Portillo’s may not be coming to Las Vegas, after all

It’s not looking good for the beef.

In September 2023, Portillo’s, the chain known for its Chicago-style food, including Italian beef sandwiches on Turano French rolls, made a splashy declaration that it was “looking to enter Nevada, including the Las Vegas market, for the first time as part of its long-term plan to scale the brand and open new locations across the country.”

Now, that’s looking less likely.

On Wednesday, the company announced it was cutting the number of planned new restaurants “to sharpen focus on its core markets.” The announcement follows an August earnings call in which the Portillo’s CEO acknowledged that stores recently opened in Texas have underperformed, as reported by Restaurant Dive, an industry news site.

So, what does this mean for Vegas, which is not a current core market for Portillo’s? Is Italian beef denied? And why Texas? There is far more cultural affinity between rowdy Chicago and rakish Las Vegas than, er, Lubbock.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal has contacted the company about when (or if) we might expect the Italian beef, char-broiled burgers, and Chicago dogs provisioned with kosher pickles, sliced tomatoes, spicy sport peppers, chopped onions, mustard, relish and celery salt.

Contact Johnathan L. Wright at jwright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @JLWTaste on Instagram.