• by Nina Lentini  @Nina_Lentini, February 19, 2018

Portillo’s, a Midwest eatery best known for its Chicago-style hot dogs, Italian beef sandwiches, char-grilled burgers, fresh salads and chocolate cake, is launching a new regional campaign.

“Get Obsessed” features actual social media posts from brand fans as well as restaurant staff reciting and reacting to social media musings like, “If my last meal isn’t Portillo’s, I’m haunting the world.”

In the Minneapolis-St. Paul market, :15 and :30 TV commercials begin airing this week. Chicago agency Schafer Condon Carter also collaborated with the brand to create 26 digital spots for Portillo’s social media channels and placed nine billboards in the areas around the brand’s Maple Grove, Minn., and Woodbury, Minn. restaurants. 

The Portillo’s brand, which has restaurants in more than 50 locations across several states, includes Barnelli’s restaurants, known for ribs, pastas and fresh sandwiches, soups and salads, as well as Portillo’s Home Kitchen, which offers catering.

It began in 1963 when Dick Portillo invested $1,100 in a small trailer to open the first Portillo’s hot dog stand in Villa Park, Ill., which he called “The Dog House.”