The Dog Joint

--Got Beef? Italian Beef
a chibbqking production

Hello again my goods friends, Da Beef here. I apologize I haven't gotten around to getting another beef scored up on here at "Beef With Hot" I've been busy with chibbqking and just haven't had the time. But like I said last time I have many spots waiting to go up and will get to many more this winter. So today we head to a hot dog stand in Lincoln Park called The Dog Joint. They've been over on Armitage for a couple years now and will eventually get reviewed as a whole on S'C'&C With Da King. But today were sticking to the Italian beef. Check over at S'C'&C you can see some of their other offerings soon.


The Dog Joint in Lincoln Park

Before this place was the Dog joint I believe it was another hot dog stand maybe Rock Star Dogs? I never went there but when the Dog Joint opened up the homemade Italian beef is what caught my eye and eventually prompted me to go in. I have been there a handful of times now and the Italian beef was ordered on every visit but one. The best part this beef sandwich has going for it is the actual beef. It's a homemade roast that is sliced fresh to order when they arent too busy and it goes on a pretty good roll and the hot peppers and gravy are both good as well. It's actually one of the better beef's I have had from a hot dog stand. I also like how they have late nite hours on the weekends as well. One of the better beefs in an area lacking them.


beef with hot from the Dog Joint

Rating Scale 5/5

beef: 4
bread: 3
gravy: 3
hot peppers: 3

Score: 13/20

The Dog Joint
350 W Armitage Ave
Chicago, IL 60614
(773) 687-9573

Turk's Beef & Sausage

--Got Beef? Italian Beef
a chibbqking production

I had to take a little break from the Beef Bus since I was back and forth some places this summer and time didn't allow me to jump on it and ride. Well were riding again and today we head out to the Southwest suburbs to Orland Park to taste Turk's Italian Beef & Sausage. I actually went here last winter and have a just been backlogged in posts. However like always I recorded the score in my cell phone and saved it so there would be no forgetting. So with that, welcome back. You can expect a monthly flow of posts over at What's Your Beef? on this country's greatest regional sandwich variation.


Located in the Chicago suburb of Orland Park, IL

I had been told about Turk's from various family members and other friends who live or lived out in the area and I got to try it when I was out there with one of them. Turk's has a pretty good reputation and is one of the favorites of the locals so I had some nice hope that it would be another better than good beef to be found out South. I went with my usual of a beef with hot and dove right in to what was a heavily stuffed beef sandwich bigger than most spots. I could see why this is a neighborhood favorite and I enjoyed my beef with hot and would easily have been back if I was from the area. The only thing that I thought was average about it was the gravy which wasn't as flavorful as some other stands around Chicagoland. The beef was thinly sliced and dissolved on your tongue while the hot peppers and bread were also above average and nice.


Beef with hot from Turk's

Rating Scale 5/5

beef: 4
bread: 4
gravy: 3
hot peppers: 4

Score: 15/20

Turk's Italian Beef & Sausage
14600 South La Grange Rd
Orland Park, IL 60462
(708) 403-6517

The Original Roma

--Got Beef? Italian Beef
a chibbqking production

Our next stop on the Beef bus is to the Original Roma located out there in Norwood Park. Its not to be confused with Roma's Beef in Portage Park which I will get to one day. I hadn't been to either or since my days of working for the Sheriffs department over summer break. The Original Roma as it called was actually closed for repair or whatever for a while and one day when I cruised past it on Milwaukee ave en route home I saw it was back open and stop in so it could get its score over here at Whats Your Beef?


Located in Chicago's Norwood Park neighborhood

Since it closed and reopened Roma's has done some changes to the menu and they now also carry pizza. I decided to give a slice a try along with my beef with hot and prepared to take my mental notes. The pizza was ok if anything bordering around the not so good line. The sausage was really good however but this is the case on most pizzas in Chicago.


Slice of Sausage from the Original Roma's

It wasn't pizza that brought me in here though, it was the Italian beef. I remembered thinking Roma was good but not great back in the day and so it was time to see if that had changed or not. Immediately upon unwrapping my beef I noticed the giardiniera looked like the pickled carrot and jalapeno tray they put tableside at alot of Mexican restaurants. It wasn't too appealing to see these huge pieces of carrot chips in their hot pepper blend. The beef itself wasn't bad at all and described by me right then and there as good but not great but it was the best part of this sandwich. The bread and gravy were in the pretty good range. All in all the sandwich was ok but the peppers did it in for me. I didn't like theirs at all. Huge pieces of celery and large carrot chips.


Beef with hot from The Original Roma

Rating Scale 5/5

beef: 4
bread: 4
gravy: 3
hot peppers: 1

Score: 12/20

The Original Roma
6161 N Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, IL 60646-3804
(773) 594-2885

Tore's Italian Beef

--Got Beef? Italian Beef
a chibbqking production

Its back into the city limits for our next stop which is to a place I first went to years ago and that's Tore's Beef. Located in Avondale on good old Western ave its been around for some time but I believe changed owners over the years too. It was actually years in between visits and wasn't until I started this here site that I had a reason I needed to go back. Its your typical Chicago beef stand with a pretty extensive menu ranging from pizza to hot dogs but today its all about the Italian beef.


a popular stop with city workers

Tore's makes their beef in house and is a popular stop with the blue collar crowd with the Italian beef being the most widely ordered item. I would consider it a must to get fries with your beef sandwich at Tore's because they do an excellent job with them. I really liked Tore's when I used to get it now and then back in high school and then hadn't gone there for a few years up until a couple months ago. As noted above there are some other good menu selections to be had but today its all about the beef, I'll feature Tore's again one day and take a look at the other items.


Tore's fresh cut fries are the real deal

On my first trip back things didn't go as smoothly as I would of hoped. The fries remained the same but my beef came without the hot peppers I ordered on it and I was taking it to go but also knew I would be back. I was checking to make sure it hadn't gone totally downhill and aside from them forgetting my hot peppers it wasn't as good as I remembered but it was also very worthy of being scored over here at beefwithhot. So I made a return visit a week or two later and ordered my beef with hot for dining in and took my mental notes upon finishing. Well the beef had the potential to score a 4 but like the previous time it just wasn't tender enough but did have good flavor. I thought the hot peppers were pretty good as well and the bread and gravy were the stronger points. The best thing were those fries and I did enjoy a few with some beef wrapped around them. All in all it was good but nothing great in the hunt for best beef in Chicagoland.


beef with hot from Tore's

Rating Scale 5/5

beef: 3
bread: 4
gravy: 4
hot peppers: 3

Score: 14/20

Tore's Italian Beef & Pizza
2804 North Western Avenue
Chicago, IL 60618
(773) 486-2600

fRedhots

--Got Beef? Italian Beef
a chibbqking production

Beep, beep all aboard the beef bus, next stop fRedhots in Glenview. this months beef comes from the getting to be world famous fRedhots. The popular "gourmet hot dog" stand opened its doors a few years back and has become an instant favorite not just in the suburb of Glenview but all of Chicagoland and anyone who's been there. I don't want get to get too in depth about this favorite food stop of mine since this is the beef with hot bus but there will be a full post with everything you need to know about fRedhots and all of its other food items that make them one of the leaders in Chicago's top notch five star fast food culture. But this is all about their Italian Beef and we will stick to that subject...


a popular stop in Glenview

...Especially since when you first walk into Fred's you might see this on the wall in the picture below. Fred's is a place similar to Chicago's famous Hot Dougs but they do more than just hot dogs and fancy sausage. While both of those are popular at Fred's place he also makes his Italian Beef in house and calls it the best I will ever taste. That's a pretty bold claim to make to DaBeef. Its also one I was ready to try especially since I'm a big fan of fRedhots anyways. So I got a beef with hot on a visit this past summer and scored it and mental noted it after I ate it like I always do.


Re-ha-ha-ha-ha-elly? Lets see...

I have three thing to say before we get to the actual beef. So the first thing I will say is that everyone has their own taste. The second I will say is Fred better keep working at it if he wants to make that claim with me. So finally the third thing is that this was still a good beef sandwich and totally gettable if you need a beef and are from near there. The beefs strongest part was the gravy. You can indeed tell that its a homemade stock with lots of flavor with a strong presence of fresh black pepper. The bread was also good and the hot peppers were too. My only complaint with it was the beef itself. My preference is to have the beef shaved as thin as possible which it wasn't so here. The beef was more like a roast sliced by hand with a knife by an expert chef. It wasn't awful but it tasted and had the texture of pot roast more than it did an Italian Beef sandwich. I still ate the whole thing and would never call it a bad beef. Believe me I've had bad ones and this isn't a bad beef by any means. Its good, just not great. However please (later this month) check the main site S'C&C for the other items on the menu at fRedhots, some are great. Make sure to get fries from here, they're great.


beef with hot from fRedhots

Rating Scale 5/5

beef: 3
bread: 4
gravy: 4
hot peppers: 4

Score: 15/20

fRedhots and Fries
1707 Chestnut Avenue
Glenview, IL 60025
(847) 657-9200
Website

Fiore's Italian Deli

--Got Beef? Italian Beef
a chibbqking production

When you love a good Italian beef as much as I do you tend to try alot. Now over the years I have learned that you don't order a beef from any and everywhere but rather the places that specialize in it. If you want a good beef you gotta go to a place that has them in their name or at least where its the focal point of the menu. it should be made in house and sliced fresh daily and the hot peppers should be unique to the stand. The delivery of fresh bread every morning is also a way of the day at the best beef shacks around town. In some cases you will find a place like Uncle Johnny's or Rosangela's where they might not be a beef shack but they are able to produce a product that can be classified as a good beef sandwich. So while you wont catch me trying a beef from some gyro place on the westside, I will try one from Italian corner deli's, some restaurants and other neighborhood spots. One day last winter I drove by Fiore's Italian Deli in the Ukrainian Village and knew from the looks of it that it was my type of spot.


Old School Chicago

Fiore's is a fun little place to stop into and pick up some groceries and lunch. Just like every other spot worth a visit, it will get its day and we will look at what else they have aside from Italian beef sandwiches over at S'C'&C. But since this is about the beef we will stick to that. I wasn't expecting Fiore's to have anything close to an all beef 1st team chance but I have to report that the beef should be skipped when going to Fiore's. The best thing it had going for it was the bread, that was fresh and not bad. The hot peppers were also average but the beef and gravy were a big no-no. I would guess they simply took some water added some beef bouillon and proceeded to put pieces of deli sliced roast beef in it and plop it on a sandwich. The Italian cold cuts are much better and the way to go should you stop in at Fiore's.


beef with hot from Fiore's

Rating Scale 5/5

beef: 2
bread: 4
gravy: 1
hot peppers: 3

Score: 10/20

Fiore's Italian Deli

2258 West Erie Street

Chicago, IL 60612-1322

Get Directions

(312) 942-9419

Portillo's

--Got Beef? Italian Beef
a chibbqking production

The next stop on the beef bus is to a place known to many. I'm not one to hate on Portillo's despite their fast food status. The truth of the matter is that Portillo's is a fine example of the American dream and a result of what can happen if one works hard. Odds are if you've visited Chicago then you heard of or stopped into Portillo's downtown for one of their famous hot dogs and or many other menu items including beef. What originally started off as a shack on North ave in Villa Park, IL is now a monster in the food game with almost 50 locations in Chicagoland. Its a spot I loved as a kid and whenever I was running around downtown with friends we would eat at the location on Clark street to eat. My order back then was always a dog with everything and a beef with hot. Not much has changed these days except I don't get there as much as I used to and now I always get a chili cheese dog and an Italian beef to go with it. I also always get these in the drive thru nowadays too.


The best drive thru beef in the city


Portillo's Menu

One reason I have always had a great deal of respect for Portillo's other than just their quality despite being a fast food place was also their consistency. Over the years I have had beefs from different locations and they always seem to be the exact same as the others. I also respect a place that can go thru so much beef like they do and continue to put out an acceptable product. If anyone is telling you Portillo's has the best either or well then they just haven't been around or simply aren't from here. However if someone, such as myself, tells you that they have good examples of each (dogs and beef) and its better than some spots and not as good as others, well that's the truth of it. I find that everything from the bread to the beef and the gravy and peppers to be better than average but not great. When put together as a whole its a well made Italian beef sandwich and easily one of the best in the downtown area. Its nice that they are also throughout Chicagoland and are always a good option for a quick drive thru meal. Much better than BK, Wendy's, Subway, Taco Bell, McD's etc...Just another reason Chicago is fast food king.


beef with hot from Portillo's

Rating Scale 5/5

beef: 4
bread: 4
gravy: 3
hot peppers: 4

Score: 15/20

Portillo's
100 W Ontario
Chicago, IL
(312) 587-8910
Website
locations throughout Chicagoland