Portillo’s in Buena Park offers the ‘Leo,’ a Pope-inspired Italian beef sandwich

What would the election of the first U.S.-born pope in history be without a promotional gimmick?

Now that Cardinal Robert Prevost is known to the world as Pope Leo XIV, Portillo’s in Buena Park is paying homage to his Chicago roots by rechristening its famed Italian beef sandwich the “Leo.”

Foodies and the faithful don’t have to be part of a conclave to enjoy the meal. Even though the sandwich doesn’t appear on the menu by name, the kitchen knows what to do when an order for the Leo comes through.

The Chicago-based chain is perhaps best known for its Chicago-style hot dogs stuffed in poppy-seed buns and topped with neon green sweet pickle relish, tomato slices, sport peppers and a dill pickle spear.

Coming in at $8.99 a pop, the Leo is just as good as any would-be “holy” hot dog.

The Italian beef sandwich at Portillo’s has been rebranded as the “Leo” in honor of the new pope from Chicago.

(Gabriel San Román)

Splashed with gravy, the Leo makes the wrapping it comes in almost translucent.

A hefty layering of thin slow-roasted Italian beef fills the Turano French roll, as the au jus delightfully dampens the bread inside. Sweet or spicy chopped peppers provide for a flavorful contrast to its savory profile.

Pickled bits of cauliflower, celery and onion round out the meal fit to quell papal hunger pangs and leave bellies feeling blessed, not bloated.

The hot dog chain hailed its “sacred sandwich” as one “made in honor of a moment that’s historic for Portillo’s hometown.”

It’s not the first time a restaurant in Orange County has honored a new pope.

When Pope Francis took helm of the Catholic Church in 2013, the Pasta Connection’s location in Orange, which served a menu of fugazza and pampa steaks before shuttering, hung a banner of the Argentinian flag on its outside patio to welcome his election.

With Portillo’s, whose sole O.C. location is in Buena Park, the honor in the form of the Leo is one that folks can bite into through the month of May, which also doubles as Italian beef month.

That’s also how long diners will wonder why they weren’t baptized in gravy, too!