Portillo’s is aiming to add a second location to its Atlanta roster, according to site plans filed with the City of Dunwoody Planning Commission earlier this month. The spot is looking to join the development proposed for 84 Perimeter Center East at the corner of Ashford Dunwoody Road and Perimeter Center East.
The lot currently has a vacant one-story building that was formerly home to a bank. However, the property has been in the process of redevelopment for a long time, undergoing a rollercoaster of zoning amendments for the past 15 years. Plans for development in 2008 called for a hotel, a full-service restaurant, a meeting space and a 70,000-square-foot fitness center on the site. However, plans shifted in 2019 when the site plan was amended to include an 11-story hotel and two additional commercial buildings for restaurants and retail spaces. Then, in 2020, plans for the hotel transformed into plans for age-restricted rental housing.
Now, the site plan has shifted again and went before the City of Dunwoody Planning Commission, exhibiting key changes including a 4,781-square-foot Portillo’s restaurant with a drive-thru along Ashford Dunwoody Road. The restaurant also has a 1,692-square-foot planned patio, according to site plans.
The inclusion of the drive-thru became a contested issue at the July meeting for the Planning Commission, when two people spoke in opposition to the inclusion of a drive-thru. However, the site plan received approval at the August meeting on the condition that a maximum of 50% of the restaurant’s food revenue can come from the drive-thru itself.
Other elements of the approved site plan include a two-story building with more than 10,500 square feet of leasable commercial space, a 14-story building for age-restricted housing, outdoor patio space and parking.
Portillo’s has no locations in the Atlanta area at the moment, though it is slated to make its debut in Kennesaw sometime this year. Based in Chicago, the fast-casual chain serves items like hot dogs, beef and sausage sandwiches, chicken sandwiches, char-broiled burgers and shakes.
The Dunwoody location is still in the early stages of development, and the site still has approvals that it will need to pass through to get to the point of construction.
