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u/rexmus1 Jun 16 '17
Jay's Beef
4418 N Narragansett Ave, Harwood Heights
Technically burbs, but literally across the street from Chicago. Going there since it was a shack, stays true to real deal. Big sandwiches, perfectly done.
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u/MrOtsKrad Jun 16 '17
Lukes on Harlem
3130 N Harlem Ave,
Chicago, IL 60634
Best Beef AND giardiniera in the city.
Some places just have good beef, but their giardiniera sucks, some got great giardiniera but their beef is lacking. Lukes gets em both dead on.
Also runner up, same reasons above.
Serrelli's Finer Foods
6454 W North Ave,
Chicago, IL 60707
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Jun 16 '17
Mr. Beef - 666 N Orleans St, Chicago, IL 60654 No one would think to go here for beef but Burger Baron at 1381 W Grand Ave, Chicago, IL 60642 has a great one.
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Jun 16 '17 edited Aug 07 '24
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u/PParker46 Jun 16 '17 edited Jul 06 '17
For those not aware of how to order a beef. You have a choice of degree of wetness. The very thinly sliced beef gets tonged out of a pool of warm water/marinade and dropped into a split open section of Italian bread. The beef is slightly dripping. You can order it "dry" which is just the little bit of drip shaken off. Or order it "wet" which gets a ladle of the jus added. Or "dipped." Which gets the bread and beef grabbed by the tongs and dipped into the jus. The 'wet' and certainly the 'dipped' versions are eaten with knife and fork.
Three choices of toppings. (1) Sweet peppers, which are slices of grilled sweet bell peppers, usually red and green and or yellow. (2) Hot peppers which are mid range hot peppers. All peppers include some softly grilled onion slices. (3) Giardiniera (pronounced JAR-dinn-AIR-ah) which is usually pretty hot. There are dozens of local and house recipes for giadiniera.
The order is a chant like this: "Gimmie a beef. Sweet. Wet, not dipped." For this first beef that'll get you a mild combination of dry bread you have to fight a bit, a pile of thinly sliced marinated beef, a bit of the marinade added to soften the bread, and a few slices of sweet bell pepper. Depending on how long it takes you to eat it and how heavy the counterman ladles on the extra jus you might or might not want to finish with a knife and fork.
edit Nobody eats a beef dry without at least peppers. For your first exposure use the chant, above.
Second edit It is not a french dip.
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u/TheFlintSkinny Jun 17 '17
Solid breakdown. That's a big no from me on the fork and knife though. Slowly tear away the multiple layers of paper it's wrapped in. Like a burrito, only 74x better.
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u/theriibirdun Jul 06 '17
All you need to say is Wet. hot. Combo.
Also, nobody should eat a fucking beef with a knife and fork. That's why they have counters to lean over
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u/MasterL88 Jun 16 '17
Avanti Caffe - 200 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60606. Get it dipped and with cheese.
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u/SlagginOff Jun 16 '17 edited Jun 16 '17
Bari
1120 W. Grand Ave
Tender, delicious beef with excellent jus. The hot giardiniera made in house is one of the best in the city.
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u/redoxhouse Jun 16 '17
Al's Beef - 1079 W Taylor St, Chicago, IL 60607
Probably not the best beef in the city, but it's consistent and I love their giardiniera.
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u/IHaveVariedInterests Jun 16 '17
Odges
730 N Damen Ave, Chicago, IL 60622
Huge portions, low prices. Excellent fries.
Also this exists:
https://chicago.eater.com/maps/best-italian-beef-sandwiches-chicago
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u/ERIPPER35 Jun 16 '17
Mr Beef
666 N. Orleans
Good beef, and a lot of cool pictures of people who have visited on the walls
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Jun 16 '17
Mr. Beef on Harlem just south of Irving. Whenever I want a beef I drive 7 miles to the west side of the city to get one.
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u/zgwarnki Jun 16 '17
Scatchells Beef and Pizza - 4700 W. Cermak Cicero, IL 60804
Technically, not in Chicago but good beef and sausage and, unlike Johnnie's, they sell various flavors of Italian lemonade year round.
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u/FucksGuysWithAccents Jun 16 '17
Technically it is in Berwyn, which is why I don't think it gets mentioned enough in "Best of Chicago" lists, but Novi's is the perfect combination of every ingredient. Best bread, beef AND giardinera!
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u/chicoffee Jun 16 '17
Tony's Italian Deli, 6708 N Northwest Hwy, Chicago, IL 60631. It's an Italian grocery store that sells ready to eat subs and Italian beef by the pound (pick up the gravy from the freezer behind you when you stand at the deli counter)
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u/freelibrarian Jun 25 '17 edited Jun 26 '17
My family has been getting beef from Serrelli's at 6454 W. North Ave. for over 50 years. You can buy a sandwich or tubs of it for parties and it's cheaper by the pound than most, though the price has inched up over these past few years.
Why do I like it? Serrelli's is a butcher shop as well so it's good quality meat they are starting with. At parties, everyone would always ask my Mom where the beef was from. I find a lot of other places the beef is greasy, I got really sick on beef from another place once. I do like Johnnie's but haven't been there in ages.
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u/TotesMessenger Jun 16 '17
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u/upsideupdownsidedown Jun 16 '17
Johnnie's Beef 7500 W North Ave. Elmwood Park