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
Hmmmm... You also rated Portillo's as a 15. Do you really mean to say both sandwiches are equal? It doesn't seem like it, since you call Portillo's "easily one of the best in the downtown area" yet refer to this beef as "good, but not great."
ReplyDeleteI'm not trying to hate, I'm just saying...
Yes and no, a 15 is a score in the good, not great range (13-16) with a 16 being really good but not quite great. In fact any of the spots that score a 12 or above I'd eat at again. a score of a 12 would mean everything is average. So people, me incl. will have preferences over beefs that score the same.
ReplyDeletePortillo's is "easily one of the best in the downtown area" because there aren't many if any good ones. In fact fRedhots is easily one of the best (if not thee) in the Northshore, again there arent too many good ones in that area.
If Portillo's is anything its consistent and open late in an area where there isnt that much good fast food and also has a drive thru. fRedhots is better at many other things.
http://chibbqking.blogspot.com/2010/03/fredhots.html