Confirmation: Portillo's Intends to Open in the Sloop During 1st Half of 2016

Last week it seemed likely that Portillo's would be opening up in the Sloop, but yesterday DNAinfo get confirmation from the restaurant:

Portillo's confirms it's planning a South Loop store that the restaurant chain hopes to open next year.

Nick Scarpino, director of marketing for the Oak Brook-based chain, confirmed the company's building permit application for 520 W. Taylor St., which was first reported last week by DNAinfo Chicago.  

Portillo's hopes to schedule a city hearing next month and open the new restaurant in the first half of 2016, Scarpino said.  

"Chicagoans have been asking us to open a restaurant south of our existing [River North] restaurant for years," he said via e-mail. "We like the area a lot: it's undergoing a lot of great development and has a terrific mix of business, residential, and university populations."

Two things.  One, good to see this confirmation.  Two, we also like the optimism on the area.  The Sloop is on the up and up (which you probably already knew).