Forget deep dish pizza ( well exept maybe Giordanos) Italian Beef is the thing to look for in Chicago. It's one of those things that you can occasionally find in other places, but its not quite as good as in Chicago. Get it with the Italian sausage in the middle for an added boost of cholesterol.

Once upone a time there used to be a place at O'Hare called "Bud's or something like that. If you ran like hell you could get an Italian Beef to go during a short plane change. Unfortunately, all the standard airport crap replaced it so now you get offered Puck'd pizza instead.

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Incidentally, Sarah, Mr. Beef has me a little worried these days. Over the past few months, I've had a couple of sandwhiches there that were subpar, and one that was downright lousy... something that's NEVER happened in all the years I've been going there. I'm hoping it's an odd, temporary phenomenon, but they have me worried. If they keep it up, they may earn a demotion by year's end :-)

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Oh my, Chickies for sure! I have been savoring their beef sandwhiches for years, I wish I had some amazing food porn pictures to share! You must get it juicy (or dipped in au jus) and you MUST have a bag of their greassyyyyyyy delicious fries with it too. To die for!

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The bread looks soggy. My biggest food turn off is biting into wet bread. :o(

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Oh, no, Jill... nonono :-)

For many sandwiches, yes, soggy bread is a horrible, horrible thing. But it's an essential part of an Italian Beef sandwich. The optimum degree of wetness is a matter of personal taste, but that it be wet to some degree is an absolute necessity. A dry Italian Beef is like a dry French Dip... what's the point? In fact, a common request when ordering an Italian Beef (and one I adhere to) is for it to be "dipped", which means exactly what it sounds like. The entire sandwich is submerged in a big vat of the warm, intense beefy juice for a couple of seconds, so that every bite of the sandwich is just gushing with warm, seasoned jus. It's an absolute mess to eat, but a divine experience when done properly.

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I think I'd prefer to dip my own...juice on the side please.

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Well, to each his or her own. If that's how you prefer, it's not my place to criticize. But if you're in Chicago with occasion to sample one, Jill, I'd implore you to try it in its natural state first and then edit later if you still feel the same way :-)

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The bread looks soggy

It better be! Oh, how I miss Chicago.

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oh yum! I live in Washington State. we have NOTHING like that here. so sad. Anyone up for moving?

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