The Record · Chicago, IL · Italian Beef

Italian Beef in Chicago, IL, ranked by the locals who eat there.

Local consensus · Real turnout · No paid placement

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Top Tier editorial has a take on italian beef in Chicago, IL below. The community ranking opens up once a few locals have filed theirs.

Editorial picks

№1
Johnnie's Beef
Elmwood Park
“The 1961 Elmwood Park stand that LTHForum regulars and the Chicago Tribune have long treated as the platonic Chicago Italian beef — thin-sliced, properly dipped, with a giardiniera that defines the genre.”
№2
Al's #1 Italian Beef
Little Italy
“Al Ferreri and the Pacellis opened the original beef stand in 1938, making Al's one of the earliest documented Italian beef operations; the Taylor Street flagship has been the Little Italy anchor since the early 1960s.”
№3
Mr. Beef
River North
“Joseph Zucchero's 1979 Orleans Street stand directly inspired FX's The Bear, which filmed its pilot inside the original shop — a thin-sliced, juicy-dipped Chicago beef that remains a River North rite of passage.”
№4
Portillo's & Barnelli's Chicago
River North
“The Clark & Ontario flagship of Dick Portillo's chain still pulls the most recognizable beef in town — a sweet-peppered, fully dipped sandwich that set the citywide standard for the fast-service format.”
№5
Carm's Beef and Italian Ice
Little Italy
“The Little Italy hole-in-the-wall at Polk and Carpenter that Chicago Magazine and LTHForum both cite as essential — hand-carved beef and a lemonade-bright Italian ice counter that still feels like 1970s Chicago.”

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