Plainfield Mayor John Argoudelis is happy that Plainfield finally has a Portillo’s restaurant.

“Welcome to Plainfield,” Argoudelis said in addressing Michael Portillo, vice president of restaurant support for Portillo’s, during a grand-opening ceremony Monday for the new restaurant.

“Many years ago, when you did the Shorewood store, your dad was looking at Plainfield as well. ... It’s been a long wait, but I know people in Plainfield are thrilled to have Portillo’s here. When you think of Portillo’s, you think of a certain name brand and quality. You know you’re going to get that great tasting food that you love.”

Michael Portillo is the son of Portillo’s founder Dick Portillo, who start the company in 1963.

The restaurant, located at the corner of 135th Street and Route 59, is a drive-thru only. Other pickup-only locations are in Joliet, Rosemont and Orland Park.

Argoudelis was the first customer to go through the drive-thru. The restaurant officially opened to the public after the ceremony.

“We’ve been getting a lot of requests to come to Plainfield for years,” Michael Portillo said. “We’re finally here. We’ve been welcomed with open arms.”

The new restaurant features double drive-thru lanes as well as an inside pickup area for pickup and delivery orders.

“His secret to success was really simple – to give customers what they want," Michael Portillo said in talking about his father. “So, we have great hot food, fresh and made the way you want it.”

The first Portillo’s hot dog stand, known as “The Dog House,” opened in 1963 on North Avenue in Villa Park. Dick Portillo invested $1,100 into a 6-foot-by-12-foot trailer without a bathroom or running water.

“He was ahead of his time,” Michael Portillo said. “I think it was a theme restaurant before a theme restaurant was even a thing.”

With the opening of the Plainfield location, the chain now has 101 locations nationwide. It recently opened its 100th location in Kennesaw, Georgia, marking its first restaurant in Georgia.

As part of the ceremony, a $8,131 check was presented to the Plainfield-based nonprofit organization Bags of Hope. Bags of Hope was founded in January 2016, providing backpacks full of nonperishable food to students in Bolingbrook, Joliet, Lockport, Minooka, Plainfield and Romeoville.

“We are happy to do this,” Michael Portillo said in presenting the check to the group. “We actually raised like $3,000, and Portillo’s donated $5,000.”