{"id":133849,"date":"2025-08-10T08:07:03","date_gmt":"2025-08-10T08:07:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/133849\/"},"modified":"2025-08-10T08:07:03","modified_gmt":"2025-08-10T08:07:03","slug":"did-portillos-open-too-many-restaurants-in-dallas-fort-worth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/133849\/","title":{"rendered":"Did Portillo\u2019s open too many restaurants in Dallas-Fort Worth?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The growth of Chicago-based Italian beef sandwich and hot dog chain Portillo\u2019s<\/a> has been hindered by its high-profile, high-dollar expansion into Texas<\/a>, CEO Michael Osanloo said during an earnings call in early August 2025.<\/p>\n

Flat growth in the Lone Star State from the second quarter of 2025 is \u201craising questions about whether the 95-unit chain is growing too fast,\u201d Restaurant Business reported in a story called Texas loses its taste for Portillo\u2019s<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It took 60 years for Portillo\u2019s to make it to Texas. When the company agreed to expand \u2014 specifically, to Dallas-Fort Worth first \u2014 it did so in dramatic fashion, with seven restaurants open in the region today and two more on the way. <\/p>\n

Portillo\u2019s early 2023 debut in The Colony<\/a> was one of the biggest restaurant expansions of the year<\/a> in Dallas-Fort Worth. <\/p>\n

Restaurant News<\/p>\n

Get the scoop on the latest openings, closings, and where and what to eat and drink.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is one of the greatest real estate sites I\u2019ve personally ever seen,\u201d Osanloo said during an earnings call in March 2022 ahead of the opening. \u201cI think it\u2019s going to be a world-class opening for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The restaurant in the $1.5 billion Grandscape development averaged $48,000 in sales per day<\/a> in its first month and a half, QSR reported. If sustained, that would equal $17 million per year, Osanloo said in March 2023.<\/p>\n

Cue the \u201ceverything\u2019s bigger in Texas\u201d tropes.<\/p>\n

\"Nick<\/p>\n

Nick Tague (center) and Ely Martinez, both Chicago natives, hold up a one and two with their fingers as the first and second guests walking into the new Portillo\u2019s in The Colony. It was the first Portillo’s in Texas, open 60 years after the company was founded in Chicago.<\/p>\n

Liesbeth Powers \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

Even Osanloo knew at the time that $17 million a year was \u201ca crazy number,\u201d he told investors in an earnings call in 2023. It was the company\u2019s No. 1 restaurant in terms of performance at the time, meaning The Colony was \u201cmatching the volumes of restaurants in Chicago that have been open for decades.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely coming down,\u201d he clarified at the time, \u201cbut we feel really good that this restaurant will significantly exceed our underwriting expectations and set us up for further success in Texas as we continue to expand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fast-forward to August 2025, and Osanloo has quieted his former bullishness on D-FW and Texas. He believes the company was \u201clulled into a false sense of security with the success of the Colony.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just an enormous opening<\/a> that almost broke the restaurant,\u201d he said in the Aug. 5 earnings call, referencing the 2023 opening in The Colony. He did not cite how much was spent on marketing.<\/p>\n

The company then \u201ctamped down all marketing,\u201d meaning fewer dollars went to other expansions, like in Houston.<\/p>\n

\"Employees<\/p>\n

Employees cheer during the grand opening of Portillo’s in Allen in September 2023.<\/p>\n

Jason Janik \/ Special Contributor<\/p>\n

So did Portillo\u2019s build too many restaurants, too quickly, in North Texas, one analyst asked on the Aug. 5 call?<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a very fair question, and I don\u2019t know if I have a clean answer for that,\u201d Osanloo said on the call. \u201c… It was too many too quickly. The flip side is that we need to build awareness.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Italian Beef sandwich at Portillo’s is the thing to get, the CEO told Dallas diners.<\/p>\n

Jason Janik \/ Special Contributor<\/p>\n

Indeed, one of the ways Osanloo spread the Portillo\u2019s name was by explaining the historic brand to Texans who had never visited. The company\u2019s \u201cBeef Bus\u201d was parked at festivals and in shopping centers, and employees shared the story of how founder Dick Portillo started with just $1,100 in 1963.<\/p>\n

Osanloo had a message for Texans in 2022, before the opening:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not a hot dog place<\/a>,\u201d he said in a Dallas Morning News interview. \u201cIt is an Italian beef place.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf people are coming to Portillo\u2019s and they\u2019re eating one thing, I\u2019d say get a beef sandwich. It\u2019ll blow your mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

The News captured photos of the long lines in The Colony. Police officers guided traffic as Chicago ex-pats and curious Texans waited in the cold, buzzing over what to order.<\/p>\n

\"Spillover<\/p>\n

Spillover from the drive-through lane at Portillo’s in The Colony in 2023 bled out onto a road lined with cones, to ease traffic.<\/p>\n

Liesbeth Powers \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

Next came Allen and Arlington, restaurants that \u201ccan\u2019t open fast enough<\/a>\u201d to meet demand, The News reported. Others are now open in Denton, Fort Worth, Grapevine and Mansfield.<\/p>\n

But flashy restaurant openings in Dallas-Fort Worth aren\u2019t always sustainable. Gino\u2019s, a deep-dish pizza place from Chicago, couldn\u2019t make it in Texas. <\/p>\n

Portillo\u2019s adjusted growth expectations, lowering projections from 10 to 12% this year to 5 to 7%.<\/p>\n

Despite two coming-soon restaurants expected in Grand Prairie and at DFW Airport, Osanloo said he will not be \u201cpushing the gas\u201d in North Texas.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have built some great restaurants in Texas, and they\u2019ve just started off slow,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t given up on them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The growth of Chicago-based Italian beef sandwich and hot dog chain Portillo\u2019s has been hindered by its high-profile,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":133850,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5138],"tags":[13358,5229,7948,13431,7371,7372,13471,11213,9733,988,6270,358,13434,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-133849","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-worth","8":"tag-allen","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-arlington","11":"tag-denton","12":"tag-fort-worth","13":"tag-fortworth","14":"tag-grapevine","15":"tag-italian-food","16":"tag-restaurant-news","17":"tag-restaurants","18":"tag-retail","19":"tag-texas","20":"tag-the-colony","21":"tag-tx","22":"tag-united-states","23":"tag-united-states-of-america","24":"tag-unitedstates","25":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","26":"tag-us","27":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115003448017510345","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133849\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}