Boy, when I lived up in Chicagoland, I wasn’t a big fan of Italian beef sandwiches. And now I’m suddenly craving one. Damn you, Cecil Adams! DAMN YOU!!!
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What does it taste like? How would you characterize the spicing?
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Is the gravy invariably an au jus? (Or does it sometimes contain flour?)
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I may choose an icon from the following list? WHY GOD, WHY?
Ah. I see that there’s a thread on this here: Italian Beef [ANSWERED BY CECIL] - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board
Never mind.
I prefer Portillos to Al’s. Al’s spice combo has something in it that doesn’t work for me. There has to be some little company that blows these two away, who is it? Send me there, I need a purpose.
We have a Chicago oasis in the middle of the Ozarks. A place called The Old Chi Mill in Mountain Home Arkansas serves up Italian Beefs just like home. They get all the fixings from Chicago, and I’m here to tell you, walking through the doors is like walking into a neighborhood bar in any part of Chicago.
Like Dave, I “discovered” Italian Beef sandwiches while a student (at UIC) in the late 60’s. I made many pilgrimages back to Al’s on Taylor Street in the years that followed and was never disappointed…until recently. The sandwich was totally soaked and seemed like it had been laying around for hours. It totally fell apart and was inedible. I may never go back.
Regarding the franchise effort, I live 1/2 block from the Al’s franchise in Evanston, and could not wait until it opened. I was probably the first customer! It was awful. I gave it a few more chances over the next several weeks and even talked with a manager…it was just not at all like Taylor Street. When the “beef crave” hits, I now drive 5 miles to the nearest Portillo’s.
Enjoyed this review of one of my favorite food groups.
I remember long ago living in L.A. and seeing a sign advertising “Italian Sausage” sandwiches. As a native Chicagoan longing for a fix, I pulled over and ordered one. What came back was a salami sandwich.
I take a dim view of Al’s franchising gambit, though. I suspect it will turn out like the Uno’s name licensed around the country, but bearing as much resemblance to the Ohio & Wabash product as squirrel food.
Amazingly, we have Italian Beef here in Texas!
The only good place I know of, though, to get it here in the Dallas-Fort Worth area is a place on Knox boulevard in Uptown Dallas called Wild About Harry’s. They also make their own frozen custard that is sold at a choice few local retailers.
Opening this thread again made me remember the time Dave Letterman did his show from Chicago, years and years ago. Leno was a guest (ah, the good old days!) and brought along a bag of sandwiches from Mr. Beef. He ate them while he was talking to Dave.
And remember the MASH episode where Hawkeye wants to get the ribs from Chicago? If it was set current day, it would have to be Italian Beef sandwiches. 
Apropos an earlier poster in this thread, I’m glad I don’t have to go all the way to Mountain Home, Arkansas (which is at least closer than Chicago! 
) in order to get an Italian Beef fix.
Apologies for the lateness of this; CK Dexter Haven suggested I post my report of my recon mission here, but I was sick the weekend Cecil’s column on Italian Beef came out, and I wasn’t feeling up to making the run until yesterday.
If any of y’all find yourselves in the Memphis, TN area, you can get what to my tastebuds appears to be a genuine Italian beef at Wiseguys Chicago Pizza and Sandwiches (“From The Old Neighborhood To Yours”), 5441 US Highway 51 N, Horn Lake, MS 38637. Tel: 662-342-5334.
I went there for lunch yesterday. Granted, it’s been quite a few years since I’ve had an Italian beef (I was a student at one of NU’s downtown professional schools back in the early 1980’s–I’d just as soon not identify which one because I hate it with a passion now), but the Italian beef is just what I remember from my time in Chicago (a co-worker, who has lived in the Windy City much more recently than I have, agrees with me there). The place is owned by several Chicago expats, though the waitress is very obviously (the second she opens her mouth to greet you) the home-grown article (she’s easy on the eyes, at least, and with time the accent becomes quaint enough to enjoy). The owners must be North Siders; there was plenty of Cubs memorabilia decorating the place, but only one, forlorn White Sox calendar on display in one corner of the dining room I was in. A fair amount of Bears and Bulls memorabilia completes the decor.
If the pizza there is as authentic as the Italian beef, I can’t wait to try the thin crust Chicago style pizza (which I never had during my stay there; deep dish Chicago style is also on the pizza menu). Also on the sandwich menu are Chicago style hotdogs, a “Chicago Firedog” (spicy Vienna Beef polish sausage), “Chicago Maxwell Street Polish Sausage”, and “South Side Italian Sausage”.
Cheers,
BCG
I’ve never before heard of the Italian beef sandwhich, but your account of this morsel makes my mouth water for one. One question: Why would you ever have the Queen of England in your suit? Is that anything like having Prince Albert in your can?
That’s between the queen and Cecil.
Don’t know about today, but years ago you could get genuinely good Italian beef in Kenosha, Wisconsin. One might try Tenuta’s deli. I think it was popularized there by the Buratti brothers, who served it at their bar and just happened to be inveterate Blackhawks fans.
I actually run www.ItalianBeef.com and thought I would comment on this.
We currently have a bunch of restaurants outside of the state that are serving Italian Beefs. It is pretty cool to see that people who love Chicago food are able to open a business serving it in another town.
It is hard to find out where all these beef places are since there is no known database of stores that I know of, outside of our own. The closest thing I know of is the Vienna beef website that lists all their stores, but not all of those will carry or sell the beef.
Initially we had to get all the research for them by hand and looking them up, lately I started to search twitter for anyone mentioning “Italian Beef” and asking them where they got it… just to see what stores we are missing out on.
I got a few good gems from this thread alone. And will hopefully add them this week.
Here is our page with all the outside of chicagoland beef joints:
http://www.italianbeef.com/main-category/rate/beyond-chicagoland.php
You can add a restaurant here:
http://www.italianbeef.com/store-add.php
One thing the article did not mention was the mainstream beef invasion… I think it was sometime last year Wendys started to serve the Italian Beef… not sure if it was just a local thing, or if it was a test product, but I found it odd that they even sold it.
As far as who has the best beef, I do not think we have enough data to tell at this point. So far the burbs love Buona Beef, City Favors Als, and Portillos is solid in all areas.
The worst thing about reading about Italian Beef is the craving you get for one… there are a few 24hr places around here, but I think 5am is too late/early to have one 
No Johnny’s in Elmwood Park, perhaps the King of Beeves? And this cheesy beef thing. What’s up with that? Who the hell puts cheese on their Italian beef? I’ve seen it on menus (usually called “cheese beef” or “cheesy beef,” at least, so not “Italian Beef”) but I’ve never seen anyone order such a thing. To me, cheese on an Italian beef is like ketchup on a hot dog.