The long-quiet restaurant pad in front of the Mall of Georgia looks like it is finally getting a new star tenant, with Portillo’s moving closer to opening a Buford location on the former Romano’s Macaroni Grill site. The push comes on the heels of the crowd the Chicago-style chain drew when it opened its first Georgia restaurant in Kennesaw last year.
According to What Now Atlanta, bidding documents show Portillo’s has opened solicitations for renovation and construction work at 3207 Buford Drive, the freestanding lot in front of the Mall of Georgia. The paperwork indicates the chain is lining up contractors for tenant improvements and site work as it gets ready to kick off construction.
On the hiring side, Portillo’s own job listings show 3207 Buford Drive, Buford, GA, as an active location with openings for management roles, signaling the company is staffing up ahead of an opening, per Portillo's careers site. That early hiring surge is a typical pre-opening move while construction details and equipment orders fall into place.
Site history: former Romano’s Macaroni Grill
The Buford address sits on the footprint of a Romano’s Macaroni Grill that closed in 2024, leaving a high-visibility empty building at the front of the mall, according to ToNeTo Atlanta. Local reporting notes that Portillo’s would likely demolish the former restaurant and build one of its roughly 6,000-square-foot prototype locations instead of trying to retrofit the old structure.
What the Kennesaw debut suggested
Portillo’s opened its first Georgia restaurant in Kennesaw in November 2025, marking the chain’s 100th location and drawing long lines along with strong local demand, according to company filings. The early performance in Kennesaw suggests the brand sees more room to grow in metro Atlanta, even as it picks its spots carefully and staggers new builds.
Next steps for Buford
With bids in circulation and hiring already underway, the next public milestones to watch are Gwinnett County permits and contractor notices that will lock in a construction start and timeline. Portillo’s had previously explored sites in Cumming and Dunwoody but decided not to move forward with at least some of those plans, a reminder that rollout strategies can shift as site and market conditions change, per ToNeTo Atlanta.
For now, Buford diners can tentatively add Portillo’s lineup of hot dogs, Italian beef, burgers and shakes to the Mall of Georgia corridor’s future menu. Permitting records and a formal announcement from the company should firm up opening dates and details in the coming weeks.
