There is perhaps no more famous name in Chicago-area food than Portillo’s. The chain restaurant, decked out in its signature red and white stripes, is regional royalty, turning out a hit menu of the area’s most celebrated foods (deep-dish pizza notwithstanding). The place has a well-rooted history that goes back decades, and today, both tourists and locals step into the tavern-like spaces to gawk at the sports memorabilia while waiting for their Italian beef sandwiches and fully loaded hot dogs. No restaurant screams “Chicago” more than this.
So why is there a standalone Portillo’s sitting, right now, in the middle of a giant shopping center parking lot in the deep suburbs of Orange County? And why has it been there for 20 years?
For those who don’t know their Orange County geography, Buena Park is not near the coast. It’s nebulously close to Disneyland — and yes, Knott’s Berry Farm is here — but at just over 80,000 year-round residents, the happily small city isn’t exactly a hotbed for anything. More famous, more visible and more trafficked places abound across Southern California.
That did not matter to founder Dick Portillo when, two decades ago, he decided to open up there, eschewing the glitz of Hollywood and the breezes of San Diego to land smack-dab in suburbia. It was not part of some immediately grand scheme to expand across the state or to honor some nonexistent social connection that Buena Park has with Chicago…