Dan Zemans from Serious Eats just published an Italian beef roundup, which he’s calling “the most extensive documented one-day study since the LTH Beefathon of 2006.” The group of four (which luckily included us), visited eleven “of the better-known spots” in the city, and then ranked the stands. It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that second and third place went to Al’s #1 and Johnnie’s. Those two are usually at the top of most lists, including Steve Dolinsky’s own report from earlier in the summer. But the number one pick was kind of a shocker.
Portillo’s, which is a chain, grabbed the number one spot. Zemans was genuinely surprised: “There are many who dismiss Portillo’s simply because it’s a chain with over 30 locations in the Chicago area and two in Southern California. I was in that camp myself before Saturday. And I was dead wrong.” He goes on to say that while he actually voted for Al’s #1 as his top choice (as did we), Portillo’s was “the clear consensus choice.”
We already knew that Portillo’s had one of the best hot dogs in the city, so it only makes sense that they would have a good beef, too. Check out the full list over at Serious Eats.
The Best Italian Beef Sandwich in Chicago [Serious Eats]
