The Italian Beef Sandwich

(From 7/19/06 on my old blog)

My siblings and I grew up in the Chicago area. One of the local foods in Chicago that is difficult to find outside of Chicago is the Italian beef sandwich. On those rare occasions that we get back to Chicago, we always make a pilgrimage to one of the Portillo’s restaurants to get a beef sandwich with extra gravy. Gravy = extra juice. Even though none of us live anywhere near Chicago anymore, we have held on to this beef sandwich thing. It's a link to our Chicago past.

There are many restaurants in Chicago where you can buy one of these but Portillo’s seems to be the best – at least in the western suburbs. You can even order some over the internet from Portillo’s although I have never done so.

I have found several places in the Denver area where you can get one of these sandwiches. Here is a listing of the good ones I’ve tried with my ratings. I'll give Portillo’s a perfect 10.

Chicago Mike’s on Arapahoe east of I25. The last time I was here, it didn’t seem as good as the previous time. I give this last visit a 7 with 8 for the previous visits.

Mustard’s Last Stand on South University near the University of Denver. Haven’t been here yet. Want to try it.

Fontano's in downtown Denver. Very good with beef a little thick. An 8.

Old Chicago has an Italian beef sandwich. Pretty good but not quite the same as Portillo’s. The bread is different and the meat is not sliced as thin. Good flavor, though. Old Chicago is a sit down restaurant. I’ll give it an 8.

Estes Park has a Chicago Sandwich Shop and they have an Italian Beef Sandwich on their menu. I’ll give these guys an 11. I think it is better than Portillo’s! Almost worth driving to Estes Park just for this.

Where else?