Portillo's Moves Restaurants to Cashless Drive-Thru

Portillo's Drive-Thru will only accept forms of cashless payment starting on January 16th. The restaurant stated that this will help ensure the safety of restaurant employees.

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Will That be a Card or a Check?

A popular Illinois eatery is going cashless to preserve the safety of all its workers. This updated policy is to be in effect middle of January and will no longer allow patrons to use paper money as a form of payment when utilizing the drive-thru, however, indoor service will be unaffected by this.

"This creates a faster, smoother service for our guests and is safer for our team members," Portillo's explained in the statement provided to WQAD.

Portillo's currently has seven operational locations across Indiana and Illinois with plans on opening up an eighth according to the restaurant's website.

What's in a name?

Portillo's is home to Chicago-style hotdogs, Maxwell Street Polish, Italian beef burgers, and its chocolate cake desserts. This restaurant chain has been serving up great eats since its founder Dick Portillo opened the first location in 1963 in Villa Park, Illinois. After returning home from service in the Marines, Dick Portillo invested with his brother, Frank, in a hotdog stand. After gathering up their savings, and buying the 12-foot, restroom-less trailer, "The Dog House" opened on North Avenue in Villa Park. Nearly 60 years and 70 locations later, I think it is easy to determine the success of the Portillo brothers. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Portillo's Online

By visiting their online website, you can learn more about how the chain was founded, browse menu items and order online. Just in time for Valentine's day, you can now order a heart-shaped chocolate cake! Visit their website to preorder now to ensure your Valentine has their favorite treat.

KEEP READING: 40 Real Indiana Towns with Quirky, Weird, and Funny Names

Outside the major cities, the Hoosier state is full of tiny little towns you've probably passed through on your way to one of those cities. Most of them are likely 100 to 150 years old, or older, and have been around far longer than the large metropolitan areas such as Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, South Bend, and Evansville. Typically, they were started by early settlers who found their way to the state and decided to make it home. Eventually, others would join them, and a community was formed. Over time, as the surrounding areas grew, most of them were folded into those areas and governed by the nearest city or county's governing body officially making them "unincorporated," meaning they did not have their own formally organized municipal government.

A scroll through Wikipedia's long list of unincorporated communities in Indiana shows several of them have names that by today's standards would be considered weird, quirky, or just downright right funny. These are my 40 favorities.

Gallery Credit: Ryan O'Bryan

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From the World's Largest Ball of Paint to a pink elephant drinking a martini, the Hoosier State is filled with quirky little things worth a detour on your next road trip.

Gallery Credit: Ryan O'Bryan