Novi's beef (Berwyn)

There are a few scattered mentions of Novi's beef throughout the board but nothing specifically about it so im going to document it here on the "unofficial Italian beef board of Chicago" for those curious.

Novi's has been at their location in Berwyn since the 1960's and is a favorite stop for many eaters in the area. I first tried Novi's when I randomly spotted it taking the old route 66 route down Ogden and immediately gave it a try since I had not heard of it, which is rare for me.

Nov's does a decent homemade beef, not bad, just not special. In my opinion it's similar to the beef served at Tore's but still not better. the gravy has a nice little spice kick to it. The problem I had with Novi's was their homemade hot peppers, which are bad, sorry but they are. You only get a little tiny cup (which they charge for) when you order a beef with hot. Why cant they just put the peppers on the beef like everyone else? so the giardinara is bad and you barely got enough to cover half the beef but the fries are some of the best I have tasted and by the looks of the burgers and dog's of others, they may be the way to go here. Novi's also seems to do a popular catering business and they did have some nice deals on catered buckets of beef with bread and everything else you need.




beef with hot and Novi's fantastic fries

Novi's Beef
6746 Ogden Ave.
Berwyn, IL 60402
708-749-0895
http://www.novis-catering.com/

Those fries look fantastic, thanks for the report. I'll put on the beefs to try "list" just for that...

Fries look very good. The beef looks like it's sliced abnormally thin (not that that's a bad thing), or is that just a trick of the camera?

Da Beef wrote:so the giardinara is bad and you barely got enough to cover half the beef

L fing O L
Guess what I had for lunch today???
Although, I have an unfair advantage in that I have an office very, very close to Novi's that I work out of on Fridays and I keep a jar of my homemade habanero/serrano giardiniera in the fridge. Their giardiniera is really not the best IMO, but I can see why some ppl would love it. It's more of a hot pepper flake in oil type substance. I DO, however, really like the beef, and the fries are great, and I mean great. So, I can go, get a beef (plain) and fries, take it back to the office, add my home brewed giardiniera, and have a stellar biff sammich. IT is a paper thin cut beef, and might not be as salty as a lot of ppl like, but that's my preference. I would compare the beef to the product @ Tore's (Western/Elston/Diversey) which is a big favorite of mine as well. If you go here, and are expecting standard issue hot giardiniera, you will not be happy. The beef, however, is pretty decent IMO, and the fries are fantastic.

I liked Novi's - but I will agree with feelings on the giardiniera. I really, really liked the beef and fries tho.