Where was Luke’s closed? There’s one in Wauconda, Round Lake, Lake Zurich and Arlington Heights (upthread mentioned on 12) and they’re all operating afaik.
I just googled Lukes and the one on 12 didn’t come up on the map for some reason. All is well assuming you guys aren’t having me on some bizaar elaborate joke to get me to go to a Lukes that’s actually closed. 
I’ve been thinking about the difference between a 'beef and French dip all day. The beefs have a spice signature that’s broadly Italian* with any combination of garlic, black pepper, oregano, bay leaf, basil, onion. French dip jus seems like broth or bullion.
Beef juice is often more oily than dip jus I’ve had. I guess this is from beef drippings and/or added olive and vegetable oil.
The texture of French dip beef is more like deli roast beef. Italian beef should be very wet, maybe a little stringy and it seems like its been in the juice a while, maybe simmered for a bit.
*Al’s uses a unique/bizzaro pumpkin pie-like seasoning I don’t really care for.
The one I’m thinking of is called Tore and Lukes now, I think. And I’m pretty sure it’s on Rand Rd in Palatine. Honest! 
Has anyone on the board ever tried to cook a “true” chicago italian beef at home? How easy was it? what ingredients/spices did you use? How easy was it to slice it Italian-beef style?
I’m specifically looking for people who tried something like the above mentioned Buona Beef’s recipe, or one of the recipes wikipedia links to:
http://www.gonnella.com/cookbook/italian_beef.htm
http://press.teleinteractive.net/cynasuralog/2007/03/04/italian_beef
I’m particularly interested in this topic because I may be relocating to Montana in a few months, and don’t think I can bare to live without this perfect example of why chicago is the best food city in the u.s.
Portillo’s combo guy here
You can come up with a good approximation of Italian beef with a little effort. There’s some good recipes on the web. The biggest problem is probably the last thing you might think about: the bread!
Proper Italian bread is essential to hold the whole thing together.
I moved to Hawaii with expectations of paradise. You cannot have paradise without a good beef “sangwitch”. The bread here doesn’t cut it, too soft on the crust. The closest thing I’ve found is a Vietnamese restaurant that has decent French rolls!
(Ed can fill in about the “French roll” in Vietnamese history.)
Anyway today is Xmas eve and we’re tapping into the Portillo’s beef and gravy that we brought back from our Chicago visit this last July.
Count your blessings you guys and have a Combo for me.
You’re in luck. The very best Italian Beef in the Chicago area (and by extension, the known universe), is to be found at Johnnie’s.
There are two locations, the original on North Ave a few blocks W of Harlem and the NW Suburban location on Arlington Heights Road just south of Golf
Johnnie’s
7500 W North Ave
Elmwood Park, IL 60707
(708) 452-6000
1935 S Arlington Heights Rd
Arlington Hts, IL 60005
(847) 357-8100
No Italian beef here in NW Ohio, either. But we do have some damn fine gyros. Better than I’ve found in the Chicago area even. Probably owing to our large middle eastern population.
It’s currently being relocated to somewhere very nearby. That corner has been sold to a developer and is under construction.
I didn’t notice any construction. It was definitely there as Tore and Lukes. Yum
I’d never heard of Italian Beef in my life 'til my sister sent a gift box from Portillo’s this Christmas. Heavenly!
The new place is actually still on Rand just a bit east on the south side of the road. Pretty nice looking brick structure. The old place was on the north-east corner.
I was thrilled to see this thread!!! I thought I was the only person in the world who misses this food!! I am living in Cincinnati for 11 yrs now, and there is NOTHING here that even resembles Italian Beef. The food here in Ohio is so bland it’s barely edible. We actually make food trips back home to bring back about 3 coolers worth of stuff. I did order Portillo’s IB off the web, and it’s the same, but we like going home for the other stuff, and just to be home.
Anyway, I sent Portillo’s a request to open a restaurant here in Cincy, but they said that it would be impossible to control the quality! bummer! (Not only that, I don’t think they’d probably be all that successful due to the people here not seeming to like much that is spicy)
Anyways, there will never be a French Dip that compares because of the spices in the IB au jus. I have found that if I get the big containers of Beef & Au jus from Portillo’s that when the beef runs out, I save the container of au jus. I can get Angus Roast Beef from Kroger, have it sliced very very thin & re-use that au jus with the beef until it runs out. I’ve kinda fixed the roll situation, by buying half-baked bagettes from Kroger that you pop in the oven. That helps get the crunchy texture with the soft insides, but they still tend to fall apart a bit. So that helps us stretch out our supply. I have some in the fridge right now & just bought the rolls a couple of days ago. I can tell you that the smell of heating it up on the stove just makes it all worthwhile.
I had never heard of Buona’s & when I was on a business trip I decided to give it a try with an associate fr MN who had never had IB. I was very disappointed. It is no where near the quality of Portillo’s or Al’s, and the flavor was definitely not as good. We do prefer Portillo’s but in comparing the quality of the beef vs the Kroger Angus beef, I’ve noticed that Portillo’s beef has some stuff in it that I don’t like the looks of. It looks like lines of cartilage or something. I never see it in the Kroger Angus beef.
Other than that, I can recommend having Portillo’s ship you the beef. It’s really not that much more expensive than picking it up.
It’s not OHIO that has bland food, it’s just Cinci.
I wouldn’t mind a Skyline in Minneapolis, actually.
Enough about us Californians and our french dip already, Zotti baby. Next time try eating at a restaurant out here, not a fast food joint, and ask them to dip the whole sandwich. It won’t be an Italian Beef, but it will be a French Dip, instead of a French Dribble.
A little sensitive, are we? I mentioned CA once. I’m confident you have wonderful restaurants out there, although I’d be a little surprised if any of them considered French dip the height of fine dining. The subject under discussion, however, is fast food, which isn’t sold in restaurants (except by a broad definition of the term), but rather in joints.
For those of you on the South Side or in the South Burbs, Rubino’s Italian Import Deli in Tinley Park has one of the most awesome, sizeable, and inexpensive beef sammitches around. 167th and Oak Park.
I get mine with mozz. and “natural gravy”, as they call it. That’s your standard beef dunking juice, only it comes in a cup on the side.
Can anyone tell me if there is a for-real Italian Beef/Sausage Combo stand at O’Hare Airport? Which terminal???
Y’all are killing me. I"M STARVING for the real deal.
Ex-Chicagoan here. Or … what’s the best online connection? Affordable??? Pleezzzzzzzzz?
It’s our favorite. Whenever it’s on sale at Jewel or Dominick’s, we stock up. At one point we had like four tubs of it in the freezer. And they do mail order too.
As does Tastes of Chicago. I love them because their prices include shipping.