Our quest to find the best Chicago Italian beef sandwich commenced mere hours after we landed at Midway. That late-night stop was the first of a week-long food crawl that also included Chicago-style pizza, hot dogs and donuts. But, without exaggerating, eating multiple meat-filled sandwiches was our number one priority.
This culinary journey took us deep into the Chicago cheap eats food scene and introduced us to both passionate cooks and hungry locals. While it was impossible for us to eat every contender for the best sandwich in town, we ate enough to know the good ones when we tasted them.
These are our favorite Italian beef sandwiches in Chicago and the ones you shouldn’t miss:
1. Mr. Beef on Orleans
Mr. Beef soared to the top of our Italian beef sandwich radar after we watched the The Bear. Though it has a starring role on the hit Hulu show, we’re pleased to report that the local institution remains close to its roots.
To be clear, Mr. Beef is the real deal despite its recent brush with fame. The down-and-dirty sandwich shop feels like it’s been a fixture on Orleans Street forever or at least before 1978 when Joseph Zucchero opened the barebones River North sandwich shop with his brother Dominic.
We spotted Joseph during our visit but it his was his son Christopher’s colorful commentary that brought Mr. Beef to life. As the younger “Little Mr. Beef” explained to us, this is a place where you could be sitting next to a sanitation worker or Keith Richards depending on the day. We didn’t sit by either but who’s to say we would have noticed if we had. Our attention was fully focused on our lunch.
Pro Tip
Mr. Beef on Orleans is no longer a late night Friday and Saturday hangout as it was prior to the pandemic. The joint currently closes at 4pm every day except for Sunday when it’s closed.
Color us surprised when we realized that Mr. Beef was just a 10-minute walk from our hotel.
The short queue of locals moved quickly during our late morning visit. Before we had time to check out all of the celebrity photos displayed in the ultra-casual ‘elegant’ dining room, we were eating our dipped sandwich topped with hot and sweet peppers and washing it down with ice cold root beer.
We can’t call the beef sandwich at Mr. Beef the prettiest we ate though it certainly was the messiest with slabs of roasted green peppers and chunks of spicy celery toppings over layers of sliced beef. However, when it comes to this type of sandwich, messy means juicy and juicy means delicious.
Mr. Beef on Orleans is located at 666 N Orleans Street, Chicago, IL 60654, United States.
