Order's Up! Homewood Portillo's Opens Its Doors

Portillo’s fan Marla Johnson always swears she’ll order something different each time she visits Portillo’s, but on Tuesday she went with her favorite—a polish sausage with everything—to celebrate the arrival of the chain in Homewood.

“I’ve been waiting, yeees,” the Park Forest resident told Patch. Johnson works in Homewood, and before Tuesday’s opening had to travel to Tinley Park to get her fix.

“I’m going to try something different one of these times, I am, especially now that it’s so close.”

The opening day attracted fans from all over, and the line wrapped around the building at 17500 S. Halsted St. Joele Andersen was the first Homewood fan in line (second overall), and she couldn’t get enough.

“Ate lunch, went back with my husband for dinner, came home for a few hours and went back for the third time for a bedtime snack,” Anderson told Patch.

That kind of customer loyalty is the foundation of the Portillo’s brand and “it took a lot of years to build that,” said founder Dick Portillo. He sold the company last year to private equity firm Berkshire Partners. The bar has been set high for all future locations, and CEO Keith Kinsey of the Portillo Restaurant Group vows to keep it there. Portillo will stay on as a consultant. With his guidance, the 40th location is bound to be as big a hit as its predecessors.

Crowds mingled happily while waiting in a line that stretched consistently to the back of the psychedelic bus on display. The pickup counter echoed the sounds of a throwback diner, with employees calling out an order and a ”Number 39, it’s time to dine.” You can’t miss the “hippie bus,” along one side of the restaurant, splashed with psychedelic paint and with windows overlooking customers chomping on hot dogs over the classic red-check table cloths. Portillo leads the way as a life-sized poster affixed behind the wheel.

“Seeing all this, it’s just exciting. I’m ready to get to work,” said Zoey Brown, employee. “Everybody loves a ‘jack of all trades,’ and that’s what Portillo’s is. You come here for fun, for excitement, the great food. I just expect everybody to be in an uproar for Portillo’s.”

The occasion was attended by Homewood trustees Anne Colton, Jay Heiferman, Lisa Purcell, Ray Robertson and Karen Washington. State representatives Will Davis, Anthony DeLuca and Al Riley also stopped in, as did state Sen. Napoleon Harris and U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly. Other Homewood attendees included Village Manager Jim Marino, Assistant Village Manager Mike Marzal, Police Chief Larry Burnson, Deputy Police Chiefs Bill Alcott and Denise McGrath, Fire Chief Bob Grabowski, Economic Development Director Tom Vander Woude, Events Manager Allisa Opyd and Marketing Coordinator Anna Devries.

Portillo’s is open 10:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday.