Beefathon - the finals (tm)

Useful portions of the original planning thread have now been moved and merged into the score report - skip to the bottom for scores

While we work on a date for Beefathon - the finals (tm), I think it time to begin discussing the contestants.

We can start with the first and second place winners from each of the six tastings. It has been pointed out that the relative position in each tasting is more meaningful than the absolute scores for a few different reasons, but I included the scores for reference. If this is going to be one afternoon's outing, it will limit how many of these we can visit, so I think we might want to have a "Virtual" Beefathon (tm), in addition to the real thing." If you want to go visit all the places that we finally choose for the finals and send in score sheets, they will be happily accepted. I do not think it works so well if you just visit one or two, since the scores will lack the context.

For any that want to do the Virtual Beefathon (tm) we will provide scoresheets and some guidelines.

Here are the winners and their sandwich scores.

Beefathon I

Johnnies (7.9)
Chickies (7.7)

Beefathon II

Johnnies (9.1)
Carms/Hillside (7.0)

Beefathon III (sandwich scores still missing I see, will make a search)

Tore's
Max's

Beefathon IV

Uncle Johnny's (7.3)
Nothing else worth looking at here

Beefathon V

Chickies (8.3)
Dukes & Tony's - tie (6.3)

Beefathon VI

Pop's on Kedzie (7.9)
Pop's Homewood (6.8)

Al's is missing, but as noted before this is because of the wide range of its scores - from a 3 to a 9. Should it be part of the finals? I suppose not, though that would not be my personal preference. I think their sandwich is both unique and very tasty.

First blush, looks like the finalists are Johnnies, Chickies, Tore's, Uncle Johnny's (tho I have been back once and was not as impressed), and Pop's on Kedzie. The winners of each round - only five since Johnnies won twice.

Let the discussion begin!

I'll be returning from Austin on this date, but otherwise I'd love to attend.

It's really been gnawing at me if I should post anything, but, well what the heck, I have to say this:

Some of the finalists, I do not know, having missed at least one of the beefathons, but I really wonder about the exclusion of a few places. While it would be dense to simply re-do the original Beefathon, I am, well, surprised that some of those places are not included. In my humble, yet ever present opinion, Patio, Mr. Beef, Boston's, and Al's are all way better than Torre's.

...just in case you asked...

I'm not quite sure how you can compare the winners of later beefathons with your top-heavy favorites from earlier events. Naturally, you chose to go to some of our favorite beef places in beefathon I. Comparing the quality level of even an above-average place from the early days to a top-rated place from later outings seems questionable.
I went to one of these later beefathons (Damenza's, Lulu's, Ricobene's?) and remember having to take my nephew's sorry, young Highland Park ass to Al's on Taylor on the way home to show him what a real Chicago Italian beef stand is all about.

I'm in absolute agreement with a few others above that to include places like Tore's or Max's over Al's is highly questionable, to say the least.

Can we reconsider adding Al's?

RSMBob wrote:I know you guys don't have unlimited time (and stomachs) but I still gotta believe you are missing on dozens if not hundreds of other worthy beef stands. Just in my old "neighborhood" alone (Downers Grove), I counted 30+ places within about 5 miles of my parent's house that have italian beef. Johnny's, Teddy's, Maxwell's, Dan's -- all deserve to be sampled at some time (all 4 are good IMHO), and there are countless others, most of whom I haven't tried.

Great point, Bob.

By claiming that this is the "finals" creates the illusion that their isn't much else out there for future discovery.

Like Vital Information I, too, will be unable to attend due to work schedule.

Having been on all the previous Beefathons I will stick in my 2 cents. I believe the idea of the original beefathon was to go to places preferred by a number of posters. It did turn out to be geographically concentrated -- central Chicago and west.

The idea of succeeding beefathons was to find places unknown to many of us. I think they were successful in that respect thanks to many suggestions from posters.

I do disagree with VI on some of his assessments. I would strongly prefer Tore's to Boston's. Despite the warm welcome at the latter, I felt the IB was ordinary, and this was reflected in it's score. Also, while Patio was very good on the beefathon I was disappointed by it on later visits.

My point is that opinions differ about IB places which is why we had the beefathons in the first place.

I did bring up the question of Al's back in July and the response at that time was modest.

That's why I suggested doing just the winners of each beefathon. I kind of like the NFL approach -- you don't drop a division champ from the playoffs because it's from what some consider a weak division. Surprises happen.

Well, whatever you decide to do, have a great time. I'll be thinking of you.

Okay, we are proceeding without George since he has convinced me that he may never be able to take another Saturday off again.

As to the places to visit - I relent a little. Since I never actually posted scores for the sandwiches for Beefathon III it does allow a little leeway in arguing for Tore's or Max's. Me, I prefer Max's, if given a choice and was only going with Tore's in deference to what I originally thought a consensus.

Second, I am open to making this a marathon and including some wild card entrants, but there was an earlier push to make it shorter. Who plans on coming? If you plan on coming, are you up for a marathon, hitting 7 or 8 places over a pretty broad geographic range?

So I am certainly open to something like, and this is both a suggested list and route:

Chickies
Pop's on Kedzie
Uncle Johnny's
Al's (though since it came in 6th in Beefathon I, I am not sure of the exact argument for this in the context of the Beefathon - me, I love the place, but I am not sure how much that counts)
Patio
Max's
Johnnie's

And we can even add back in Tore's if you are really obsessive.

I reread the argument about whether this should be called the finals, and since it is a tasting of the best of a series of tastings, I am not sure what else we would call it. Whether the result will be the best IB in the world, who knows? But it will be a damned good sammy.

Personally, I think I know which places will win, and could probably even predict the order (just guessing here), but it is always interesting to get the chance to compare one more time, and enjoy the company of my fellow LTH'ers. Plus it will be a day of some excellent Italian Beef.

So, how about October 28, Chickies, 10am? Who is coming? I just need to confirm that Chickies is open at 10, but I am pretty sure it is.

What order do you suggest?

I ended up at Pop's in Mokena (or was it Orland?) yesterday, and had a very enjoyable combo. Good sausage, same interesting guardinera (sliced jalapenos and celery, mostly), decent beef. If asked, they admit to being associated with the Pop's on Kedzie, but all their menus just list Orland and Mokena, so I think there is some separation. I did not ask about Palos. Anyway, the beef at this location had the same, simple beefy flavor as at Palos. Good, but not exciting, hardly any spicing. A little different and not as good as Kedzie, for my money. And I wonder if there is some difference in ownership behind the scenes that is reflected in the recipe.

How many Pop's are there?

They really dip their sammies, even if one does not request it. At this location I could watch the prep while waiting.

It did confirm that Pop's really is pretty good, for me anyway.

The hamsters got up to speed and the dickson computing device is now operating at full steam.

So here is the revised, almost scientifically derived, route.

Max's 5745 N Western at 10am
Johnnies 7500 W North (Elmwood Park - all others are in Chicago)
Chickies 2839 S Pulaski
Pop's 10337 S Kedzie
Uncle Johnny's 500 W 32nd
Al's 1079 W Taylor
Patio 1503 W Taylor (I found a few different addresses for Patio, but this seems about right based on what I remember)

Did you guys ever try a Wojo's Beef? IMO much better than Pop's on kedzie, just throwing it out there since you will be in the neighborhood it would definately be worth a stop! Have fun all.

Wojo's
99th & Pulaski
Evergreen Park

What? You guys too tired to post?
Let's have the results...or at least some initial impressions!

The other day I was cruising on roadfood.com and noticed that earlier this year there had been an italian beef "tour" of much of the same ground you guys (and gals) covered today (featuring BuddyRoadhouse among others). I didn't want to post it before your journey, but I thought now that it might be interesting to compare and contrast what people said/wrote. Link below...and although I will argue that this should finally be the "finals", I anticipate hearing about your day and seeing the official and unofficial results!

http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11331&whichpage=1

RSMBob wrote:What? You guys too tired to post?

Bob,

I pretty much passed out in a beef coma as soon as I got home. 7 back-to-back beef joints make for a fun, but long, day.

I'll post impressions and pictures tomorrow, as I am sure will others.

Beefmeister Dickson hoisting a celebratory last stop of the day cup of Al's on Taylor Italian Beef Gravy.


Enjoy,
Gary

Well the Beefathon Finals are finally over. For me, there were no surprises. The three places that I thought would shine, did. Chickie's, Johnnie's and The Patio were the class of the field. Beef sandwiches, like BBQ, can be somewhat variable depending on any number of factors, so timing is as big a part of a beef tasting as anything else, but these three places, even on an off day like we experienced at Johnnies, are still better than most. Each one of those could be my favorite beef on any given day. Honorable mention goes to Al's, despite their small portions. I used to be a bigger fan of Al's than I am now. As discussed before, they have an unusual taste profile that is a love it or hate it affair. I found the allspice notes and the greasy gravy a bit off-putting yesterday. Of course that was after hitting 6 other beef stands first, so palate fatigue and/or over-stuffing may have come into play here. The other places we hit were all good as well and deserved to be in The Finals, but I would put them all solidly near the top of the 2nd tier of beefs. I'll hold off making specific comments about each of the places until Dicksond posts the results.

In terms of calling this The Finals, I'll agree that there are many more untasted beef stands out there, but keep in mind that besides going to more than 40 beef stands during the "regionals", there was quite a bit of pre-beefathon research done (most notably by Rene G and others) to winnow down the choices to the best of a given region. I think Dicksond and Geroge R did a yeoman's job of planning and executing the entire series of Beefthons. Even though we didn't go to every beef stand in the region, we did hit a very broad cross section of the best of them. If there are more outstanding beefs to be had, I'd like to think that the collective mind of LTH would have revealed them by now. I'm comfortable calling this The Finals if, for no other reason, I don't want to eat 7 - 10 beefs in a single day again. I'm always up for checking out the rogue beef stand recommendation that someone may have, but so far, those types of recommendations have not panned out (including the recommended Wojo's on this outing).

My reaction is that the Beefathon (the prelims and the "finals") reflects the triumph of small things.

This was my first beefathon (and I remained for the first four stands), but I was impressed by the variation in the sandwiches. Even though I had rather thought that an IB was an IB, they vary tremendously, as did the fries, pepper, gravy, giardiniera. This is the value of this board to remind us that quality adheres even to the most humble of things. Granted we will disagree about quality, it was also impressive how similar our perspectives were. Often we really do not consider what we eat, but just wolf it down, but when we take a moment, we recognize that some culinary workers and some organizations are committed to craftsmanship.

And sometimes in particular areas - e.g., Johnnies - great beef, mediocre fries or Pop's - great giardiniera (a finalist for an imagined Giardiniera-thon), mediocre beef.

RSM - Yup, knew about the Roadfood tasting, they even called me for suggestions. Sounds like it was fun, and though I am at a loss as to how useful the info is since there is zero context (I could not even figure out how they ate the sandwiches) and really only two people who posted opinions. But maybe that is because they gushed over Mr Beef, which continues to baffle me. One other comment regarding their notes - most IB places have Scala's sign up, leading one to conclude they use Scala's beef. But when we have asked, I do not remember anyone saying the beef we were eating actually came from Scala's. They tend to shop around for the best price.

The Beefathon finals were a grueling and demanding event that required years of training and preparation. We did it!

I was surprised how many people stuck around for the end, and it did bring a tear to my eye since the first Beefathon started, almost exactly three (?) years ago, at that same counter in Al's. Funny how that worked out, and I swear it was not intentional, since I even asked the assembled if they wanted to go to Patio or Al's first when we hit taylor Street.

It was a strange day, too. How often do we get two sunny days in a row, much less three, on a weekend! Portent of the upcoming apocalypse? Probably not, but quite unusual.

And it seemed like every place had their seasoning upside down. Chickie's was fairly bland and beefy, Al's a little more vinegary than usual, Johnnies a bit blah, and Max's intensely oregano-y. And I think the Patio has been working to make their IB a bit more like Al's, though that is one place I have not been to since Beefathon 1, so I do not have a good point of reference. The others, I can safely say were different that day.

All very good, too, and covering a pretty broad range of flavor profiles.

Prior to doing the scores, I will move part of this thread over to Chicagoland, and delete the rest. And I will share my opinions now.

Al's has the best technique. Their product is always cooked right, assembled properly. Best run, by far.

I like the guy at Chickie's best, even if he is threatening to sell the place and move to Florida. The For Sale sign is up, but he will tell you it is "just a line in the water to see what he catches." It is good to know that if he does sell out, I can always go over to the Patio, where the whole family (Mom, Dad, Daughter(s?), uncle) are charming as all get out.

Johnnies attitude is good for me, too. And I could spend a day hanging out at Uncle Johnny's, no problem. Not sure why we did not take the owner up on his offer of a CD of his karaoke Elvis - how often do you get that offer?

Much thanks to George R, without whose efforts we probably would not have gotten here. Sad that he did not join us.

And a great thanks to all who have suggested places that we needed to try.

Scores coming "soon".

Trix and I recently checked out Wojo's right after having one of the great beef sandwiches in Chicago; Pop's. As I see it, Chicago has a beef trilogy that reigns supreme over all others; Johnnie's, Chickie's and last but certainly not least Pop's.
There’s not a single component of Pop's beef sandwich that I don't love. Their dip has a wonderfully natural beef flavor which doesn't rely heavily on extraneous seasonings such as garlic or dried oregano. The beef itself has a moistness to it so rarely found in most places before doing the obligatory dip. Their giardinara is the only one in town that rivals Chickie's. I love Pop's and Chickie's use of razor-thin slices of celery.
The Italian beef at Pop's is clearly in the upper echelons of beefdom in Chicago as a complete sandwich experience.

On the other hand...

The Italian beef sandwich at Wojo's brought me back to my last Arby's night several years ago. The beef itself was overly brined giving it a plastic-y texture in spite of the fact that they shaved the meat relatively thinly. The dip tasted like it came right out of a can and if I recall correctly, their idea of giardinara was using sport peppers. This is the Italian beef world’s version of Sonny's "pizzeria"; one bite and a free throw attempt towards the trash can.
In all fairness, though, this place is right across the street from the local High school. With the large variety of milk shakes they carry there, it's pretty clear that they're not focusing on the Italian beef sandwich.

I agree that Wojo's beef isn't that good. The beef in the Brother Rice High School cafeteria across the street is probably better.


But they do have a great variety of burgers and shakes.

http://www.wojosmenu.com/

Sorry I couldn't make it but duty called. Sounds like you had a great time. The comments, as always, are interesting and insightful.

Dickson said:

One other comment regarding their notes - most IB places have Scala's sign up, leading one to conclude they use Scala's beef. But when we have asked, I do not remember anyone saying the beef we were eating actually came from Scala's. They tend to shop around for the best price.

I think you're right on track. Many years ago I heard that as Scala was THE brand name for Chicago IB, stands would initially order from Scala to get the sign. Once the sign was in place they would switch to whoever was cheapest.

Wow didn't expect that response from my favorite beef spot on the southwest side, Wojo's. I also like Arby's so it could just be me

Sorry you guys didn't like it but glad you stopped by.

Well, to paraphrase that old lady from Wendy's...

WHERE"S THE BEEF...a-thon scores?

Hmm...wishing I had one from ANY good place right now!

And now for the results.

This post will be in 3 parts - an introduction, scores for the peripherals, and the meat of the thing.

Many years ago we set off on a quest, to find the best beef in Chicago. We settled on a process, a way of rating the places, and proceeded to work through as many of the places that people recommended as we could. And now it all came to an end.

We might do more Beefathons, if people wish, and certainly people will argue with the results, which is as it should be. but we are done with this round.

Thanks again to all.

As noted before, these scores are solely based on the tasting the day of the finals. Scores from previous Beefathons were only used to decide where we were going to go. A good IB is a product that will vary a bit based on time of day and the particular ingredients being used; it should not vary too much based on preparation.

IT SHOULD NOT be any of these things:

- Stale bread
- Off flavors of any sort
- Be tightly wrapped resulting in a steamed effect
- Overcooked, tough and stringy beef (think of the worst version of boiled beef you have ever had and it should not be like that)
- The gravy should not be too fatty, taste of bouillion, or too strongly of any powdered or stale spices.

None of these places had any of those features, though the bread at Al's did have a crustiness and dusty look that seemed to suggest something like staleness. I actually found it a pleasant difference from the run-of-the -mill Gonnella bread we usually get, but I will not bore you with my rant about the lousy rolls used in Chicago for sandwiches, other than to say, "a crust, a crust, my kingdom for a crust."

In general, all these places rated quite highly. And pretty much every one is a destination of a sort, worth driving to.

Uncle Johnny's is a beautiful old store, run by some real characters. They make a variety of food there, including the Italian Beef - it is sort of a (much) less ambitious version of Freddies, only the store itself and its fixtures is much more of an antique. And the guys who run it are genuinely nice and entertaining. A good place to hang out on the corner, eat a little, head to the Sox game.

Chickies makes fries that are possibly the best in Chicago, when they are on. And they were that day. If you like fresh, hand-cut fires, hie thee to Chickies.

Johnnies has sweet peppers that are really, truly, tasty, so if you like sweet peppers on your sandwich, go there.

And more.

I already gave it away - the best atmosphere is at Uncle Johnny's, with an 8/10. An "old world store, with built-in wooden coolers, almost perfect except for the lack of any seating." Max's was not far behind with its "folk-artish murals and bright airy feel", getting a 7.8. Then came the Patio ("wonderful staff") and Johnnies ("terrific stand, great attitude") in a dead heat just below 7.4. Bringing up the rear were Al's at 7.2, Chickies at 6.7 and Pop's at 6.3. All pleasant enough places to be, just some had special character that the others lacked.

The bread was pretty much all the same Gonnella rolls. Uncle Johnny's uses a better roll, and Al's is either trying something different, or some of the rolls were getting stale, but beyond that all the rolls are the same.

If fries are really important to you, go to Chickies and get them crisp. They were better on this visit than previously, but they are always very good. The overall score was a 9.3, and 3 tasters deemed them deserving a perfect 10 - "crisp, sweet, strong potato taste." Just great. Al's were also very good, "hand cut with skin, crispy," and rated a 8.2. None of the others were exciting, and all appeared to be frozen, thick or thin cut. Try the Ghetto Fries at Max's, some of us love them. Max's, Patio and Pop's all were decent with scores above 5. Johnnies are lousy, and got a 3.2 - frozen fries not cooked very well.

Johnnies and Al's have quite good sweet peppers. Johnnies actually resembled a roasted pepper with a light char on some, and a taste of oregano, and they stood out with a 7.6. Al's did not have the same positive qualities as Johnnies, but they escaped the common defects - mushiness and bitterness - and so were pretty edible and got a 7 (perhaps our expectations should be higher?). Chickies and Max's are passable and got a 5.3 and 5.2 respectively. The others should really not be eaten.

Some of these places make great, and interesting, Giardinera. max's rated highest at 8.2 with its distinctive style - good heat, olives, paprika, big crispy chunks. Pop's rated well with a very good 7.8. A very fresh blend with both flecks of chili and jalapeno slices, we all liked the heat and would gladly eat this by itself. Chickies "clean, green" giardinera rated well, too, with a 7.3. Very crisp with peppers and celery, plus oil and vinegar. Al's rated a 7.2 for its homemade mix - not as hot or crisp as the favorites, but quite good. Patio and Johnnies were good and rated around a 6.2. Uncle Johnny's is mediocre and from a jar. Not enough heat, a noticeable canned flavor, etc.

Getting hungry now, so I will take a tiny break before I head for the finish line.

On to the meat of the matter.

Is the suspense building yet?

A good Italian Beef rests on a foundation of two things - gravy and beef. Tender beef, with good flavor, be it herbs and spices, a lovely rich beefiness, or a combination. A rich and flavorful gravy that really tastes like beefy juice with seasoning to compement the meat.

Put it together on a roll, and you have Italian Beef bliss.

Johnnies, with their process and attitude, refuses to give us gravy on the side, so we can only deduce that it is rich, well-seasoned and made from scratch. Chickies ranked a 7.5 to lead the pack, with their beefy, herby gravy. Normally it also has flecks of spices and almost a hungarian, peppery style, but the spiciness was way down this time. Even so, the base is good enough that it was excellent. Patio came next with a 7, for their "beefy, slightly greasy (in a good way)" version. It also seemed to be light on seasoning, and could be great with a little salt. Pops. Max's and
Al's followed with 6.6, 6.5 and 6.3 respectively. All well done, and enjoyable, though Al's distinctive anise-flavor is disagreeable to many. Uncle Johnny's brought up the rear with a 5.8 - they clearly relied a bit too much on bouillion as a base. Too bad, since they used real beef.

Which brings us - drum roll, please - to the sandwich.

Going from worst to first:

Pop's earned a 6.4. Not a destination, but a decent sandwich. It is, we all agreed, a simple, beefy sandwich. No glaring flaws, but it cries out for seasoning. Even with the additon of the very good giardinera, it still needs more seasoning, whether it is the common, italian style or the more unusual seasoning of some of the other finalists. Based on my experience, I would equate this with a Mr. Beef overall. A good choice if one is in the south/soutwest suburbs.

Unlce Johnny's was a hair better with a 6.5. It was a big beefy sandwich at a good price. Good, thicker roast beef, and the saltiness of the gravy worked well. Overall, the effect may be more of a French Dip sandwich, than Italian Beef, but it is good. Tip for the sports fan - if you want to eat nearby for a Sox game, this place has cheap good sandwiches (breaded steak and meatball, too), made on premises. Avoid Jimbos, go to Johnny's.

Max's was a definite step up, earning a 7. Solid beef flavor and good Italian seasoning (if overly strong on oregano this day) light up with the giardinera. No obvious flaws, just not the magical combination of the best for most of us.

Another jump up to two places that finished very close to each other, not so concidentally. Patio earned a 7.6. More finely chopped than most, slight touch of vinegar, good seasoning. This sandwch is becoming increasingly similar to Al's, its neighbor down the street, but without the anise, fennel or whatever it is. Al's placed slightly ahead with a 7.9. For me, there is a magic in the combination of Al's finely chopped beef, sweet and vinegary gravy and great giardinera. It seems fitting that Patio and Al's are so close, and getting closer in every way. However, I think Patio has a more attractive flavor to most, and the price is much more reasonable than Al's. Me, I prefer Al's, but by less than I used to.

Another small jump to the top, where it was not quite a tie. Neither Johnny's or Chickies were at their best this day: Johnnies beef was not as rich as usual, and Chickies was less spicy, but they still stood out.

When each part is done well, and the seasoning is harmonious and oh so delicious, it is hard to go wrong. And that, most often is the case with these two places. Chickies received an 8.2, and Johnnies an 8.3. For every taster, one or the other is the favorite.

If you like Italian Beef, you should make a point of trying all of the top 4 - each is distinctive and damned good. Al's and Johnnies have the benefit of excellent, grilled Italian Sausage, so they are the choice for combos. Chickies has those wonderful fries and that unique seasoning (most of the time, anyway) with flecks of pepper and herbs in the beef and gravy. And I just want to be adopted by the family that runs the Patio.

I look forward to lots of people pointing out all the great places we missed, and the reasons why our judgements are wrong.

Enjoy

Brilliant work, Mr. D. I've got nothing to add. I think you have encapsulated my (and evidently everyone else's) opinions perfectly. Personally, I'd take a Chickie's beef over Johnnie's given the choice, but both are great and I would never turn down a trip to Johnnie's

The Italian beef sandwich at Wojo's brought me back to my last Arby's night several years ago. The beef itself was overly brined giving it a plastic-y texture in spite of the fact that they shaved the meat relatively thinly. The dip tasted like it came right out of a can and if I recall correctly, their idea of giardinara was using sport peppers. This is the Italian beef world’s version of Sonny's "pizzeria"; one bite and a free throw attempt towards the trash can.
In all fairness, though, this place is right across the street from the local High school. With the large variety of milk shakes they carry there, it's pretty clear that they're not focusing on the Italian beef sandwich.

Actually, I did stop by Wojo's on the Beefathon. I scanned the menu, which was too large (a good beef place is more focused, though Max's defies that rule) and watched what they were doing behind the counter. The Beef looked like an afterthought. My chow-sense said no beef, so I picked up two hot dogs that we shared while waiting for the beef at Pop's. Respectable dogs. Glad to have my chow-sense confirmed.

I like the look and feel of Wojo's, though, and next time I am ref'ing at Brother Rice (maybe once a decade) I will probably try a burger and shake.

No Mr. Beef in there? I'd think they'd have to be a part of the finals, no?

rdstoll wrote:No Mr. Beef in there? I'd think they'd have to be a part of the finals, no?

There is some discussion of Mr. Beef in the original beefathon thread, where it seemed to rank in the middle of the pack. I tend to agree that it's good, but not great.

Best,
Michael

rdstoll wrote:No Mr. Beef in there? I'd think they'd have to be a part of the finals, no?

Certain places succeed because of marketing, some places because of location, some succeed for mysterious reasons. Portillos, for instance, comes up on a lot of lists of best beef sandwiches. And the sandwich is not bad, but the reason it comes up in the best beef discussion is more because of their ubiquitousness and marketing, than because it is an extraordinary sandwich (me, I prefer Buona's as a chain, just becase I enjoy thejolt of garlic in the bread). There is nothing terribly bad about it, but it is not great either.

Mr. Beef is probably in the same class of sandwich - well made, nothing wrong with it, you could do a lot worse. But nothing terribly special either. On the other hand, it certainly is the most famous beef stand in the city (with Al's a distant second), which they take advantage of every way possible, understandably.

On the other hand, the Beefathon process was unfair to Mr Beef, in that Beefathon I, which included Mr Beef, was packed with about 6 places that all could have been in the finals - Al's, Patio, Johnnies, Mr Beef, Boston BBQ, Chickies. 4 of them were in the finals, and I suspect the other two would have been close in score to some of the winners of other Beefathons, like Pop's (which I noted as probably being similar in quality to Mr Beef) and Uncle Johnny's, and maybe even Max's. But I really do not think Mr Beef is close in quality to Johnnie's and Chickies, and if you like the flavor, Al's.

And the Beefathon participants agreed with that.

Good sandwich, nice place if you like celebrity photos and gruff service (I pretty much do), not quite up to the press it gets, but not bad either, that was the verdict on Mr Beef. That is, if you avoid the pre-made sandwiches at lunch - if you get one of them they have now committed one of the cardinal sins of a beef stand, and the place sucks. Fortunately, it is easy to avoid that if you are alert.

dicksond wrote:Good sandwich, nice place if you like celebrity photos and gruff service (I pretty much do), not quite up to the press it gets, but not bad either, that was the verdict on Mr Beef. That is, if you avoid the pre-made sandwiches at lunch - if you get one of them they have now committed one of the cardinal sins of a beef stand, and the place sucks. Fortunately, it is easy to avoid that if you are alert.

See, I think the very fact that Mr. Beef would even consider serving an abomination like a premade beef sandwich is grounds for disqualification from future consideration. I can't imagine ever going there again. I understand that if I make a point of asking for a fresh sandwich, I'll get one, but I don't feel I -- or any customer -- should have to ask for a sandwhich that hasn't been sitting around for a few hours. I'll tell you, when I saw those premade beeves, I was as shocked as I would be later in the day when I witnessed the GWiv/Spiro exchange.

On the subject of shocks, went to Johnnie's last Wedneday -- at 8:00 PM, the place was empty, the friers were not going, the grill was cleaned out, the staff was standing around aimlessly, and one counterman scooped condiments onto a sandwich that he himself was eating. I have never seen anything like that take place before within these sacred confines. I had two sausage sandwiches...not bad, but not grill-fresh.

Hammond

I've revised the Index to Beefathons to include the finals and fix the Chowhound links.

What was the GWiv/Spiro exchange?

I believe it was an exchange that implied a corpulent love fest, in all its glory. But maybe my memory is bad on this - I have blanked most of it out, and paid a lot for counseling just to be able to talk about it today.

Much like the premade sammies.

Just a chime in -
really enjoy reading up on all the beef searches, as I am constantly looking for a decent beef sammy. Just read the thread "Al's beef question" where Portillo's was mentioned. For some reason, I don't know why, but I try to avoid Portillo's for a beef sammich. I think it's the Chi-town in me that says - you can do better than a big chain for a beef sammich. BUT, one thing I'll say about the Portillo's beef and almost every thing else - good, and consistent. Also, I know I'm probably in the minority, but I prefer Tore's (sp?) beef sammich - think they use Scala's. Seen it mentioned in several posts, and my hypothesis is that the Tore's
is not as salty as most other beef joints. Most of the posts are either Love/Hate with the Tore's beef, and complaints of underspicing for the latter. A lot of times (for me anyway) once you add the salty giardinera (a must) to an already salty beef sammich - it gets to be a little much. I think the less salty Tore's beef balances well with the giardinera. The meat itself has always been as tender as most others I've had, and growing up in a somewhat salt intake conscious home, the Tore's has always been one of my favorite standbys. Plus, their giardinera has always been tear inducing, and I love to sweat during a beef sammich.