One eagle-eyed ToNeTo Atlanta reader notified us late Tuesday about a new digital billboard that seemed to have popped up almost overnight on I-75 in Cobb County that hinted at the highly anticipated arrival of Portillo's in metro Atlanta.
The Portillo's website also offered no hints about location but does provide a countdown clock, suggesting that news of the restaurant's Atlanta arrival will be released at 10AM Wednesday. But we're not called Tomorrow's News Today - Atlanta for nothing!
Research indicates, and Cobb County records confirm, that Portillo's (like Whataburger before it) will make their Atlanta area debut in Kennesaw!
Portillo's is slated to open at 790 Cobb Place Boulevard, where it replaces On The Border, a chain Mexican restaurant that closed earlier this year after more than two decades in business.
The On The Border building measures about 9,100 square feet and sits on roughly 1.87 acres.
Portillo's plans to demolish the building and construct their "Restaurant of the Future," which is expected to be about 6,000 square feet, in its place.
Chicago-based Portillo's, best known for hot dogs and beef sandwiches, indicated last September that it was considering a metro Atlanta expansion and earlier this year hired a local brokerage team with TSCG to spearhead that effort.
In a LinkedIn post in August, TSCG shared that they were seeking 1.7 acre pad sites (1.5 acre with shared parking) for Portillo's that would allow drive-thru with 90 to 100 parking spaces. The post suggested that Portillo's was looking at the state as a whole rather than just "metro Atlanta," with specific interest in "strong regional & super regional trade areas." Ideal locations for Portillo's will also offer "Excellent access & visibility."
A nearly two acre site, officially with a Cobb Place Boulevard address, but physically located along Ernest Barrett Parkway with excellent access and visibility and close proximity to I-75 and I-575 seems to check those boxes and more!
Dick Portillo started the restaurant in 1963. Sixty-one years later, there are about 90 restaurants in 10 states around the country with chain likely to hit the 100 unit count in 2025.
Portillo's entered Florida with a location in Brandon in 2016. In the years since, the company has opened five more locations in the Sunshine State with a seventh unit planned to open in the Orlando suburb of Waterford Lakes December 5.
In addition to Georgia, the chain plans to enter Nevada, Colorado, and North and South Carolina in the years to come.
The company indicated in late 2023 that it was increasing its growth projections from 600 to 920 units: 800 full-sized restaurants and 120 pickup units, walk-up stores for urban areas and other "alternative restaurant formats," such as locations on college campuses.
Portillo's is the latest in a string of regional and cult-favorite chain restaurants to announce or open in Georgia. Whataburger entered the Atlanta market in November 2022, followed by Shipley Do-Nuts in March 2023 and Tim Hortons in Columbus in June 2023 (and metro Atlanta this past January). Torchy's Tacos opened their first Atlanta area location this past August with Dutch Bros. expected to make their metro Atlanta debut in 2025.
ToNeTo Atlantaexclusively reported in September that Raising Cane's is also opening in Kennesaw where it will be part of a multi-tenant redevelopment of the former AndThat! store at 845 Ernest Barrett Parkway.
Are you excited about the planned arrival of Portillo's in Georgia? Where else would you like to see Portillo's open in the state? What restaurant not currently in the state would you most like to see enter the market?
Please share your thoughts below.