Kindred Spirits: The Chicago style Italian beef

This past weekend I got a chance to try a classic in the beef world for the first time. While visiting a friend in Chicago he brought me to Portillo's Hotdogs for a Chicago style Italian Beef sandwich, an experience that any lover of beef or regional sandwiches would love. Now the similarities between the Italian Beef and the North Shore Roast Beef are admittedly slim. But the following that both these sandwiches demand from their native people and the fact that they are so outrageously delicious makes them kindred spirits in my book. 

I am not going to dare trying to rate the sandwich I had, I don't have the knowledge and expertise required to do so. (The Italian beef deserves more respect than that.) But for those who want to know how Portillo's stacks up in the Italian beef world you have to see DaBeef at What's your Beef? who by my account is an expert in the field. 

Cheese Fries are a perfect compliment 

An Interior shot exposes some of the delicious giardiniera, sweet peppers, and hot peppers

Bun Bread: The bread used on this sandwich is long Italian style loafs. The dense loaf is dipped in the Au Jus and does a great job holding that flavor in without falling apart. Score: N/A

Beef: Here on the North Shore we use the best and most tender beef we can find for our beloved sandwich. For the Italian Beef that's not true. The sandwich evolved from immigrant workers trying to find a way to make tough and undesirable cuts of meat palatable. So Italian Beef focuses on top sirloin and bottom round. They wet roast the meat all the way through with garlic and herbs, slice it super thin on a deli slicer, then soak it in its own Au Jus. This makes the beef unbelievably tender even though there is not a hint of pink to be found. Also the soak helps make that beef flavor shine through. Score: N/A

Sauce Hots & Gravy: The sweet and tangy heat of the Chicago Italian beef is provided by a few different components opposed to one sauce. The first being the delicious giardiniera. This mix of pickled garlic, carrots, onions, celery, and cauliflower adds some of that vinegar tang along with a lot of crunch. From what I hear a lot of restaurants make it a point of pride that they pickle their own. Next up are sweet peppers and hot peppers that really complement the beef flavor and round out the flavor profile. Score: N/A

Overall: My sandwich was delicious, and definitely deserved the hype Italian beefs get. I think I'll be getting an Italian beef on my next visit to Chicago, and the one after that, and after that...Score: N/A

Notes: Portillo's atmosphere was very casual, almost like a food court but with plenty of Chicago history glued to the walls as decoration. The cheese fries we ordered were excellent and I hear that some of the other items such as chili dogs are also amazing.

Inside Portillo's