Ram4 wrote:

lsher wrote:Try a great beef in Arlington Heights.

http://bigangeseatery.com/

This place looks pretty good. Is the beef made in house?

The place is very good. Not sure of the provenance of their beef, though. I suppose you could call and ask. Either way, based on my experience there, I'm sure it's well curated.

=R=

Didn't see either Nottoli's. Am I blind?

Gazing at the document, the shacks that I know are closed, but which are not indicated as such, are

• 15 =Al's Beef 1300 N. Milwaukee
• 16 = Joe Boston's Italian Beef 2932 W. Chicago
• 53 = Murphy's Red Hots 1211 W. Belmont

pudgym29 wrote: Gazing at the document, the shacks that I know are closed, but which are not indicated as such, are

• 15 =Al's Beef 1300 N. Milwaukee
• 16 = Joe Boston's Italian Beef 2932 W. Chicago
• 53 = Murphy's Red Hots 1211 W. Belmont

Also, UB Dogs, which took the IB off the menu years ago as well.

JoelF wrote:One of my quests is to find a beef place with fresh cut fries. Any suggestions?

Didn't see Mr. D's on Diversey Very good beef and the best fresh cut fries

adipocere wrote:Didn't see either Nottoli's. Am I blind?

Hi, I have had bad luck with Nottoli’s because every time I have gone there they have been closed, but it’s on my list.

pudgym29 wrote: Gazing at the document, the shacks that I know are closed, but which are not indicated as such, are

• 15 =Al's Beef 1300 N. Milwaukee
• 16 = Joe Boston's Italian Beef 2932 W. Chicago
• 53 = Murphy's Red Hots 1211 W. Belmont

Thanks! I’ll update.

Marshall K wrote:

JoelF wrote:One of my quests is to find a beef place with fresh cut fries. Any suggestions?

Didn't see Mr. D's on Diversey Very good beef and the best fresh cut fries

I will check it out.

This promises to be a cold and snowy weekend so we’d better stock up on calories for, you know, survival. I’ll try to hit a couple of the new LTH suggestions on Saturday.

pudgym29 wrote: One element I do not glimpse is the definition of “Standard” in 'Giard Type'. Could you please inform us? [/color]

Sure thing. There are a handful of giardinera subtypes, and "standard" is by far the most common. Basically it's like the kind you get at Johnnie's - serrano, celery, carrot, cauliflower, olive, all suspended in oil. "Standard fresh" is the same mix but which seems to be more freshly made in-house, rather than coming out of a foodservice jar (but that's just based on my impression).

lougord99 wrote:

ld111134 wrote:The map doesn’t seem to work on my iPad. Anyone else have the same issue?

Put your finger on the link and hold it there until a menu appears. Tap on ‘Open in new tab’ and the map will open in a new tab and it will work. If you simply tap on the link, it will not work.

Thanks! The map and spreadsheet are marvelous resources for any Italian beef lover.

Are there any plans to update the map on an ongoing basis to keep it current (e.g. Joe Boston’s and the Al’s Beef on Milwaukee Avenue are both closed)? Maybe it can be done as a Wiki, with the community editing the map and spreadsheet when a joint is verifiably closed.

Ram4 wrote:

lsher wrote:Try a great beef in Arlington Heights.

http://bigangeseatery.com/

This place looks pretty good. Is the beef made in house?

The Italian beef is sourced from Serrelli's on W North Ave.

Yeah, when I went there, the IB was ok. But, they had home smoked pastrami as a special that day. Now that was good. The tri-tip sandy looked good also. Fries were solid.

I'm not sure that Frannie's is truly fresh cut fries. I believe they use E-Z Spuds. It's been a few years since I've been there but they used to have a small neon sign from them. With that said, the fries are great and one of the high points of any meal there.

Excellent work indeed! I appreciate that you seem to have a wider acceptance of different giardineras than I do. I've never been a big fan of the celery heavy version found at Al's and it somewhat clouds my appreciation of their beef (which I still think is excellent), whereas I like the more traditional type found at places like Bob-O's, which I also rank very highly (and yes, awesome fresh cut fries). Yet you find a way to rank them both very high despite this.

Thanks for the great work -- I definitely plan to use this in my travels around the area (and fortunately I won't have to find out how that Sears beef really tastes ).

midas wrote: I believe they use E-Z Spuds. It's been a few years since I've been there but they used to have a small neon sign from them. With that said, the fries are great and one of the high points of any meal there.

I've used E-Z Spuds, they are a terrific product. Fresh cut in 30/lb bags. Blanch in 300° oil, cold-hold on sheet trays, fry to order.

G Wiv wrote:

midas wrote: I believe they use E-Z Spuds. It's been a few years since I've been there but they used to have a small neon sign from them. With that said, the fries are great and one of the high points of any meal there.

I've used E-Z Spuds, they are a terrific product. Fresh cut in 30/lb bags. Blanch in 300° oil, cold-hold on sheet trays, fry to order.

Thanks, I've always liked the product from the place that I know use them. I've just never seen a place that used them refer to their fries as fresh cut. Of course, I only know of 2 places that use them

midas wrote:I've just never seen a place that used them refer to their fries as fresh cut. Of course, I only know of 2 places that use them

E-Z cuts them fresh, never frozen, and delivers in 30/lb bags. I did not mean the restaurant using the product says they cut the fries fresh. Actually, now that I think of it the way I phrased it seems a little awkward.

Time for a small year-end update to the Beefmap. Two new entries are of particular distinction: Mr D's Shish Kabobs serves a fantastic sandwich with thin, tender obviously house made beef. It's soaked through with gravy but somehow did not fall apart and achieved an almost perfect score in the construction category - no easy feat!


The other notable is Odge's in Ukranian Village, but more so for the amazing old school decor than the (pretty standard) sandwich. Chicago is very rich in classic restaurant decor but this should never be taken for granted!


The Map

Mr D's Shish-Kabobs
6656 W Diversey Ave, Chicago, IL 60707

Phillys Steak & Lemonade Inc
5404 W 25th Ave, Gary, IN 46406

Odge's
730 N Damen Ave, Chicago, IL 60622

Ronny's Steak House
100 W Randolph St, Chicago, IL 60601

Aster Hall Food Court
900 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611

Nottoli Italian Foods
5025 N Harlem Ave, Chicago, IL 60656

Also, looking at the map I can see some big blank spots in the Oak Park area, as well as the South and Southwest sides. Any recs for those areas are especially appreciated.

eating while walking wrote:Also, looking at the map I can see some big blank spots in the Oak Park area, as well as the South and Southwest sides. Any recs for those areas are especially appreciated.

I recommended some of these in January. All would be a solid blue color (excellent) on my map though Mama D's changed their bread to Turano and it wasn't as good as when they used Mazzeo's.
- Mr. Beef and Pizza (Dunning)
- Chickie's (Hillside)
- Pete's Red Hots (Oak Park)
- Freddy's Pizza (Cicero)
- Novi's Beef (Berwyn)
- Frangella Italian Market (Palos Park)
- The Original Mr. Beef (Homer Glen)
- Mama D's (Lemont)

Some more not at the top level:
Bubby's Beefs & Hot Dogs (Elk Grove Village) - very good beef
Luke's of Lake Bluff - very good beef, bread tends to fall apart if dipped
Franco's of Naperville - I felt it was good (sliced too thick, nice beefy taste) but overrated by the many locals who I bet don't get out of the area and wouldn't really know a great beef. I would go back to give them another chance because if they slice it thinner it could be a lot better.
Herm's Palace (Skokie) good beef but the owners stubbornly refuse to slice the beef thin. Their loss as I won't be back until I hear otherwise.
Bada Bing Beef (Gages Lake) nothing special (this is a place highly rated by people who live up in Lake County where there is nowhere to go for a top beef, so they go here and think it's great. It's not)

Roma's Italian Beef & Sausage combo, tender beef, fennel forward house-made sausage w/giardiniera. Meaty, juicy, drippy deliciousness!




Roma's, count me a Fan!

Roma's Italian Beef & Sausage
4237 N Cicero Ave
Chicago, IL 60641

G Wiv wrote:Roma's Italian Beef & Sausage combo, tender beef, fennel forward house-made sausage w/giardiniera. Meaty, juicy, drippy deliciousness!

RomasP1.jpg

RomasP2.jpg

Roma's, count me a Fan!

Roma's Italian Beef & Sausage
4237 N Cicero Ave
Chicago, IL 60641

Big fan of this place! I hit up Romas originally because of this map!

Nice to hear such positive reports on Roma's. During the Beef-A-Thon (2004) Roma's came up short. https://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=21609

I recall everyone felt sad as the owner was a nice guy who was trying hard, but the beef was not up to par that day. Because of that experience I've not been back.

Of course that was 15 years ago. Based on these reports I'll be happy to give it another try when I'm in that neck of the woods.

Bob-o's Hotdogs Italian beef as good as advertised, melt in your mouth tender, juicy, full flavor, w/giardiniera and hand cut fries. Bonus, bunch tamale.





Bob-O's, count me a Fan!

George R wrote:Nice to hear such positive reports on Roma's. During the Beef-A-Thon (2004) Roma's came up short. https://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=21609

I was not on that Beef-A-Thon and remember being surprised at Roma's poor showing. I was also surprised at Tore's positive rating as I always thought of them, they are long gone, as ok with the redeeming quality of large portion for price.

I suggest giving Roma's another go, they are on their Italian beef/sausage game and the next generation of family seem to be genuinely happy to be involved/running the place. Here's a link to recent video of Roma's on Chicago's Best with the hyper/hyper Elliott B. ----->Link

G Wiv wrote:

George R wrote:Nice to hear such positive reports on Roma's. During the Beef-A-Thon (2004) Roma's came up short. https://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=21609

I was not on that Beef-A-Thon and remember being surprised at Roma's poor showing. I was also surprised at Tore's positive rating as I always thought of them, they are long gone, as ok with the redeeming quality of large portion for price.

I suggest giving Roma's another go, they are on their Italian beef/sausage game and the next generation of family seem to be genuinely happy to be involved/running the place. Here's a link to recent video of Roma's on Chicago's Best with the hyper/hyper Elliott B. ----->Link

I was last at Roma's at least 10 years ago. I need to get back soon. I agree as well with the old Tore's Beef not being as good although it might have been the largest beef I ever had.

I've only had Bob O's once and it was a great beef but I prefer Mr. Beef and Pizza and Frannie's nearby. I'll have to revisit.

Ram4 wrote:I've only had Bob O's once and it was a great beef but I prefer Mr. Beef and Pizza and Frannie's nearby. I'll have to revisit.

Bob-O's Italian beef was terrific, fries tip-top. Natural casing dogs as well, I asked. Cool interior, parking, no nonsense but friendly staff, quick, busy on a Sunday afternoon. I liked the place. Plus it was a fav of Steve Z and BR talks it up every chance he gets.

Thanks for the push on Frannie's, was barely on my radar, will have to check out soon.