Feb. 03--For those who prefer their Italian beef and cake shakes al fresco, there will be ample opportunity at the new Portillo's under construction in Chicago's South Loop.
The two-story Portillo's at the northwest corner of Canal and Taylor streets, scheduled to open in late May, will have a second-floor outdoor patio area in addition to the ground-floor patio commonly found at other locations. Together, the two patios comprise about 1,700 square feet of the restaurant's 13,584 square feet, Portillo's spokesman Nick Scarpino said Wednesday.
"That area is filled with a good diverse mix (of people) that we think will appreciate that," he said of the second-floor patio.
Scarpino said Portillo's has applied for a liquor license for the location.
Similar to the River North location and some others, the South Loop Portillo's will have a Prohibition-era, "Chicago gangster" decor and will feature a double drive-thru. The restaurant will employ about 200 people.
In 2014, founder and longtime CEO Dick Portillo sold the restaurant chain to Berkshire Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm, to help grow the company with outside financing. Since then, executives have said the plan is to increase the number of restaurants by 10 to 15 percent each year.
gtrotter@tribpub.com
