Portillo’s Kevin Kalicak Takes Over as CFO With $825,000 Inducement Award

Kevin Kalicak takes over as Portillo’s chief financial officer and treasurer on Monday, giving the restaurant chain a permanent finance chief after nearly four months of interim leadership. His start date is September 7, the date Portillo’s previously set for a one-time restricted stock unit award with a grant-date value of $825,000.

Kalicak, 53, joins after more than 25 years at Darden Restaurants, where his recent roles included senior vice president of finance for Olive Garden and senior vice president of finance and investor relations for Darden. At Portillo’s, he will serve as principal financial officer and principal accounting officer and oversee financial planning and analysis, accounting, investor relations, internal audit, tax, supply chain and other corporate finance functions.

The timing also falls on the U.S. Labor Day market holiday. Nasdaq’s equity markets are closed September 7, and Portillo’s said in August that the number of RSUs in the sign-on grant would be based on the company’s September 4 closing share price. The award is scheduled to vest ratably over three years, subject to Kalicak remaining employed through each vesting date.

The $825,000 RSU award sits inside a broader pay package

Portillo’s announced Kalicak’s appointment on August 4 and said the Compensation Committee approved the $825,000 RSU grant as an inducement material to his acceptance of employment. The company said it would make the award under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4), which provides an exception from shareholder approval for certain equity grants used to induce a new employee to join a listed company.

The equity award is only one part of Kalicak’s compensation. According to Portillo’s Form 8-K, his annual base salary is $500,000 and his target annual bonus is 75% of base salary, equivalent to $375,000 at the stated salary. He is also eligible for a long-term incentive target of $750,000, split evenly between RSUs with a three-year vesting period and performance stock units subject to time- and performance-based conditions.

His offer also includes a $100,000 one-time cash sign-on award, a guaranteed 2026 annual incentive payment of $187,500 and reimbursement of relocation costs up to $100,000. The $825,000 inducement grant is separate from that recurring long-term incentive target. Portillo’s said all equity grants remain subject to the applicable award agreements and equity-plan terms.

Nasdaq’s rule does not make an inducement award automatic. The exception applies to certain grants to people who were not previously employees or directors, or who are returning after a bona fide period of non-employment, and it requires approval by the issuer’s independent compensation committee or a majority of independent directors. Portillo’s said its Compensation Committee approved Kalicak’s award and disclosed the material terms in connection with his appointment.

Kalicak ends an interim-CFO stretch that began in May

The leadership change closes a finance transition that started in the spring. Michelle Hook informed Portillo’s on April 30 that she would leave the CFO role effective May 5. The board then appointed Pamela Smith as interim CFO on May 20 while it conducted a search for a permanent successor.

Smith’s initial engagement was later extended through the earlier of December 31 or the appointment of a permanent CFO, and she was also designated treasurer on June 29. Kalicak’s September 7 start therefore ends the interim arrangement earlier than that outside date and puts one executive in the CFO, treasurer, principal financial officer and principal accounting officer roles.

Kalicak brings a long restaurant-industry finance background to the job. Before becoming Olive Garden’s senior vice president of finance in 2024, he served as Darden’s senior vice president of finance and investor relations from 2021 to 2024. From 2015 to 2021, he led financial planning and analysis and investor relations for Darden. Portillo’s also said he holds an accounting degree from Georgia Southern University and an MBA with a finance concentration from the University of Central Florida.

Chief Executive Brett Patterson described Kalicak in August as a financial leader with deep restaurant experience and a record of supporting profitable growth. That background is relevant to the remit Portillo’s has given him, which extends beyond accounting and reporting into investor relations and supply chain, areas that connect directly to the chain’s current growth plan and cost structure.

Portillo’s expansion continues amid margin pressure

Kalicak arrives after a second quarter in which Portillo’s continued to add restaurants but reported softer operating trends in its established base. Revenue for the quarter ended June 28 rose 5.6% from a year earlier to $199.0 million, helped by newer locations. Same-restaurant sales fell 1.2%, reflecting a 3.4% decline in restaurant transactions that was partly offset by a 2.2% increase in average check.

Costs also moved higher. Portillo’s said commodity prices increased 7.0% from a year earlier in the quarter, contributing to an 8.1% rise in restaurant operating expenses to $155.7 million. Net income fell to $7.2 million from $10.0 million, while adjusted EBITDA slipped 0.8% to $29.8 million. Restaurant-level adjusted EBITDA margin declined to 21.7% from 23.6% a year earlier.

The company had 109 restaurants when it reported second-quarter results, including one restaurant owned by an entity in which Portillo’s holds a 50% equity interest. Seven restaurants opened during the first two fiscal quarters of 2026, and Portillo’s said it expected eight new units for the full year. Its remaining planned 2026 opening is an inline restaurant in Chicago in the fourth quarter.

Portillo’s has also been tightening corporate costs. On July 31, it reduced its active corporate-headquarters workforce by about 18%, along with a limited number of field management positions, while saying no restaurant-level team members were affected. Its current fiscal 2026 targets call for adjusted EBITDA of $92 million to $96 million, general and administrative expenses of $78 million to $82 million and capital expenditures of $55 million to $60 million.

Those figures leave the new CFO with both expansion spending and operating efficiency on his agenda. Patterson said with the second-quarter results that the company had finalized brand and consumer research intended to shape a longer-term strategy focused on sustainable, profitable growth. Portillo’s has not yet laid out that full roadmap publicly.

One of the next formal disclosures involving Kalicak is already identified. The August 8-K said Portillo’s expects to file his full offer letter as an exhibit to its Form 10-Q for the quarter ending September 27, 2026. That filing should provide the complete contractual terms behind the compensation summary disclosed when his appointment was announced.