093_HR0183
LRB093 11396 HSS 13883 r
1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives wish to offer our sincere congratulations to
4 the Portillo's Restaurant Group on its 40th anniversary; and
5 WHEREAS, The first Portillo's hot dog stand known as "The
6 Dog House" opened in 1963 in Villa Park; and
7 WHEREAS, Owner and founder Dick Portillo operated "The
8 Dog House" in a 6-foot by 12-foot trailer without a bathroom
9 or running water; and
10 WHEREAS, In 1967, "The Dog House" was remodeled and
11 renamed "Portillo's"; and
12 WHEREAS, In 1987, Dick Portillo introduced a new concept,
13 Barney's restaurant serving award winning ribs, chicken,
14 sandwiches, and salads; and
15 WHEREAS, Further expansions in 1993 led to the successful
16 restaurant named Barnelli's Pasta Bowl which features a
17 selection of pastas with homemade sauces, gourmet salads, and
18 hand tossed pizza; and
19 WHEREAS, The Key Wester Fish & Pasta House and
20 Hemingway's Bar, complete with a waterfall, 2,200 gallon salt
21 water aquarium, and accented with other original nautical
22 memorabilia from Key West, Florida offers a wide variety of
23 seafood and pasta specialties; it opened in Naperville in
24 1996; and
25 WHEREAS, The latest restaurant, Luigi's House, was
26 inspired from Dick's memories of the trip to Italy and the
27 Mediterranean and opened in Aurora in September of 2000; and
28 WHEREAS, Portillo's Home Kitchen is the catering
29 division, serving award winning family recipes; and
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1 WHEREAS, Today the Portillo Restaurant Group has more
2 than 3,600 employees and 40 different restaurants throughout
3 Illinois; and
4 WHEREAS, The Portillo Restaurant Group is the largest
5 privately-owned, family operated restaurant company in the
6 Midwest; and
7 WHEREAS, Dick Portillo and Portillo's restaurants have
8 received countless awards including, the Chicago Food Service
9 Marketing Club Hall of Fame Award, Area Service Entrepreneur
10 of the Year, Top 3 Restaurateur of the Year, and the
11 Restaurateur of the Year Award; the company has received so
12 many Silver Platter awards that the company retired from
13 competition to give others a chance; and
14 WHEREAS, On April 9, 2003 the Portillo Restaurant Group
15 will celebrate its 40th anniversary; therefore, be it
16 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
17 NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
18 we do hereby offer our congratulations to Dick Portillo and
19 the Portillo Restaurant Group on the occasion of its 40th
20 anniversary and we recognize the hard work and dedication to
21 excellence that has made Portillo's a success; and be it
22 further
23 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
24 presented to Dick Portillo and the Portillo Restaurant Group.