Portillo's early expansion (1963)
Dick Portillo opened a small hot dog stand he called The Dog House in Villa Park, Illinois, with a modest loan. The stand succeeded, was renamed Portillo's, and grew into a chain of dozens of restaurants across the Chicago region and beyond.
The single stand built a loyal customer base and funded a second, then many more locations.
Portillo's became one of the Chicago area's best-known restaurant brands, showing how a neighborhood food business can scale.
Hands On Thai & Sushi is at the second-location stage of a similar growth path. Whether it stays a two-site operation or expands depends on how the new Irving Park restaurant performs.
