Surprise dished up at meeting
Book club discussing Portillo’s history visits with founder’s son in New Lenox store
Michael Portillo has a lot on his plate, so he hasn’t gotten around to joining a book club.
But the Portillo’s Restaurants executive made an exception a couple of weeks ago when he stopped by the New Lenox Portillo’s restaurant to talk with members of the Orland Park-based Smith Crossing Men’s Book Club.
Club members were meeting to discuss the 107th book they’ve read together, “Out of the Dog House” by Portillo’s founder Dick Portillo and Don Yaeger.
Michael is Dick Portillo’s son and was a part of the successful storyline of the growth of the business that started with a $1,100 investment and turned into a billion-dollar entity with restaurants, property and other elements.
But the book club experience in New Lenox was a first for the younger Portillo.
“It was great,” Michael said. “I didn’t know what to expect. I hope I answered their questions.”
Tom Ryan, the book club founder who developed some business chops as a regional sales manager overseeing more than 150 agents for State Farm Insurance, said Portillo answered them well.
“This was great,” Ryan said. “This is the first time we got to meet someone from one of the books we read face to face.”
Some of the questions from club members, some who also had business backgrounds, centered on the business itself. Topics included employee motivation, transitioning into a publicly traded company in 2014, trends and decisions about development.
Others delved deep into the history of the franchise.
One member wondered if there was plumbing or a toilet at the original Dog House.
There wasn’t. Coincidentally, Portillo recently reread the book, which was published in 2018, and liked it better on the second go-round.
“When I read it the first time, I was like OK, that’s not how I would have put it together, but it was OK,” he told the group. “Then I was challenged to read it again by a friend who is a manager of ours as well.
“So I read it again about two months ago, and I actually got more out of it reading it this time than I did through the whole process.”
Portillo, 63, said by reading it again he was able to digest it and really understand it. He learned a little more about what life was like for his father at age 23 and what he had learned over the years.
He said his 83-year-old father is “busier than ever” and working on four or five different projects, including shopping centers, warehouses and apartment buildings for Berkshire Partners.
But most people know the company for its restaurants. There now are more than 70 Portillo’s throughout the country 60 years after the franchise’s humble start in a 12-foot trailer dubbed “The Dog House” on North Avenue in Villa Park in 1963.
Those who have passed by the wildly successful restaurants and seen large lines of cars — even in the late evening — might be surprised that Dick Portillo and his new venture appeared to be a failure from day one.
“When he opened his doors, he knew right away that they didn’t know how to make a hot dog,” Michael Portillo said. “They didn’t know that in Chicago you steam the bun and things like that.
“Opening day was a disaster. The food was terrible. My mom said, ‘Oh my gosh, we’re going to lose everything.’ ’’
That didn’t happen and Portillo told the book club members his father did everything he could to learn about the product and customer service.
Even while building up a restaurant empire, Dick Portillo never let his head get too big, his son said.
The company founder was at a grand opening for the Portillo’s in Streamwood, and it was full of folks who wanted to get in.
Fifteen minutes after the doors opened, Dick Portillo was getting ready to leave.
“We have a line to the door and he says, ‘I’ll be right back,’ ’’ Michael said. “He was going down the street to go to a place, I don’t remember what it was called — let’s call it Joe’s Hot Dogs. It was a little hot dog place with maybe about eight seats.
“He said, ‘Son, remember, I was that little guy.’ He said, ‘Fear that little guy. Those are the ones who learn.’
“He taught me that lesson a long time ago: Never be satisfied, never be content, always watch out for your competition.”