Chicago-style hot dog and hamburger restaurant Portillo's is planning to open its first location in Michigan in the Andiamo Trattoria space in Sterling Heights.

A site plan submitted to the city dated Feb. 10 for 14425 Lakeside Circle shows a proposal for a Portillo's restaurant with a drive-through. The building would be 8,800 square feet, with about 800 of that being for outdoor patio space.

Joe Vicari, Andiamo's CEO, said in an email Tuesday morning that the restaurant has four years left on its lease in the building and that he hadn't been informed of the Portillo's plan.

"Andiamo's continues to operate business as usual for the foreseeable future," he said in a statement provided by a staff member.

Nick Scarpino, senior vice president of marketing and off-premise dining for Portillo's, said in a statement through a spokeswoman: "Portillo's continues to explore new locations across the country, but we do not currently have plans for Sterling Heights to announce at this time."

Chris McLeod, city planner for Sterling Heights, said the Planning Commission is expected to consider the plan for the 230-seat restaurant (185 interior seats, 45 outside) on March 11.

"I know generally they have an aggressive schedule, but I don't know a definite in terms of when Andiamo's closes," he said in an email Tuesday evening. "At this point if they continue to move at this pace you could see work being done out on site this summer. But that is up to them in terms of how fast they move."

It's not known whether Andiamo would relocate to another location.

There have long been rumors about the Andiamo becoming a different restaurant, the Macomb Daily reported three years ago.

Sterling Heights public records say that the Andiamo property at 14425 Lakeside Circle is 9,250 square feet and that it was last sold in September 2017 for $2.2 million. It is owned by 14425 Lakeside Circle LLC, which is registered to Nikolaos Moschouris in Royal Oak. That entity is the applicant for the site plan approval.

A message seeking comment was left with the LLC Wednesday.

Portillo's was founded in 1963 and has since expanded to more than 60 locations across the country, making a name for itself with its Chicago-style hot dogs, Italian beef sandwiches, hamburgers and chocolate cake, according to the company's website.

Andiamo has restaurants in Bloomfield Township, Clarkston, Detroit, Dearborn, Fenton, Livonia, Sterling Heights and Warren, according to the company's website. Its Royal Oak location closed in July 2018 amid what it and other businesses said was a parking shortage causing slumping sales.

Its first restaurant opened in 1989.