Portillo’s drive-thru will no longer accept cash, starting Monday

Portillo's
Portillo’s first “dog house," Villa Park, 1963. Starting Monday, Portillo's will no longer accept cash in its drive-thru. Photo credit Courtesy of Portillo's

(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Forty years after opening its first drive-thru in Downer Grove, Portillo’s is going cashless.

The company announced that it was moving to only credit and debit cards in the drive-thru, as a way to speed up the process and protect its workers.

The average drive-thru makes $3.9 million dollars a year. In 2021, two men robbed two Portillo’s employees at gunpoint outside the Niles restaurant in the middle of the lunch rush in September 2021.

In October 2022, a Portillo’s in Gurnee Mills was robbed when police said a suspect pulled up to the cashier's window, flashed a handgun, and demanded money.

The Oak Brook-based chain is still accepting cash inside at its more than 70 restaurants.

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Featured Image Photo Credit: Courtesy of Portillo's