Italian beef battle: self service vs. wait service (Chicago, Vienna: buy, to live)

[ToriaT]

I ate at Johnnies this week....I had a combo with hot gardinera, fries, and an Italian lemon ice. That's all you need. Period. End of story. Al's is too far away for me to go. If I am not near Johnnies, then I get Buona beef. I only go to Portillos as a last resort.

[Thefuturehereanow]

I do not get why some people do not like portillos it's a chicago success story sucks it was sold it is part of Chicagoans history.

If your getting the beef dry that is the only reason I can see not liking portillos beef.and they have the big beef yum.

[OyCrumbler]

So how do you guys take your beefs?

[personone]

Originally Posted by Thefuturehereanow

I do not get why some people do not like portillos it's a chicago success story sucks it was sold it is part of Chicagoans history.

If your getting the beef dry that is the only reason I can see not liking portillos beef.and they have the big beef yum.

Some people just don’t like Italian beef. It’s just like the Philly cheesesteak. It doesn’t appeal to everyone. I’m not a huge fan of Italian beef in general, but I found Al’s and Buona’s (they have locations in the burbs and Wrigley Field) to be the best. I actually liked Italian beef from these places, so they are at the top for me. Didn’t find anything special about Portillo’s.

[jfre81]

Originally Posted by lepoisson

Italian beef is supposed to be a quick, cheap food for working class folks. That's why the corner greasy spoon places do it best.

Sit down restaurants focus too much on making it look fancy so they can charge $10.

Italian beef is to Chicago as the po'boy is to New Orleans. Not coincidentally, if you go sit down at a restaurant to pay $10 for a po'boy, you're doing it wrong.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by edsg25

True. But if they had it on the menu, it would be good. I mean, it’s Portillo’s

Besides, if they have Barnellis for pasta, why not a steak counter called DP Prime?

The flavor profiles and ingredients between a fast food place and a sit-down place are just completely different. I bet that I could find a fine dining place that made a beef sandwich on some sort of hearty roll that you would like better than most Italian beefs. "But, but," you say, "it wouldn't be an Italian beef." And you'd be right. But it would be a beef sandwich made with quality ingredients by trained chefs, prepared to showcase high-quality ingredients. An Italian beef is a very specific thing, intentionally made from ingredients that are not fresh by design to keep the price affordable, and processed to keep it predictable, and prepared in a way that accommodates the need to do as little final preparation as possible, again, to keep the price down.

It's exactly because of the use of processed, low-quality ingredients that higher end places can't make them taste the same. This isn't a knock on Italian beefs, I like Italian beefs, it's just a recognition that why we like them is different from other products

Originally Posted by personone

I have never been overly impressed with Portillo's Italian beef (although I'm not really an Italian beef fan). Decent but nothing special. I do actually like Al's though. The fact that I don't really like Italian beef but like Al's pushes them to the top of my list for Italian beef.

The great thing about Portillo's isn't that they're the best at anything, it's that everything they do is above average and consistent.

[smegmatite]

Originally Posted by OyCrumbler

So how do you guys take your beefs?

with hot giardanera and provolone (or gorgonzola, yum!)
sometimes dipped sometimes not, depends on how messy I want to get

[quigboto]

Originally Posted by OyCrumbler

So how do you guys take your beefs?

Dipped with hot AND sweet.

[noid_1985]

Satchell’s in Cicero, Chickies in Hillside, and Cascianis in Hodgkins are some good over the counter beefs

[wase4711]

Portillios sold out a few years ago to an investment company, and they have cheapened all of their products, including the beef, which is now poor, at best..they have become the "McDonalds" of beef sandwiches..you know what you are getting, and it tastes the same no matter which location you go to..

Those of you old enough to remember Max's on Western Avenue know what a Chicago beef sandwich REALLY is supposed to be like...Al's is probably the best now, aside from some small neighborhood places that dont get the publicity..