

Portillo’s also has forthcoming locations in Mansfield at 410 U.S. 287 and in Denton at 3330 N. Interstate 35.

Brayden Garcia

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Brayden Garcia is a service journalism reporter at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He is part of a team of local journalists who answer reader questions and write about life in North Texas. Brayden mainly writes about weather and all things Taylor Sheridan-related.