Leadership

Brett Patterson joined Portillo’s as President & Chief Executive Officer in February 2026. In this role, Patterson leads the Company’s overall strategy, with a focus on market positioning, new restaurant growth, and operational excellence, with continued investment in team members and the guest experience.

With more than three decades of leadership experience across large, national brands, Patterson has a strong background in operations, team development, and driving sustainable growth. Throughout his career, he’s been recognized as a people-first leader with a proven ability to deliver strong returns.

Prior to joining Portillo’s, Patterson served as CEO of Miller’s Ale House, a brand owned by Roark Capital. He also previously served as Executive Vice President with Bloomin Brands and president of Outback Steakhouse, and held leadership roles with Carrabba’s Italian Grill, Steak and Ale, Bahama Breeze, and Ruby Tuesday.

Patterson holds a Bachelor of Science/Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration with a focus on Finance from the University of Florida.

Favorite Portillo's Menu Item: Italian Beef & Sausage Combo

Keith Correia joined Portillo’s as Chief Information Officer in April 2024, bringing a unique restaurant operations and project management background, coupled with over a decade of technology and digital transformation experience. With deep expertise in aligning technology with business goals, Keith is focused on delivering innovative solutions that improve operational performance and elevate the guest and team member experience, ensuring Portillo’s remains a leader in the industry.

Before joining Portillo’s, Keith led the IT team at Steak ‘n Shake, where he spearheaded significant advancements in technology, including a state-of-the-art kiosk ordering platform, a powerful mobile app, and a marketing personalization platform. His leadership was instrumental in transforming Steak ‘n Shake from a casual-dining concept to a competitive player in the quick-service restaurant industry. Prior to that, Keith spent over two decades at American Dairy Queen, where he held key roles in field operations, project management, training, and retail technology before leading the brand’s technology functions. Notably, he drove impactful initiatives such as launching the Orange Julius beverage brand across 4,000 locations, and innovating new treat and food productions systems, including the development of an automated Blizzard machine.

Keith holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Union College in Schenectady, NY. Outside of work, he enjoys traveling with his wife and two sons and is an avid cyclist and runner.

Favorite Menu Item: Italian beef Sandwich

Tony Darden joined Portillo’s as Chief Operating Officer in December of 2024. He brings more than 20 years of cross functional executive leadership as well as an obsession for excellence. Most recently, Tony served as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Jack in the Box. Previously, he was the president of MOOYAH Burgers, as well as Chief Operating Officer for Taco Bueno Restaurants and Sun Holdings. Tony has also held leadership roles at Panera Bread and Metromedia Restaurant Group. In addition to a love of the restaurant industry, Tony loves spending time with his wife and two sons.

Favorite Menu Item: Italian Beef, Dipped with Hot Peppers and Chocolate Cake

Kelly Kaiser joined Portillo's as General Counsel & Corporate Secretary in September 2023. She brings nearly 20 years of legal experience and expertise from both public and private organizations, including Brunswick Corporation, Brunswick Bowling & Billiards, and Life Fitness.

As General Counsel, Kelly leads the Portillo's Law Department, overseeing legal matters such as securities and corporate governance, commercial contracts, litigation, labor and employment, and regulatory compliance. A problem-solver at heart, she is passionate about building strong business partnerships to drive change and support the company's strategic initiatives.

Kelly earned a B.A. in Political Science and a J.D. from the University of Kentucky. She lives in Chicago with her husband and their two spirited boys. Kelly loves to travel, exercise, and play board games with her family.

Favorite Portillo's Menu Item: Char-broiled cheeseburger

Garrett Kern joined Portillo's in 2019, bringing with him strategy and operations expertise combined with years of experience in the hospitality industry and a passion for food and beverage. And, importantly, he's always loved cooking and eating; he even dreamt of becoming a chef and restaurant owner as a child.

Garrett entered the restaurant industry via working in professional kitchens, eventually managing both front- and back-of-house operations in Chicago's fine-dining scene. He then sharpened his business acumen via a variety of F&B-focused roles in the hotel industry across a portfolio in Chicago, New York, and Florida.

Following these positions in hospitality, Garrett honed his skills in management consulting with Bain & Company in both Boston and Chicago, working across a broad spectrum of industries and functions with a focus on retail brand strategy and commercial due diligence. Time in consulting gave him the skills to create effective growth strategies via a synthesis of market trends, data, and qualitative insight – all viewed through very customer-centric lens.

But he couldn't stay away from the restaurant industry for long. Garrett was drawn to Portillo's for its fantastic leadership team. And, as a Chicagoland native, he was excited to be part of a brand that he adored and grew up with.

Garrett received a B.A. in history from the University of Michigan and an MBA from The University of Chicago's Booth School of Business. Garrett enjoys spending time cooking, woodworking, and gardening at home in Chicagoland, where he lives with his wife and his two dogs.

Favorite Portillo's Menu Item: Chicago-style hot dog

Denise Lauer was appointed Chief Marketing Officer of Portillo’s in September 2025. At Portillo’s, she leads key functions including brand, advertising, design, digital, loyalty, social media, and field marketing.

Prior to joining Portillo’s, she served as Chief Marketing Officer of Marco’s Pizza from 2023 to 2025, one of the nation’s fastest growing QSR pizza concepts. She also held marketing leadership roles in insurance and consumer packaged goods, including serving as Chief Marketing Officer of Morton Salt from 2017 to 2021, where she revitalized one of America’s most enduring brands through strategic initiatives focused on brand modernization, customer-centricity, and digital transformation.

Recognized as a catalyst for growth, Denise is passionate about developing culturally relevant brands that create meaningful connections with consumers while delivering measurable business impact, including in her early roles at PepsiCo’s Quaker Foods & Snacks, FedEx and Eaton Corporation.

Denise holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from John Carroll University. She and her husband live in Chicago.

Denise’s favorite Portillo’s menu item is the Italian Beef sandwich with Hot Peppers.
 

Jennifer Pecoraro-Striepling joined Portillo’s as Chief Development Officer in March 2026. She is a restaurant development executive with more than 25 years of experience leading large-scale growth initiatives across some of the world’s most recognized restaurant brands. Her expertise spans real estate strategy, restaurant design, construction, procurement, and asset management, with a focus on building scalable systems that enable disciplined and sustainable expansion.

Throughout her career, Jennifer has led complex development programs supporting hundreds of restaurant openings across domestic and international markets. She is known for integrating strategic planning with operational insight, aligning site selection, prototype design, and capital deployment with the long-term performance of each location.

Prior to joining Portillo’s, Jennifer served as Chief Development Officer at Miller’s Ale House, where she led development strategy across Real Estate, Design, Construction and Procurement.. In this role, she guided the evolution of the brand’s restaurant prototype, implemented data-driven site selection tools, and strengthened cross-functional collaboration between development, operations, marketing, and finance to support long-term growth.

Earlier in her career, Jennifer held senior development leadership roles at Papa John’s International, where she helped lead global development initiatives and managed a capital portfolio supporting more than 1,000 restaurant openings worldwide. She also spent several years at Bloomin’ Brands, contributing to development programs for multiple national restaurant concepts.

Jennifer’s leadership approach is grounded in both strategic vision and practical experience. Growing up in Chicago, she spent time working on construction sites in her family’s HVAC business, where she gained early exposure to the trades and the fundamentals of building environments that support operational excellence.

Today, Jennifer is recognized for her ability to build high-performing teams, align cross-functional stakeholders, and translate long-range growth strategies into disciplined execution that drives enterprise value.

Favorite Portillo’s Menu Item: Chicago-Style Hot Dog, no sport peppers 

Michael Portillo has more than four decades of restaurant industry experience, including 35 years with Portillo's. The son of founder Dick Portillo, Michael's first job in the restaurants included washing dishes, taking out garbage and placing coupons on car windows. In fact, if he wasn't in school or playing sports while growing up, he was working at Portillo's. To expand his experience, Michael worked every station and every shift as a team member, eventually managing his first shift when he was 17 years old.

Michael branched out on his own in 1999, opening four restaurants over a five-year period. But he couldn't stay away for long. Michael rejoined Portillo's in 2005 as the Director of Training, where he was responsible for manager and team member training, including at the first California restaurant. He also held the VP, Training and Development role before taking on his latest position of VP, Restaurant Support. In this role, Michael enables Portillo's growth by cultivating culture and operations through new restaurant openings, innovation and team member experience, supporting training, culinary and more. Michael is also the vice chair of the Heart of Portillo's Fund, a 501(c)3 Portillo's created to support team members in need.

Michael currently resides in Chicagoland with his wife, Gina – the maker of what was then called "Gina Portillo's Soon-to-be-Famous Chocolate Cake." His high school sweetheart, he and Gina married in 1981, the same year he became a Portillo's manager. They now have three daughters and three grandchildren.

Favorite Portillo's Menu Item: Chocolate cake, naturally!

Jill Waite is Chief People Officer at Portillo's. Prior to joining Portillo's in 2019, she held several Human Resources and Operations roles in the retail, grocery, and fitness industries with companies such as Sephora and 24-Hour Fitness.  

Jill leads the company’s people strategy to support growth, operational performance, and a culture rooted in the brand’s values of Family, Greatness, Energy, and Fun. She oversees talent acquisition, leadership development, total rewards, and team member experience, ensuring the company attracts, develops, and retains high-performing teams. Jill partners closely with executive leadership to align people initiatives with business priorities, while fostering an environment that feeds passions and creates lifelong memories for both guests and team members.

She has a Bachelor's degree in Management from University of Florida. Go Gators!Jill lives in Chicagoland with her husband and is a mom to two boys who are enjoying college and playing soccer.

Favorite Portillo's Menu Items: Italian beef sandwich, cheese fries, and strawberry shortcake