Outside Illinois
Portillo's had licensed restaurants in Tokyo, Japan, in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The Japanese locations all eventually closed.[22]
Portillo's first California location opened on October 11, 2006, at the Buena Park Downtown shopping center in Buena Park. The second California location opened in 2008 in Moreno Valley.
Portillo's opened its first Florida location in 2016 in the Tampa suburb of Brandon, Florida, and a second location that same year in the University Square neighborhood in Tampa. The chain generated publicity with a tongue-in-cheek open letter on its website on June 16, 2015, the day after its hometown NHL team, the Chicago Blackhawks, beat the Tampa Bay Lightning to win the 2015 Stanley Cup. The stunt received newspaper coverage in both cities. "It's official. Portillo's is coming to Tampa in 2016. Tampa residents spent years peppering us with requests to build a restaurant—you really put us in a pickle. So we're thrilled we're finally making our way to Florida," Portillo's letter said, showing the chain's ironic humor. "Let's be frank: No matter whose jersey you're wearing, everyone will be welcome. We hope you don't have a beef against us or our hometown team."[23] The locations in Tampa and Brandon have a 1930s Prohibition theme.[24]
The Minneapolis-St. Paul region's first location opened in Woodbury in mid-summer 2017. Shortly thereafter in early fall 2017, the chain's first restaurant in the Indianapolis metropolitan area commenced operations in Fishers.[25] Many former Chicagoans have moved to both regions. In 2018, Portillo's opened its second and third restaurants in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area (Maple Grove and Roseville, Minnesota)[26] as well as its third and fourth Indiana locations (Mishawaka and Indianapolis)[27][28] in 2018.
Portillo's opened its first restaurant in the Madison, Wisconsin, area and in the Davenport, Iowa/Quad Cities area (the first location in Iowa) in early 2019.
In March 2021 Portillo's opened a new location in Sterling Heights, Michigan, in Metro Detroit, which was the first location within Michigan.[29][30] Its second Michigan location opened in Livonia in July 2024.
Portillo's announced a new location in the Orlando, Florida, area, located at the corner of Palm Parkway and Daryl Carter Boulevard in Lake Buena Vista; it opened in June 2021.[31]
In December 2021, Portillo's submitted plans to build a new restaurant at Santan Village in Gilbert, Arizona.[32]
In April 2022, Portillo's opened their fourth location in Florida, located in St. Petersburg, featuring a '50s theme, and is their third in the Tampa metropolitan area. A location in West Kissimmee, announced the same month, is their second in the Orlando area, and fifth overall in Florida. In December 2023, the sixth Portillo's in Florida, and third in the Orlando area, opened in Clermont.
In January 2023, Portillo's opened its first location in Texas. It is located in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex suburb of The Colony, at the intersection of SH 121/Sam Rayburn Tollway and Destination Drive at the Grandscape complex.[33]
In February 2023, Portillo's opened the fifth and sixth locations in Arizona, located in Tucson and Gilbert.
In March 2024, the company announced it would open two new restaurants in the Houston area—one in Richmond at The Grand at Aliana and the other at the Willowbrook Mall.[34]
In 2025, Portillos opened its first location in Georgia just outside of Atlanta.
