Portillo's Restaurants - Outside Illinois

Outside Illinois

has been operating in Southern California since October 11, 2005, at the Buena Park Downtown shopping center in Buena Park, near Knott's Berry Farm and also opened a location in Moreno Valley, California in 2008. A location also exists in Merrillville, Indiana, though this is still well within the firm's home market of Chicagoland.

Portillo's had licensed restaurants using its recipes and themes in Tokyo, Japan, in the late 1980s and early '90s. However, the Japanese restaurants did not fully follow the same tradition as the Chicago area stores, and all eventually closed. Portillo's also delivers part of its menu to all fifty US states in a united venture alongside Eli's Cheesecake and Lou Malnati's pizzeria.

Due to a dense population of transient Mid-westerners in the Arizona market and the previous success of other Chicago-style eateries in that area, such as Rosati's Pizza, Portillo's is planning an initial launch of three restaurants in Arizona. Portillo's opened its first Arizona location February 26, 2013, at the southwest corner of N. 90th St. and E. Shea Blvd in Scottsdale which will be followed by a location in Tempe. Both locations are near the spring training home of the Chicago Cubs.