Portillo's continues expansion, to open in Champaign next year

Oak Brook-based Portillo's is expected to announce today that it will open a new restaurant in Champaign near the University of Illinois.

The restaurant, expected to open in April is part of an expansion plan to have about 50 restaurants operating in Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois and Indiana by late 2017, said Portillo's CEO Keith Kinsey.

"We are going to continue to be very methodical on where we locate and hire the right people, and train them well," said Kinsey, who earned a bachelor of science degree in accounting at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana.

Kinsey, former president of Noodles & Co., took over as CEO of Oak Brook-based Portillo's Hot Dogs about 16 months ago. Boston-based Berkshire Partners, the company that bought the company from founder Dick Portillo, brought on Kinsey at the time to help grow the popular restaurant chain, which now operates 46 eateries.

The new Champaign restaurant, about 3 miles from the University of Illinois campus, will have the same menu that includes Italian beef sandwiches, burgers and salads. And like at other establishments, vintage items will decorate the walls as well as some items from Chanute Air Force Base, a decommissioned U.S. Air Force base in nearby Rantoul.

Other restaurants set to open will be in Harwood Heights, Illinois, in January and Normal, Illinois, in August. Others that recently opened are found in Gurnee and Deerfield.

Future expansion will focus on downstate Illinois; Indianapolis, Indiana, Florida and Wisconsin. Another site is still being finalized near Minneapolis, Minnesota, Kinsey said.

Meanwhile, Portillo's double-layer chocolate cake will spin off another dessert this winter. A heart-shaped, single layer chocolate cake will debut in early February and proceeds from the sale will be donated to the American Red Cross and the USO.