Now, new Portillo’s CEO Brett Patterson is clearing the air about its sandwich chain’s Lone Star State problem while trying to set itself up for future success. In a new interview with nationwide food-and-beverage industry news website QSR, Patterson said Portillo’s is focusing on research to better guide its marketing strategy. That seemed to be the problem in Texas recently, QSR noted, with the brand not doing enough to get Texans excited about a brand many may not have been familiar with.
On the surface, Portillo’s is a sandwich chain. But dig deeper, and the brand is much more connected to place than most fast-food and quick-service restaurants. Portillo’s launched in Illinois back in 1963 and focuses heavily on two super Chicago foodstuffs: Chicago-style hot dogs (franks with tomatoes, kosher pickles and diced peppers inside a poppy-seed bun) and Italian beef sandwiches (slow-cooked sliced roast beef with giardiniera in a French roll).
So sure, Portillo’s offers something that nobody else is really doing at a large scale in Texas. But combining roadrunner-fast growth with a lack of familiarity with Chicago dogs and Italian beef sandwiches may lead to underperforming locations.
What connects Portillo’s and Primo is that their offerings are so uniquely connected to their places of origin. In other words, Chicagoans have something of an intimate relationship with Chicago dogs and Italian beef, and those just outside the core Portillo’s market just don’t feel the same way.
That doesn’t mean Portillo’s is backing away from Texas and Houston forever; on the contrary: Patterson told QSR that the company is working on a new marketing plan for the Lone Star State.
The bigger question is whether an outside sandwich chain—whose marketing strategy doesn’t rely on Danny Devito or firefighters—can thrive here in Texas. Outside of banh mi and po’boys, this part of the Lone Star State isn’t really much of a sandwich region. We’re not a corner deli town. We’re not littered with spots where you can just grab a quick turkey and swiss on rye, or tuna BLT or whatever.
I’ll be real: If I could afford it, I’d love to open a small deli here in Houston. A place to do an American, Italian and tuna hoagie, some quick sandwiches. Then there’s a roast pork sandwich, maybe a special cheesesteak. Are Houstonians ready for a pizza steak? Cheesesteak hoagie? Not sure.
But that’s just how it goes sometimes. A chain like Portillo’s wants to blanket Texas with roast beef coated in its juices. It’s possible we here don’t care enough to want it enough.