Michael Osanloo ousted as Portillo’s president, CEO
It’s about time.
by merstudio
32 Comments
juliuspepperwoodchi
Enshittification will continue until profits improve.
The issue isn’t that the population here isn’t growing enough..the issue is that the quality has tanked while drive through wait times and prices have gone up. There’s nothing special about Portillo’s anymore, not in the Chicagoland area anyway. Good hot dogs/beefs/etc are a dime a dozen.
Just remember, he isn’t being fired because people are complaining about quality, he’s being fired because they aren’t profiting enough.
lotsapoppa54
Good riddance
FUBAR_The_Clown
Johnny’s Beef on north avenue is 100% better
vandelay82
The Italian beef has gotten better for my location in the last year or so. I used to get it for take/make from the catering but randomly got a sandwich and it wasn’t tough/chewy and had good taste.
I live 2 hours south of Chicago and we have no other options for Italian beef. I would rather have half a dozen places from where I grew up.
Presence_Academic
Portillo’s has recently suffered from declining sales as well as slow downs in their Texas market performance.
Only time will tell if Portillo’s will emphasize improving sales or enhancing margins. In addition, there’s the question of how to improve sales. Lowering prices is one way, but not the only way.
fuzzballz5
I had a beef at Buona last week. I almost took a picture of it because it literally had 4 slices of beef. I’m shocked by both Portillos and Buona how far they have fallen. I’m in the West Burbs and it sounds unbelievable, but we could use a real hot dog and beef joint. I think it’s gone so far corporate that people are looking for something good.
SebastianMagnifico
If you live in Chicago and still frequent Portillo’s, for shame! that is definitely a Schaumburg kind of a thing.
SHAME! SHAME! SHAME! Lol. Just kidding, but if you live in the city please try to support locally owned businesses.
john_carlton2
Portillos has devolved in quality since Dick sold out
kaym__88
Their burgers do not taste good anymore.
jgilbs
My kids love Portillo’s beef. I told my daughter, man if you like *this*, you should have tried it when it was actually good! And she started crying. She wept tears for what once was.
BillShooterOfBul
It’s the same it’s always been for their existing menu items. They did decrease portion sizes for some items which I applaud, but I think many of their core customers care more about calories per dollar than eating an appropriate number of calories. I mean they have a chocolate cake shake.
Ineedamedic68
Friendly reminder that Portillos is trying to argue in court that the NLRB is unconstitutional.
Sure-Coffee-8241
I wish this meant they would stop skimping on the Italian beef but I know that ship has sailed
ChicagoRealEstate86
Johnnie’s is the best
okogamashii
Private equity strikes again
The_Vis_Viva
When has a private equity firm made anything better for anyone other than the investors? Honestly. I don’t think there’s a single example for which quality and/or service hasn’t gotten worse for customers, and it DEFINITELY gets worse for the employees. Every. Single. Time.
lametown_poopypants
Y’all acting like Portillo’s wasn’t expensive before it was sold.
Hopping_Tiger
As someone with inside info…one thing that Reddit always misses in the non-stop Portillos threads is their downward trend did not start when they went public. It really started in 2018 when they had to start publishing nutrition info. Their recipes were brutal nutrition wise so they dropped some fringe items altogether and started shrinking portion size. Yea they are run by schmucks who probably would have enshitified it eventually but just wanted to point that out.
ejwestcott
Frannie’s is the best
Bob5451292
And a Portillio’s Beef sandwich will become shittier. 😞
Inner-Replacement295
Chocolate Cake still delicious.
Wild_Bag465
I like Portillos but there are so many better choices if you live in Chicago
krashtestgenius
Last beef I got from them the bread was still raw, and the beef itself was lacking in portion and taste. That was like 6 months ago and haven’t been back
dpaanlka
I haven’t had Portillo’s in years. Used to be a favorite up until pandemic. Basically haven’t had since then!
gentleshadow
Portillos is and will always be a good reliable option for quick food. It is true they’re quality sucks. But I was surprised that the portillos by me was open until midnight??
Mark3422
It’s not a surprise the place has gone downhill for customers and employees I worked at the commissary for a period of months and there’s so many long term employees that used to be happy but no longer but sadly to be expected most times when sold like it was.
JimHouTex
As someone living in Texas, I was excited to have Portillo’s move into this market as there are no good Italian Beef places in Texas (beyond a few deli’s that have an owner from Chicago and are always too far of a drive). Unfortunately the product Portillo’s is serving in Texas is a very sad version of what I’ve eaten in Chicago. I’m like why go to all the trouble and expense to bring the real Italian Beef to Texas and then serve crap? Super disappointed.
G0uge_Away
Given enough time, capitalism destroys everything good.
Catch-Me-Trolls
Hopefully the new CEO will make better ingredients & improve the quality of the food. Edit- I’ve been going to this place for 30 years.
5325Downers2025
I have always loved the Italian beef Last couple I have ordered are just not as good. Taste like when you get home frozen Italian beef from Jewel. Did they change something?
Imaginary-Primary206
They’ve been quietly laying off [legacy] employees in the corporate office for the last year. There aren’t many of them left and it shows in the quality of the brand. Osanloo cut around 10 influencial leaders late last year with no warning and there have been several encouraged retirements. It’s shaken the foundations of everyone at their office. What once felt like family has shifted to an environment of fear “am I going to be next?” The answer is, ‘if you think you are, you probably are’. Catering to the investors has ruined the integrity of the brand and what it once stood for. They’re too concerned with making investors happy and the customers are suffering.
32 Comments
Enshittification will continue until profits improve.
The issue isn’t that the population here isn’t growing enough..the issue is that the quality has tanked while drive through wait times and prices have gone up. There’s nothing special about Portillo’s anymore, not in the Chicagoland area anyway. Good hot dogs/beefs/etc are a dime a dozen.
Just remember, he isn’t being fired because people are complaining about quality, he’s being fired because they aren’t profiting enough.
Good riddance
Johnny’s Beef on north avenue is 100% better
The Italian beef has gotten better for my location in the last year or so. I used to get it for take/make from the catering but randomly got a sandwich and it wasn’t tough/chewy and had good taste.
I live 2 hours south of Chicago and we have no other options for Italian beef. I would rather have half a dozen places from where I grew up.
Portillo’s has recently suffered from declining sales as well as slow downs in their Texas market performance.
Only time will tell if Portillo’s will emphasize improving sales or enhancing margins. In addition, there’s the question of how to improve sales. Lowering prices is one way, but not the only way.
I had a beef at Buona last week. I almost took a picture of it because it literally had 4 slices of beef. I’m shocked by both Portillos and Buona how far they have fallen. I’m in the West Burbs and it sounds unbelievable, but we could use a real hot dog and beef joint. I think it’s gone so far corporate that people are looking for something good.
If you live in Chicago and still frequent Portillo’s, for shame! that is definitely a Schaumburg kind of a thing.
SHAME! SHAME! SHAME! Lol. Just kidding, but if you live in the city please try to support locally owned businesses.
Portillos has devolved in quality since Dick sold out
Their burgers do not taste good anymore.
My kids love Portillo’s beef. I told my daughter, man if you like *this*, you should have tried it when it was actually good! And she started crying. She wept tears for what once was.
It’s the same it’s always been for their existing menu items. They did decrease portion sizes for some items which I applaud, but I think many of their core customers care more about calories per dollar than eating an appropriate number of calories. I mean they have a chocolate cake shake.
Friendly reminder that Portillos is trying to argue in court that the NLRB is unconstitutional.
I wish this meant they would stop skimping on the Italian beef but I know that ship has sailed
Johnnie’s is the best
Private equity strikes again
When has a private equity firm made anything better for anyone other than the investors? Honestly. I don’t think there’s a single example for which quality and/or service hasn’t gotten worse for customers, and it DEFINITELY gets worse for the employees. Every. Single. Time.
Y’all acting like Portillo’s wasn’t expensive before it was sold.
As someone with inside info…one thing that Reddit always misses in the non-stop Portillos threads is their downward trend did not start when they went public. It really started in 2018 when they had to start publishing nutrition info. Their recipes were brutal nutrition wise so they dropped some fringe items altogether and started shrinking portion size. Yea they are run by schmucks who probably would have enshitified it eventually but just wanted to point that out.
Frannie’s is the best
And a Portillio’s Beef sandwich will become shittier. 😞
Chocolate Cake still delicious.
I like Portillos but there are so many better choices if you live in Chicago
Last beef I got from them the bread was still raw, and the beef itself was lacking in portion and taste. That was like 6 months ago and haven’t been back
I haven’t had Portillo’s in years. Used to be a favorite up until pandemic. Basically haven’t had since then!
Portillos is and will always be a good reliable option for quick food. It is true they’re quality sucks. But I was surprised that the portillos by me was open until midnight??
It’s not a surprise the place has gone downhill for customers and employees I worked at the commissary for a period of months and there’s so many long term employees that used to be happy but no longer but sadly to be expected most times when sold like it was.
As someone living in Texas, I was excited to have Portillo’s move into this market as there are no good Italian Beef places in Texas (beyond a few deli’s that have an owner from Chicago and are always too far of a drive). Unfortunately the product Portillo’s is serving in Texas is a very sad version of what I’ve eaten in Chicago. I’m like why go to all the trouble and expense to bring the real Italian Beef to Texas and then serve crap? Super disappointed.
Given enough time, capitalism destroys everything good.
Hopefully the new CEO will make better ingredients & improve the quality of the food.
Edit- I’ve been going to this place for 30 years.
I have always loved the Italian beef
Last couple I have ordered are just not as good. Taste like when you get home frozen Italian beef from Jewel. Did they change something?
They’ve been quietly laying off [legacy] employees in the corporate office for the last year. There aren’t many of them left and it shows in the quality of the brand. Osanloo cut around 10 influencial leaders late last year with no warning and there have been several encouraged retirements. It’s shaken the foundations of everyone at their office. What once felt like family has shifted to an environment of fear “am I going to be next?” The answer is, ‘if you think you are, you probably are’. Catering to the investors has ruined the integrity of the brand and what it once stood for. They’re too concerned with making investors happy and the customers are suffering.
Its the bright green relish 🤢🤮🤑