Tag Archives: chicago food

Chicago Style Italian Beef

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Today we’re examining Chicago Style Italian Beef including the history, the ingredients and most importantly where to get it. In the past we’ve broken down Chicago Deep Dish Pizza and it is probably more involved than you might think.

Chicago Style Italian Beef History

We’re not sure why we Chicagoans have such a hard time with history and getting stories straight. Who started the Great Chicago Fire of 1871? Where did we get our Chicago Nicknames? Italian Beef also has some debatable origins. Here are a handful of the most recognized theories.

  1. 1925 a company by the name of Scala’s Original Beef and Sausage Company started in Chicago. (Spoiler alert: it still does operate and supplies many Chicago restaurants with their meat for beef sandwiches). According to them the Italian Beef was introduced at weddings and banquets. The roasted beef was sliced thing and served on bread to help “stretch” the food to feed the many guests. It was, needless to say, a very popular item and the rest is history.
  2. Then there is the story of an Italian immigrant working in the Chicago Stock Yards in the early 1900s. (The stock yards were Chicago’s meat-packing district, and Chicago led the world in meat packing back then). The worker would take home the less desirable cuts of meat that the company sold and according to the story made literally the same exact thing that is served today: roast the beef in Italian spices and broth, slice it, serve on Italian bread. This one seems a bit far-fetched, but we love it.
  3. And while perhaps not the inventory of Italian Beef sandwiches we do have to tip our caps to Al Ferreri and his sister and brother-in-law, Frances and Chris Pacelli. Why? Because that trio is responsible for opening Al’s Beef in 1938. The restaurant is still open today and has expanded quite a bit. In fact there is one in Dubai now!

Regardless of who invented the Chicago Style Italian Beef when we know this much – it’s dang good. Let’s take a closer look at the ingredients used to make these sandwiches.

Chicago Style Italian Beef Ingredients

Al’s Beef Chicago Style Italian Sausage. Don’t you tell us this doesn’t make you hungry.

We like this part the best. So often we don’t know what were eating. A Chicago Style Italian Beef? Easy, it’s meat, bread, juice and maybe some peppers, right? Not so fast…

The meat used to make an Italian Beef sandwich is beef. Typically it’s one of three different cuts of meat: sirloin rear, bottom round or top round. Bottom Round is by far the most popular which if you look at the graphic below it would be a 32 lb. cut of beef just above the shank on the outside of the steer’s hind legs.

Study and remember these cuts the next time you are shopping for beef in the grocery store.                                                                                                                        Source: Yzmo at the English language Wikipedia [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)

Most likely the cut used in Italian Beef is going to be from the Bottom Round because it’s lean and it’s the cheapest cut. However the meat isn’t as tender as some of the other cuts. To make the meat soft and delicious it’s roasted at a medium heat in a garlicky broth infused with Italian spices such as oregano. This style of roasting in a liquid is called a wet roast. Depending on the exact style of cut and how long the beef is roasted you could lose almost half of the weight during the cooking process. Yikes!

Once the beef is cooked it’s then sliced thin in a deli slicer and returned to it’s broth to cook some more before being served to you on an Italian roll with your choice of peppers – either sweet or hot.

You’re going to get your choice – sweet or hot peppers. Of course you could opt for neither, but if you take one or the other here is what you’re getting:

  • Sweet Peppers – the pepper is actually called the Friggitello, but you might here it in the streets called “Golden Greek”. We (Americans) will often times confuse this with a peperoncini – THIS IS NOT a peperoncini. Oh, and often times if you order sweet peppers on your Italian Beef you could get simply cooked green bell peppers, which is OK too.
  • Hot Peppers – Mmm. This is where it’s at! When you order hot peppers on your Chicago Style Italian Beef you aren’t simply going to get a couple of whole peppers thrown on there. You’re going to get a hot relish of pickled vegetables that INCLUDE peppers called Giardiniera. (Pronounced: JAR – DIH – NAIR – AH) This HOT style relish is a Chicago thing and we’ll often times add sport peppers to kick it up a notch. The remaining vegetables include carrots, celery, cauliflower, serrano peppers and gherkins. There can be an entire post on Giardiniera – which is a good idea…

Some places you can have them throw cheese on top, typically melted mozzarella. We’ve had it. It’s not bad – actually it’s quite good. However, there is just something that feels “right” about not getting cheese. No one is going to look at you crazy if you order a cheesy beef though.

And when you order you are definitely going to be asked “Wet or Dry?” This can throw a first-timer off. You might be wondering, “wait…what? it’s a sandwich..” Here is what you need to know to properly answer:

  • Wet: The beef gets pulled from the broth with tongs and is immediately put onto the Italian roll – most of the juices are soaked into the bread.
  • Dry: The beef gets pulled from the broth and the server gives the beef a chance to dry off. Most of the juices drip back into the pot and don’t make it to your bread.
  • Dipped: This is a thing. Beef sandwich is made and then with the tongs the ENTIRE sandwich is dipped into the broth. 100 out 100 in the flavor department, 100 out of 100 in the very soggy, kind of hard to eat department too.

Where to get Chicago Style Italian Beef

Johnnie’s Beef (Courtesy of TripAdvisor)

There are so many great places for Italian Beef in Chicago. We couldn’t possibly list them all. We’ll do our best to provide our favorites. If we forgot a place on this list add it to the comments section. In no particular order…

Al’s Beef – Many locations, one of the originals founded in 1938

Mr. Beef on Orleans – Another one of the originals – classic.

Johnnie’s Beef – One of our favorites – located just west of Chicago. Yum.

Portillo’s – A Chicagoland favorite – has a large menu of other foods too and many locations across the city.

Jay’s Beef – This place serves awesome beef sandwiches and is located in Wicker Park. So we like it. A lot.

Enjoy your Chicago Style Italian Beef sandwiches!

Chicago Pizza

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Pizza. Arguably America’s favorite food. There is a really funny quote about pizza that says when pizza is good, it’s great – but when its bad it’s still pretty darn good. In a 2015 survey by gluten-free crust purveyor Smart Flour Foods and the Center for Generational Kinetics, more than 6 million adults said they would give up sex for a year before they’d stop eating pizza. Hahah – wow.

Pizza History

Pizza gained popularity in the late 1940s after US troops stationed in Italy brought the concept back to the States. Over the last 70+ years pizza has taken on many different looks and feels courtesy of different regions of the USA creating their version of the pizza. Today the pizza industry in the United States is an estimated $37B – yes, that is a B, as in Billions.

Regardless of where you are eating your pizza there are some general differences between American pizza and traditional Italian pizza. The most notable difference is the ingredients use to make the dough. In the US we use fat in our dough – typically a vegetable oil or shortening (in some cases olive oil). The amount of oil or shortening will vary depending on the style of pizza. For instance a New York Style pizza will use a very little amount of oil while a thick-crust Chicago Deep Dish pizza will use quite a bit. Another difference is the actual flour that we use here. Often times the dough will have a high gluten level – think of a dough that would be used to make a bagel. The high gluten percentage allows the pizza dough to be stretched to the max creating an uber thin crust.

Chicago Style Pizza

Giordano's

Giordano’s

Believe it or not Chicago has 3 distinct styles of pizza. Chicago Deep Dish is by far the most popular. You’ve probably had the other two and may not have known you were even eating a Chicago-style pizza. The other two styles are Chicago Stuffed and Chicago Thin Crust.

Chicago Deep Dish has a bit of a controversial beginning in that no one really knows for certain who or where the pizza came from – for certain. The most common theory is that Pizzeria Uno in 1943 invented the pizza. Whether or not that is in fact the truth is not important – the stuff is good regardless.

Kind of exactly how the name sounds the biggest difference with the Chicago Deep Dish pizza is the depth of the crust. The pizza is baked in a high-wall steel pan, similar to how you would bake a cake. The crust itself isn’t very thick but there is a “wall” of crust along the outer edge. The pan is almost always lined with an oil that gives the bottom and side crusts a “fried” effect making it crispy. It’s common to order your pizza “well done” or “extra crispy” when getting deep dish.

The layering of the remaining ingredients is a bit unique as well. Often times the first layer to be put onto of the bottom crust is the cheese – most common is mozzarella. The next set of ingredients are the toppings that you have ordered and finally the sauce is poured over as the last layer.

For those ordering to-go or delivery you might end up with an uncut pie. Don’t worry though, this was intentional. The pizza is specifically left uncut to prevent the juices from seeping into the crust and creating a soggy pizza. You don’t want that.

Chicago Stuffed Pizza is the deep dish pizza’s stunt double. It’s very easy to mistake the stuffed pizza for the deep dish pizza.

These pizzas were invented in the 1970’s by a couple of pizza chains that began tweaking their recipes and styles of the deep dish pizza. Inspired by a traditional Italian Easter pie the pizza chefs created the Chicago Stuffed pizza.

The easiest way to think about the difference is this:

  1. The ingredient layer is more dense than traditional deep dish pizza
  2. On top of the tomato sauce (which is the last layer of deep dish pizza) is another layer of dough that is pressed (or connected to) the side crust. Creating a sort of pie. And just like pies the cooks will poke holes in the top layer of dough to allow the pizza to steam and prevent an unfortunately explosion in the kitchen!

You would think that would be really easy to identify, right? The stuffed pizza has a top layer of dough, the deep dish pizza has a top layer of sauce. Not so fast. More times than not pizza sauce is ladled over the top layer of crust and making it nearly impossible for the amateur to tell the difference.

Chicago Thin Crust doesn’t get the attention of the deep dish or stuffed pizza, but please – do not overlook this version. As the name implies the crust on this pizza is quite thin but is strong. And by strong we mean that it can hold quite the amount of topping without “bending” and there is a crunch when you bite into the pizza. This is much different than the popular New York style pizza which has flimsy dough and it curled in your hand and eaten like a taco. The cut of the pizza – in squares – is a also a giveaway you’re eating Chicago Thin Crust and not a version of New York which is served in large triangles.

Where to eat Chicago Pizza?

This is the hardest part, trying to help someone figure out where to eat their pizza. Fortunately you really can’t go wrong no matter where you go. If you can eat at all the places then by all means do so!

Lou Malnati’s (deep dish)

Pequod’s Pizzeria (deep dish)

Gino’s East (deep dish)

Pizzeria Uno (deep dish)

Giordano’s (stuffed)

Rosati’s (thin crust)

Pizano’s Pizza (thin crust)

The Art of Pizza (deep dish)

What places did we miss that should be included on this list?

12 sites to help you plan an unforgettable visit to Chicago

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Chicago is a massive city – covering over 237 square miles. There are roughly 2.7 million permanent residents and more than 48 million visitors to the city each year. There are almost 5,000 restaurants to choose from. You could visit a different museum every weekend and still have leftovers, because we have 60 of them – including the #1 Museum in the World. (spoiler: Art Institute of Chicago). There are over 200 theaters & over 225 music venues in Chicago. Getting around in the city can be a breeze or you could feel like it requires an advanced physics degree. Chicago has 28 bus routes & 8 train routes that connect 146 stations. Over 3,000 bikes spread amongst 300 stations are available to rent by the hour to help you tackle one of the countries most bike-friendly cities. And while Chicago ranks #3 by population in America we’re still home to 8,1000 acres of green space, 580 parks and 26 beaches.

Source: City of Chicago

So how the heck are you supposed to figure all of this out on your short weekend trip or heck, even week-long trip to Chicago? Free Chicago Walking Tours is going to help. We present to you the top 12 resources to “hack” your way to an unforgettable Chicago vacation. These websites are a special selection that will make you you make the most of your Chicago trip by having fun, learning & meeting people.

START HERE WITH THESE GENERAL TRAVEL & CHICAGO SITES

TripAdvisor Chicago – Hear us out first. Free Chicago Walking Tours recommends using TripAdvisor Chicago as a way to start the brainstorming process and see what other visitors did in the city.  There is so much information in one place. From things to do, to restaurants, hotels and short-term rentals. Free Chicago Walking Tours even challenges Chicago-area locals to take a look for themselves and find out what is hot in Chicago.

Wikitravel Chicago – Online since 2003, Wikitravel bills itself as the original crowd-sourced travel guide with over 300,000 destinations, including Chicago. There is so much information here. Free Chicago Walking Tours loves this information because it really doesn’t come with an agenda. It’s simply there – use it as you please. It coves topics you really won’t find on other travel sites. Topics such as staying safe within the city and includes a listing of all of foreign consulates located within the city as well as their address and phone numbers. But there really is so much more than this. if you have an hour or so to spare and have never been to or read about Chicago you must visit this page.

Choose Chicago – Yes, we know. Not really a hidden gem or a secret, but this is a catch-all site that is dedicated to Chicago and it didn’t feel right leaving it off. Choose Chicago has a little (OK, a lot) of just about everything. It can be a bit overwhelming because there is so much information, but used correctly and it can be a real asset. Their Chicago Trip Planner is an excellent place to start for those visiting for the first time or the fifth time.

OVER 30% OF VISITORS TO CHICAGO SAY “CULINARY EXPERIENCES” ARE THEIR PRIMARY REASON FOR THE VISIT. THESE SITES WILL MAKE SURE THOSE EXPERIENCES ARE UNIQUE AND MEMORABLE.

Eater Chicago – If you’re looking for the scoop on Chicago dining, drinking, food and nightlife check this site out. If you’re local and haven’t heard of it then you’re going to have some fun for a few hours. If you’re visiting and want to get down to the nitty gritty here are the best features for you:

  • Eater Chicago Essential 38 Restaurants (the answer to: “Can you recommend a restaurant?”
  • Eater Chicago Heat map (hottest Chicago restaurants)
  • We can’t link to this one, because it changes every weekend. But Eater Chicago has a feature every Friday & Saturday they present the best restaurants in Chicago with last minute reservations available from Open Table. Check it out when you’re in need of a place to eat but completely forgot to reserve your spot.

LTH Forum – This is a legit foodie website. It’s not flashy. It’s not sexy. It gets right down to business. The site is the work of Chicago locals who left another “more restrictive” food blog to start their own. Whether you want to meet up with locals to break bread together or you’re interested in getting the scoop on some neighborhood haunts – check this site out.

WEATHER AND TRANSPORTATION ARE TWO VERY UNPREDICTABLE ASPECTS OF CHICAGO LIFE. USE THESE SITES AND APP TO HELP YOU PLAN AND PREPARE FOR ANYTHING.

Spot Hero – For anyone that is going to be driving and parking in Chicago. This is the app for you. It’s almost too good to be true. You plug in where you need to park (an address, landmark, whatever) and the date range. Next thing you know it’s telling you all the spots – both public and private – that you can park at, their location and their price. That is it. Search for the spot, find the spot and pay for it.

RideScout – The all-in-one-whatever-mode-you-want-to-travel transit app has arrived to Chicago. Yay! This app will help you get from point A to point B. Whether you want to take a taxi, a bus, walk, bike, car share, park your care or whatever. All in one simple screen. This is great for those that want to take advantage of every single type of transportation possible in a city (you know who you are) and for those looking to take the most efficient route because they’re running late. Or for those that just want to see how close their friends can guess as to the time difference between taking a bike vs a ride share. Have fun.

Chicago Pedway – Wait, what’s a pedway? It’s a noun -a footway built for pedestrians in an urban area. In Chicago’s case it’s an underground pedway. But why you may ask? To help give you cover for our awful Chicago winters. Many locals don’t even know about it. Now you’re in-the-know. It’s sort of a tangled mess of underground walkways, but we have to admit it’s quite unique and if you have time (or for some reason you’re visiting in the winter) make sure you take a visit.

Dark Sky – Chicago is the Windy City. You have probably heard all of the silly one-liners. “If you don’t like the weather in Chicago, wait 15 minutes.” Chicago has four distinct seasons and then some. Cheers to Dark Sky and the technology behind it that can alert you down to the minute (not kidding) when it will rain or snow in Chicago.

CHICAGO ENTERTAINMENT. ENOUGH SAID.

Free Museum Passes from the Library – Sorry out-of-towners, this one is strictly for locals with a valid ID and Chicago address only. We just couldn’t leave it off our list though, it’s too good. This might even be the last drop in the bucket to motivate you to pack up and move to Chicago.

Just like the link says, if you have a Chicago Public Library card you can “check out” passes to the museum good for up to two adults. The catch? You MUST be accompanied by a child under the age of 18. And yes, the #1 Museum in the World is on the list.

ChicagoPlays – Remember those 200+ theaters that were mentioned in the opening paragraph? ChicagoPlays will make it much easier for you to navigate all that is happening in Chicago. Find a theatre. Find a play. Look by date. Look by what is hot. Buy Tickets. Have fun.

Did we miss a great site that needs to be added on this list? Let us know by adding your comment below.