No indoor dining: Portillo's new drive-through and to-go concept coming to Rosemont
A dining room-less Portillo's with three drive-through lanes - only the second in the Chicago-style food chain's expanding portfolio - will be built on a prominent corner in Rosemont.
The village board Monday inked a redevelopment agreement and sales contract with Northfield-based Braden Real Estate that paves the way for a new Portillo's Pick Up restaurant on the northwest corner of Mannheim and Higgins roads.
It's a concept the popular eatery - already known for its bundled-up order takers helping to speed up long drive-through lines - contemplated before the pandemic, but it was no doubt accelerated by COVID-19.
The village is giving the land to Braden. Portillo's in turn is signing a long-term lease with the developer, officials said.
Mayor Brad Stephens expressed confidence that the deal would ultimately pay off with ample sales taxes for village coffers. The first pickup-only Portillo's that opened a year ago in Joliet has already done $6 million in revenue, he said.
Like Joliet, the Rosemont location would have all the classics - Chicago-style hot dogs, Italian beef sandwiches, charbroiled burgers and famous chocolate cake - but probably not the more extensive menu of a sit-down Portillo's, which includes Barnelli's pasta dishes and baby back ribs.
Stephens and Braden Chairman/CEO Marc Offit have long been eying a restaurant or retail use for the highly visible entryway corner on the edge of O'Hare International Airport.
"We always thought it should be the first stop when you come from the airport or are going to the airport," Stephens said.
The 3,500-square-foot restaurant - about half the size of a traditional Portillo's - would have two drive-through lanes for ordering and a bypass lane that encircles the building, according to early renderings submitted to village hall. The building would contain a small lobby for walk-up orders and delivery pickups, but there would be no tables or seating for indoor dining.
Most of the building will be devoted to food prep, along with offices, storage and an employee break room, renderings show.
Stephens said a traffic study showed "no problem" with traffic and vehicle flow. The site would contain 39 parking spaces.
The company is scheduled to go before the village zoning board of appeals next month for review of its signage and building facade, which is proposed to include Rosemont-centric branding.
Under a separate agreement still to come before the village board, the village could provide up to $600,000 for underground improvements, to fix a retaining wall next to the neighboring Willow Creek, and to install a wall between the restaurant and adjacent Best Western at O'Hare motel.
Village officials pondered a condemnation lawsuit before coming to agreement over a $1.675 million sales price with the former property owner last year. A demolition company later knocked down the east portion of a three-story, 75,000-square-foot building that housed Shoeless Joe's sports bar, Pine Grove diner and Enigma The Lounge basement nightclub.
Shoeless Joe's was the last tenant to leave the property, relocating to nearby Schiller Park in 2019, and redevelopment has stalled since then, only made more complex by a series of cross parking easements with the motel.
Those issues have been cleared up, Stephens said, and the Best Western - formerly connected to the Shoeless Joe's building via a hallway - is now a stand-alone building.
The motel, which has had a number of ownership changes over the years, is in foreclosure but remains in business for now, Stephens said.
The village will build and retain control of a monument sign at the corner. It will include panel signage for Portillo's and the motel, and a digital message board.
Portillo's is aiming to open by the end of the year.