NORMAL — Keith Kinsey can’t yet say with certainty a Portillo’s is coming to Peoria next year. But it probably wouldn’t be premature for local devotees of Chicago-style fast food to commence salivating.

"We’re close," the Portillo’s CEO said Thursday morning. "We’re going through those last pieces of negotiations.

"I don’t want to say it’s a for-sure thing, because you never want to play your total hand, but we feel pretty good that we’re getting pretty close."

Normal is much closer to obtaining a branch of a restaurant famed for its Chicago-style hot dogs and Italian beef and sausage sandwiches, among other things. A Portillo’s at 202 Landmark Drive is to open officially Tuesday.

Kinsey and company founder/namesake Dick Portillo spent part of Thursday in Normal for a sneak peek that was open to invited guests.

Portillo’s has about 50 locations in seven states. It began in 1963, when Portillo opened a hot dog stand in Villa Park, a Chicago suburb.

"Nothing worthwhile is easy. Getting to this point wasn't easy," Portillo said during a news conference. "It's the most unique hot dog stand in the country."

The potential Peoria location — likely to open sometime in 2018 — probably will be located in the northwest part of the city, although Kinsey suggested multiple locations are being considered.

The primary Portillo’s interest appears to be property along Sterling Avenue, between Northwoods Mall and Westlake Shopping Center, north of Interstate 74.

The land includes a payday-loan business and current and former restaurants and jewelry stores. It’s across James Baumann Way from another fast-food establishment, Sonic.

The Sterling Avenue property has the retail and traffic mix Portillo’s prefers, according to Kinsey. It also has the requisite two acres of land Portillo’s needs to accommodate drive-through traffic.

"You’ve got retail strength," Kinsey said before the news conference. "You’ve got 74 going through there. It’s not that far from (Caterpillar Inc.). You've got the downtown that’s close. War Memorial (Drive) is a very strong artery for Peoria, you’re right off that area. It’s got that nice combination.

"The size of the parcel and being able to find that in an area that has the daytime population, that has retail and has the residential that surrounds it. Finding those three types of combinations is critical."

Once open, Portillo’s is expected to employ between 175 and 200 people, full and part time, Kinsey said. On a national job website, the company is advertising for management positions for a Peoria location.

Other downstate Portillo’s locations are close to Chicago (Rockford) or have a large number of Chicago-area transplants (college towns Champaign and Normal). That Peoria doesn’t appear to have a ready-made Portillo’s audience doesn’t appear to faze Kinsey.

"We still have a lot of people in the Peoria area that order our food and have it shipped to them, or they go to one of our farthest-southern (Chicago-area) restaurants, pick up the food and bring it back," he said. "There’s a nice employment base in Peoria."

Kinsey said Portillo’s isn't seeking municipal financial incentives. The company also plans to be a good corporate citizen once a Peoria outlet opens.

It appears Kinsey might have a personal stake in a Peoria location. He is from Moline and has family in the Peoria area.

"If we do get the opportunity to go there, we’re going to really be excited," Kinsey said. "We think it really fits well with the guests that come to our restaurant. It’s a really nice kind of Midwestern town."