Ordering Beef - Don't know how!! New to Chicago!

How do you order Italian Beef- so it doesn't come out dry - so it is soaked in the juice. I want to sound like I know what I am doing when I order! Do I say "wet" or "dipped??"

"Gimme a Beef, dipped (or juicy) with hot peppers."

BornHungry wrote:Do I say "wet" or "dipped??"

Yes.

I have allways been a "beef, juicy, hot" guy myself, but only when I'm not that hungry. When I'm hungry it's "2 combos, juicy, hot".

I order "extra gravy, extra hot". Yum!

stevez wrote:"Gimme a Beef, dipped (or juicy) with hot peppers."

I too order "a Beef. dipped with hot peppers." However, I like mine extra juicy so I often order it "double dipped" just to make sure they get it real good. lol


Enjoy the beef,

Heather

"Beef, dipped, hot & sweet" (or plain "hot") here.

Yes to all of the Above!!!!

I talked once to a caterer who did some state fair. Seems that crowd would genuflect ever time one of his Beefs (only item served) was dipped well or bathed in Italian beef gravey. Classic

I've definitely heard people at Mr. Beef simply say "give me a hot wet beef."

I order mine "wet" and not "dipped" because I like the bun to not fall apart. From my experiences here's what I've seen:

Dry - they will let the beef drain off it's juices before putting the beef on the bun
Wet - they put the wet beef on the bun and you'll get some gravy but not enough that the bun falls apart. Note: the bun will fall apart if you get it to go and wait 15-20 minutes, since the gravy will have enough time to set into the bun.
Dipped - they put the wet beef on the bun then dip both ends of the bun and typically run the bottom of the sandwich through the gravy. This is best eaten immediately.

When you order, you'll state the type of sandwich (beef, combo), how you want it served (dry, wet, dipped), and the type of peppers you want, if any (sweet, mild, hot). The sweet peppers are just green peppers, the mild and hot are giardenera.

So next time, if you're eating there, say - "beef, dipped, hot."
If you're taking it to go, "beef, dry. gravy on the side and hot on the side" and do it yourself at home.

tyrus wrote:So next time, if you're eating there, say - "beef, dipped, hot."
If you're taking it to go, "beef, dry. gravy on the side and hot on the side" and do it yourself at home.

Pigmon picked me up a sammie from Johnnie's last month and tried to get gravy on the side. No way. They don't have the containers or the inclination.

David Hammond wrote:

tyrus wrote:So next time, if you're eating there, say - "beef, dipped, hot."
If you're taking it to go, "beef, dry. gravy on the side and hot on the side" and do it yourself at home.

Pigmon picked me up a sammie from Johnnie's last month and tried to get gravy on the side. No way. They don't have the containers or the inclination.

In fact they have signage indicating their will be no gravy on the side.

It may have since changed, but when I attempted to order a dipped sweet at Wendy's, they didn't know what I was asking for. They don't even offer a sweet pepper option, it is gardinera all the way or nothing. The manager did sit down with me later to understand what I meant by dipped.

Regards,

Portillo's will put extra gravy or toppings in a small container to go or in house.

Most of the beefs I order are to-go so I skip the "dipped." If you're eating it there it is best to order it "dipped with hot."

David Hammond wrote:

tyrus wrote:So next time, if you're eating there, say - "beef, dipped, hot."
If you're taking it to go, "beef, dry. gravy on the side and hot on the side" and do it yourself at home.

Pigmon picked me up a sammie from Johnnie's last month and tried to get gravy on the side. No way. They don't have the containers or the inclination.

Even during the Beefathon, they refused to give us gravy on the side, so you're about as likely to get it as you are to get ketchup at Jimmy's.

For some context, this site is great. Most appear to be wet (a little hard to tell) and sweet.

You're right, Johnnie's doesn't put gravy on the side. It's actually the only one who didn't out of our 9 IB blind taste test contestants. In the end, for our tasting results, it could have hurt their ratings.

Typically, your local IB joint will be happy to put the gravy on the side for you. Johnnie's just tries to be difficult and I think that resonates with a number of their fans (I'm one btw). There's a sense in the community that this is the best beef and you're luck to be there (again, I'll typically agree) - so it has to be the best. For the record, when the tasters were "blind," Johnnies ranked #7 out of 9 beefs. Like I said, the absence of the side gravy could have contributed but many of the tasters based their results on a dry beef anyway, so who knows?

One taster summed Johnnies up appropriately, in my opinion, by saying, "I don't care that I ranked it last, it's still my favorite beef."

At Portillo's, the default is slightly wet. I've learned that if I want to get a dry beef for my dad there, I should order "beef minus, sauce on the side." My personal order is big beef dipped hot. Every time...

stevez wrote:Even during the Beefathon, they refused to give us gravy on the side, so you're about as likely to get it as you are to get ketchup at Jimmy's.

But they'll gladly sell you a gallon of the stuff as a part of their to-go beef kit. (A friend that's been elevated to sainthood in my mind was kind enough to bring a few pounds of beef, a large tub of the juice, both hot & sweet peppers and a couple Gonella loaves during a recent visit.)

tyrus wrote:One taster summed Johnnies up appropriately, in my opinion, by saying, "I don't care that I ranked it last, it's still my favorite beef."

This replicates the "New Coke" experience. Despite the fact that many people couldn't tell the difference between Pepsi and Coke in blind taste tests and rated New Coke more favorably than classic Coke, the replacement attempt failed miserably, because the classic formula was everybody's favorite.

On the other hand, an Italian beef sandwich is more than the sum of its parts.

Our experience during the Beefathons was that every place provides a wet beef unless you specify otherwise. If you like dipped or dry you need to say so, otherwise you get wet. Any place that would give you a dry sammy without that being requested is not a place where you should eat an Italian Beef. And if they ask, an acceptable reply would be - "just give it to me the way you normally make it."

There may be a few places out there that dip the roll if you do not specify, but even then it is just a light dip.