leek wrote:When I order WET at the Original Al's I get DIPPED. How do I order better so I get WET not DIPPED?

I order it "juicy".

Katie wrote:

Ram4 wrote:We on the North Shore live in an Italian Beef desert. Portillo's is the best you're going to get, and it's in Skokie. There isn't anything north of there worth mentioning.

There is a Portillo's in Vernon Hills. I don't know where you live in Highland Park, but the Vernon Hills Portillo's is 10.9 miles from downtown Highland Park; the Skokie Portillo's is 11.6 miles away.

You are talking to a man who will drive hours for food. Yes, my usual Portillo's is the one in Vernon Hills, but I can get to Skokie faster as I live next to 41/Edens. I was pointing out for the North Shore (Highland Park, Glencoe, Winnetka, Northbrook, Wilmette, Glenview, etc) that we don't really have any places to get a great beef except for Portillo's in Skokie.

verno6000 wrote:I have been getting Italian Beef at Moccio's pizza in Highland Park. It is very well seasoned. I just looked them up and Yelp is reporting they are closed. I have not verified this yet. Has anyone tried the Italian Beef at Cooker's in Deerfield?

I drive by Moccio's twice a day, but I don't like their pizzas. I never tried the beef there. I don't know if they closed. My guess with Cooker's beef is probably the same as U Dawg U, Dear Franks, and most of the hot dog joints that serve beef - pre-packaged and not good. But I have not tried it there. Josh's (formerly Wolfy's) in Northbrook claim to have their own recipe beef, but the last couple of times I had it, it was nothing special. Normally a place that takes the time to make their beef in house would promote the s*** out of it. So I have my doubts on Josh's too.

The Food Diva wrote:

leek wrote:When I order WET at the Original Al's I get DIPPED. How do I order better so I get WET not DIPPED?

I order it "juicy".

FYI If you order a beef juicy at Johnnies, it's going to be dipped.

verno6000 wrote:

Katie wrote:

Ram4 wrote:We on the North Shore live in an Italian Beef desert. Portillo's is the best you're going to get, and it's in Skokie. There isn't anything north of there worth mentioning.

There is a Portillo's in Vernon Hills. I don't know where you live in Highland Park, but the Vernon Hills Portillo's is 10.9 miles from downtown Highland Park; the Skokie Portillo's is 11.6 miles away.

I have been getting Italian Beef at Moccio's pizza in Highland Park. It is very well seasoned. I just looked them up and Yelp is reporting they are closed. I have not verified this yet. Has anyone tried the Italian Beef at Cooker's in Deerfield?

I've eaten the Italian Beef at Cooker's in Deerfield and it's pretty good. $6.99 including fries. In general I think Cooker's is a better than average hot dog stand. The skin-on fries are good.

It's been some time since I had their IB -- more than a year -- so I don't know how it is these days. (When I'm at Cooker's I usually get either a hot dog, Polish or Gyros.)

Based on past experience, I'd say their IB is worth a try. Be interested to hear what others say.

One other spot in HP for IB is Piero's Pizza. IB isn't their specialty, but they execute it well. Again I haven't had it in a long time, but my son still likes their IB for lunch once in a while. Never tried it at their Northbrook location -- only HP. Sandwich price is $6.95. Note: Piero's is take-out only.

Cooker's Red Hots
469 Lake Cook Road (in shopping mall just west of Deerbrook Mall)
Deerfield, IL 60015
847-272-7222
http://www.cookersredhotsdeerfield.com/

Piero's Pizza
647 Roger Williams Ave
HP, IL 60035
847-433-7795
http://pieropizza.com/locations/highland-park/

verno6000 wrote:I have been getting Italian Beef at Moccio's pizza in Highland Park. It is very well seasoned. I just looked them up and Yelp is reporting they are closed. I have not verified this yet. Has anyone tried the Italian Beef at Cooker's in Deerfield?

The fries at Cooker's are excellent.

If you try the beef there and find it sliced way too thick, causing it to be rubbery, and you also think the bread is just plain out wrong, don't say I didn't warn you. I'd rock Josh's on Sanders just south of Dundee Road in a heartbeat for a beef over Cooker's if it's still open.

Cooker's fries are excellent, though. The fries will save your meal if you need to try a beef at Cooker's, but don't say I didn't warn you.

seebee wrote:

verno6000 wrote:I have been getting Italian Beef at Moccio's pizza in Highland Park. It is very well seasoned. I just looked them up and Yelp is reporting they are closed. I have not verified this yet. Has anyone tried the Italian Beef at Cooker's in Deerfield?

The fries at Cooker's are excellent.

If you try the beef there and find it sliced way too thick, causing it to be rubbery, and you also think the bread is just plain out wrong, don't say I didn't warn you. I'd rock Josh's on Sanders just south of Dundee Road in a heartbeat for a beef over Cooker's if it's still open.

Cooker's fries are excellent, though. The fries will save your meal if you need to try a beef at Cooker's, but don't say I didn't warn you.

That's pretty much what I expected to hear. Cookers fries are great, and I believe they still give you unlimited fries if you want them, but I've stopped going there entirely. There's something weird about their hot dogs, they have a funny taste.

Josh's is still open, but I wouldn't want to "rock" a beef there either.

Ram4 wrote:

The Food Diva wrote:

leek wrote:When I order WET at the Original Al's I get DIPPED. How do I order better so I get WET not DIPPED?

I order it "juicy".

FYI If you order a beef juicy at Johnnies, it's going to be dipped.

At Johnnies I order it "dipped with a fork". I've lived in EP for the last 50 years. They got my order down, even to the point that they know I don't like the slices of beef, but the "crumbs on the bottom"

Ram4 wrote:

The Food Diva wrote:

leek wrote:When I order WET at the Original Al's I get DIPPED. How do I order better so I get WET not DIPPED?

I order it "juicy".

FYI If you order a beef juicy at Johnnies, it's going to be dipped.

Silly question, but have you tried to order it "wet but not dipped"?

Dlongs wrote:

leek wrote:When I order WET at the Original Al's I get DIPPED. How do I order better so I get WET not DIPPED?

Silly question, but have you tried to order it "wet but not dipped"?

Yes.

Johnnies term is "juicy" they don't say "wet" or "dipped".

The customer will say it, but they will call it out as "juicy". if you want it wet, I'd ask for a little bit of juice.

leek wrote:

Dlongs wrote:

leek wrote:When I order WET at the Original Al's I get DIPPED. How do I order better so I get WET not DIPPED?

Silly question, but have you tried to order it "wet but not dipped"?

Yes.

Al's actually lists four different "levels of juiciness" on their website at http://www.alsbeef.com/als-famous-italian-beef.html. To quote:

"Regular"
That's how we do it for most of our guests. Just enough beef gravy (the "juice") is added to make it nice and juicy, but not over the top.

"Wet"
Additional gravy is added to the sandwich, the juicier the better.

"Dipped"
The crown jewel of juicy, the entire sandwich is submerged into the gravy. Roll up your sleeves and get ready to eat! You'll need the "Italian Stance" for this one.

"Dry"
No extra gravy goodness but still delicious. You might want to re-think this option though. Our beef gravy is the gold. Go ahead and be a little adventurous and crazy; get it a little wet. You'll love it.

Based on this, it looks like "Regular" is already juicy by some standards. "Wet" is probably already past the threshold of soggy bread.

The Food Diva wrote:At Johnnies I order it "dipped with a fork". I've lived in EP for the last 50 years. They got my order down, even to the point that they know I don't like the slices of beef, but the "crumbs on the bottom"

Yeah, I've heard dipped with a fork too. I should try ordering it with crumbs on the bottom, that sounds good. Normally when saying juicy at Johnnie's (Arlington Hts), it's always been dipped fine. But one time they barely dipped it. So for my second beef that day I said I wanted it completely dipped, so the guy submerged it for a solid 2-3 seconds (!). It was perfect. The bread did not fall apart!

My preference is just the opposite re crumbs on the bottom; I prefer slices of beef. It seems to me that I get a pile of crumbs from the bottom whenever I order an Italian beef from the Vernon Hills Portillo's via pickup or drive-through. It's happened enough times that now I walk in to get my IB and have better luck getting beef slices on my sandwich.

Been in sort of a beef sandwich rut lately... I've tried all the places around where I live and work, eaten a lot of generic beefs with prepackaged ingredients, and just got kind of burnt out. Well Marco's Beef and Pizza might be the place to break me out of the rut. Had a great Italian beef there today which reminded me it's always worth it the check out a new (to me) place, you never know what you might find.


Marco's doesn't really look like a restaurant, maybe that's why I've overlooked it for so long. It looks more like a converted bank building, but the inside is pure 100% Chicago fast food stand.


This was a very good beef sandwich. Tender, thin sliced beef, savory paprika-spiked gravy, roll that was soggy enough to be delicious, but not falling apart. No prepackaged products here, this place definitely has the homemade touch which I haven't found at a stand in a long time.


The most interesting part was their giardinera. Marco's makes a homemade blend of finely diced celery and jalapenos, mixed with red pepper flakes and most unusually, slivered carrots. I haven't seen that combo before and I like it, as the fine dice is ideal for sandwich topping. It's kind of like Al's celery giard, but spicier, saltier and with carrots on top.

Marco's Beef and Pizza
6008 W Fullerton Ave

Wow, I haven't been to Marco's in over 30 years. But I had their beef once a week for at least 2 years when I worked in the area. But it was great back then.

Ram4 wrote:

The Food Diva wrote:At Johnnies I order it "dipped with a fork". I've lived in EP for the last 50 years. They got my order down, even to the point that they know I don't like the slices of beef, but the "crumbs on the bottom"

Yeah, I've heard dipped with a fork too. I should try ordering it with crumbs on the bottom, that sounds good. Normally when saying juicy at Johnnie's (Arlington Hts), it's always been dipped fine. But one time they barely dipped it. So for my second beef that day I said I wanted it completely dipped, so the guy submerged it for a solid 2-3 seconds (!). It was perfect. The bread did not fall apart!

LOL, don't go taking my crumbs now. When I order for the family, I make sure to order mine first and have it put in it's own bag. LOL

I am with the crumb crowd, but no problem with the sliced crowd. The bottom line with beefs is that the "juice" has to have taste. Up here in Milwaukee, we have nothing good as they never understand the "juice" part. Thankfully, I make it over the border often. I make a mean batch of my own. As it sits in the Nesco during a party it will become crumb like. I make a batch of soup with the crumbs and "juice" if there is any left. Yum.

Puckjam wrote:I am with the crumb crowd, but no problem with the sliced crowd. The bottom line with beefs is that the "juice" has to have taste. Up here in Milwaukee, we have nothing good as they never understand the "juice" part. Thankfully, I make it over the border often. I make a mean batch of my own. As it sits in the Nesco during a party it will become crumb like. I make a batch of soup with the crumbs and "juice" if there is any left. Yum.

Dr Dawg in Glendale serves an amazing Italian beef sandwich. Product comes directly from Chicago from the Scala family(remember Scala's Beef)? While it's not crumby, it's thinly sliced in house, gravy is outstanding, and the bread is Gonnella(great fully soaked/wet). The menu includes Vienna Beef hot dogs, Polish, and one of Milwaukee's top rated burgers made with fresh Niman Ranch beef from California. Fries are hand cut and Green River is a fountain drink.

Dr Dawg
6969 Port Washington Road
Glendale, WI
414.540.0400
www.drdawg.net

eating while walking wrote:The most interesting part was their giardinera. Marco's makes a homemade blend of finely diced celery and jalapenos, mixed with red pepper flakes and most unusually, slivered carrots. I haven't seen that combo before and I like it, as the fine dice is ideal for sandwich topping. It's kind of like Al's celery giard, but spicier, saltier and with carrots on top.

Marco's Beef and Pizza
6008 W Fullerton Ave

Marco's is about as close to me as Johnnie's, and there are some times when I'm more in that direction. Good thing, as you say, that it's a top tier place, and yes I agree on the giardinara. To show you how in tune the illustrious Da Beef is on these things, I once posted a pic on Instagram of Marco's giard without naming it. Of course he filled in the blank.

Vital Information wrote:Marco's is about as close to me as Johnnie's, and there are some times when I'm more in that direction. Good thing, as you say, that it's a top tier place, and yes I agree on the giardinara. To show you how in tune the illustrious Da Beef is on these things, I once posted a pic on Instagram of Marco's giard without naming it. Of course he filled in the blank.

I might actually like Marco's beef better than Johnnie's, it's got more spice and zip. Johnnie's has the charcoal grilled sausages in their favor but the beef is just a nice, standard "pretty good". I have to eat a few more Marco's sandwiches to be sure. You know, for calibration.

I can easily believe the Da Beef giardinera IDing story. The man is a legend in his own time.

Reading the Boeufhaus thread's turn toward lunch sandwiches, I couldn't help but notice the "Italian" on the menu pictured. Surely, someone has tried it. I'm thinking I deserve a beef there and maybe a 4 Seasons hot dog to follow it up.

eating while walking wrote:

Vital Information wrote:Marco's is about as close to me as Johnnie's, and there are some times when I'm more in that direction. Good thing, as you say, that it's a top tier place, and yes I agree on the giardinara. To show you how in tune the illustrious Da Beef is on these things, I once posted a pic on Instagram of Marco's giard without naming it. Of course he filled in the blank.

I might actually like Marco's beef better than Johnnie's, it's got more spice and zip. Johnnie's has the charcoal grilled sausages in their favor but the beef is just a nice, standard "pretty good". I have to eat a few more Marco's sandwiches to be sure. You know, for calibration.

I can easily believe the Da Beef giardinera IDing story. The man is a legend in his own time.

Haha. I remember that because I was in Spain and immediately wanted a beef with hot which I'm pretty sure is what I ate once I got back. I always get major craves when away for an extended period of time, even when eating my way thru one of the best culinary countries in the world. As far as the whole legend thing, maybe in my own mind. Haha.

JeffB wrote:Reading the Boeufhaus thread's turn toward lunch sandwiches, I couldn't help but notice the "Italian" on the menu pictured. Surely, someone has tried it. I'm thinking I deserve a beef there and maybe a 4 Seasons hot dog to follow it up.

Raises hand! Maybe you're onto something @eatingwhilewalking. It's an excellent sandwich but if you go in expecting an Italian Beef in the style of most spots you might be disappointed at first. For me the dissatisfaction left quickly. This is the type of beef one with skill might make in his/her own kitchen. It was crumbly and spiced a little differently than most. I suspect there was red wine involved because it's a very winter like sandwich. What I mean by that is it tastes like something that can comfort one up real quick on a cold winter day. The side of beef gravy only made it richer. My only gripe is with the peppers, which are pretty much just that, bell peppers and alot of onion. So there's no heat and it kind of takes on the flavor profile of a cheesesteak minus the cheese but it's still a damn good sandwich. D'Amato's bread and all. Just $10 which is very reasonable with their tasty chips on the side. Which I dipped in the leftover gravy. As Da Wiv would say, count me a fan!


Italian Boeuf

Boeufhaus
1012 N Western Ave
Chicago, IL 60622
(773) 661-2116

You guys got a suggestion for the best Italian Beef for your Buck?

blackbookali wrote:You guys got a suggestion for the best Italian Beef for your Buck?

I've usually found good, cheap beef sandwiches in the west side neighborhoods and near burbs. Off the top of my head none of these sandwiches break $6 and they're all good to great:

Bob O's Hot Dogs
8258 W Irving Park Rd, Chicago, IL 60634

Johnnie's Beef
7500 W North Ave, Elmwood Park, IL 60707

Frannie's Beef and Catering
4304 River Rd, Schiller Park, IL 60176

I want to especially give Frannie's a call out here. The first time I stopped in to check it out, I saw two employees manhandling a heavy white cube of... something behind the counter. It looked like a giant bar of soap until they dropped it into the deep fryer. Then I understood that ohhh, they cook their fries in shortening here. This good feeling immediately came over me because I knew I had found a legit beef stand and the food did not disappoint; the beef sandwich and fries were both delicious.

blackbookali wrote:You guys got a suggestion for the best Italian Beef for your Buck?

Johnnies.

I should have prefaced it with "besides Johnnies or Als?

So there is this Bridgeports Got Beef thing goin on soon http://https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20151023/bridgeport/bridgeports-best-beef-sandwich-got-beef-contest-aims-answer

i dunno if im willing to pay $50 to go to this, but i did decide to go to one of my favorite sub shops in the city, Soluri & Sons, and try one of there Italian beefs. It was pretty damn good! The only thing i wish they did, was throw the beef on the D'amatos bread that they use for the Italian subs that they do. I love IB's on Dámatos bread. But still despite my preference, definitely worth checking out.

They also do a bunch of new sandwiches there and when i last visited there were a bunch of cameras inside filming them make my sandwich. Go try one for yourself.

Soluri & Sons
3549 S Halsted St
Chicago, IL 60609

blackbookali wrote:You guys got a suggestion for the best Italian Beef for your Buck?

While Johnnie's is decidedly Chicago's Best Italian Beef, and Al's its most famous, we've recently become fans of Bob-O's, mentioned above. Rich beef flavor, abundantly* served with house made giardiniera, and excellent fresh cut fries make Bob-O's a top tier choice.

Buddy

*If "bang for your buck" refers to a price/value issue, Bob-O's is the hands down winner. We recently did some independent research prior to an Italian Beef/CSD group tour and found Bob-O's to serve the most fully stuffed sandwich of all the candidates. Johnnie's still held the edge when it came to flavor, but Bob-O's was by far the most generous serving of good quality beef. Our order of fries was quite hefty as well.

B.

BuddyRoadhouse wrote:

blackbookali wrote:You guys got a suggestion for the best Italian Beef for your Buck?

While Johnnie's is decidedly Chicago's Best Italian Beef, and Al's its most famous, we've recently become fans of Bob-O's, mentioned above. Rich beef flavor, abundantly* served with house made giardiniera, and excellent fresh cut fries make Bob-O's a top tier choice.

Buddy

*If "bang for your buck" refers to a price/value issue, Bob-O's is the hands down winner. We recently did some independent research prior to an Italian Beef/CSD group tour and found Bob-O's to serve the most fully stuffed sandwich of all the candidates. Johnnie's still held the edge when it came to flavor, but Bob-O's was by far the most generous serving of good quality beef. Our order of fries was quite hefty as well.

B.

Yea, I sure wouldn't consider either Johnnie's or Al's great bang for the buck. Bob-O's is a good choice in that category but I'd have to pick Jay's on Narragansett. But Bob-O's definitely has much better fries.

I get two Italian Beef a year from Duke's on 81st/Harlem in Bridgeview, because I get my car serviced down the street and sometimes it's afternoon. I got a surprisingly great one on Saturday at about 11:30 - good flavor, dipped without me even remembering to ask, the right proportions of hot peppers. And it was a big sandwich for $5.49 plus tax - a good size point halfway between a regular and a big Portillo's IB.

Not the type of place to drive our of your way to visit, but not bad if you're in the area.