The Italian beef guide

This guide is for anyone who has stood at a beef counter and frozen when the person behind it asked “hot or sweet, wet or dry?” It is also for people who grew up on the sandwich and want to argue about where the good ones are. It covers how to order, the old stands that set the standard, the neighborhood counters on each side of town, the suburban stops, and what else on the menu is worth your money.

Every place here was open as of late September 2026, checked against the business’s own site or 2026 reporting. A few still take cash only, so read the practical notes before you drive across town.

How to order

An Italian beef is thin-sliced roast beef, simmered in its own seasoned juices (the gravy, if you want to sound local), on French bread. Decide before you reach the counter.

• Hot or sweet. Hot means giardiniera, the oily pickled mix of celery and peppers that every stand makes or buys to its own spec. Sweet means cooked green bell peppers. “Hot and sweet” gets you both.
• Dry, wet or dipped. Dry is beef lifted from the gravy and shaken off. Wet gets a ladle of gravy over the top. Dipped means the whole sandwich goes into the gravy for a second; some stands say “dunked” or “soaked” instead. If you are eating in the car, order dry with a cup of gravy on the side.
• Cheese costs extra. A combo adds a grilled Italian sausage under the beef.

Stand at the counter, elbows on the ledge, and lean forward so the drips hit the paper. A dipped sandwich has about ten minutes before the bread gives up, so eat it where you buy it.

The old-guard stands

Al’s #1 Italian Beef, Little Italy

The original https://windycitymagazine.com/business/als-1-italian-beef/ sits at 1079 W. Taylor St., a block west of Aberdeen, and the company dates its start to 1938. Al’s is here because the Taylor Street store still cooks and slices the beef in back and the bread takes a full dip without falling apart. The site lists 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, closed Sunday, phone (312) 226-4017. The Blue Line’s UIC-Halsted stop is about a half mile east, the 157 bus runs on Taylor, and metered parking on Taylor is tight on weekend afternoons. This stretch of Little Italy is walkable.

Mr. Beef, River North

The counter at 666 N. Orleans St., at Erie, opened in 1979 and became the model for the beef stand on “The Bear.” https://windycitymagazine.com/business/mr-beef/ is included because the sandwich held up after the fame: peppery beef, chunky giardiniera, a few communal tables. In March 2026 the family opened a second counter inside Midway Airport near gate B14, Block Club Chicago reported. The Orleans Street original is a lunch place; a June 2024 Popverse guide listed the counter as cash only with a 4 p.m. close and no Sunday hours. The Brown and Purple lines stop at Chicago and Franklin, two blocks north; the lot next door fills at noon.

Johnnie’s Beef, Elmwood Park

The line at https://windycitymagazine.com/business/johnnies-beef/, 7500 W. North Ave. in Elmwood Park, moves faster than it looks. Johnnie’s has made the sandwich since 1961 and is here because the gravy is saltier and thinner than most, which is what the regulars want, and because the lemon Italian ice is the standard second order. The stand is cash only and has no website; the phone is (708) 452-6000. The Infatuation’s January 2026 ranking and Choose Chicago’s February 2026 guide both list Johnnie’s as open. The lot is small and the 72 North bus is the only transit option. Go at an off hour.

Neighborhood favorites, by side of town

Downtown and near west

Two blocks from the Board of Trade, https://windycitymagazine.com/business/lukes-italian-beef/ at 215 W. Jackson Blvd. is the Loop’s workday beef counter, included because the beef is made in house and priced under the food-hall rate a block away. The site lists 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, phone (312) 939-4204. Quincy on the Brown, Orange, Pink and Purple lines is a block east. Nobody drives to Jackson and Franklin for lunch.

A few blocks from Al’s, https://windycitymagazine.com/business/carms-beef-and-italian-ice/ at 1057 W. Polk St., at Carpenter, dates itself to 1929. Carm’s is here because the gravy is lighter and more peppery than the Taylor Street competition, which makes a dry order work. The site listed the beef at $11.99 and the combo at $13.99 in September 2026. Hours are seasonal: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday from September through May, closed Sunday, with later summer hours. Phone (312) 738-1046. UIC-Halsted on the Blue Line is the closest stop.

Northwest Side

Portage Park’s beef counter is https://windycitymagazine.com/business/romas-italian-beef-and-sausage/, 4237 N. Cicero Ave., a family stand that Choose Chicago’s 2026 guide puts at fifty years in business. Roma’s is here for the balance of bread to beef, which most stands get wrong, and for a chunky house giardiniera. Phone (773) 734-4700; the website was unreadable behind a bot check, so call for hours. The 54 Cicero bus passes the door and there is free side-street parking north of Berteau.

Farther out in Dunning, https://windycitymagazine.com/business/bob-os-hot-dogs/ at 8258 W. Irving Park Rd. has cooked and sliced beef on site since the 1950s. Bob-O’s is included because the beef won WGN’s 2024 Best Beef bracket over 63 other stands, Block Club reported, and the family then opened a beef-focused second counter at 6161 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Norwood Park. The Trio, a short beef, sausage and meatball on one plate, is the family’s suggested first order. Phone (773) 625-9840. The 80 Irving Park bus stops out front and there is a lot.

South and Southwest Side

On Pulaski in West Lawn, https://windycitymagazine.com/business/tonys-italian-beef/ at 7007 S. Pulaski Rd. has been a family stand since 1975, with the beef recipe from Tony and the giardiniera from his father. Tony’s is here because the beef is spiced harder than the North Side norm, so regulars order sweet and skip the hot. The site lists 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. weekends, phone (773) 284-6787. The 53A Pulaski bus stops out front and there is a lot.

In Park Manor, https://windycitymagazine.com/business/southtown-sub/ at 112 E. 71st St. is a carry-out window open since 1994 that, per the shop’s site, came under new management in August 2026. Southtown is here because the beef arrives buried in giardiniera and because the window is open until 3 a.m. daily, per the site. The house specialty is the gym shoe, a stacked beef, corned beef and gyro sandwich. Phone (312) 326-1890. There is no seating, and 71st has free street parking.

At the city’s southwest edge, https://windycitymagazine.com/business/pops-beef-chicago/ at 10337 S. Kedzie Ave. in Mount Greenwood is the one Chicago store of a chain that started in Palos Heights in March 1980. Pop’s is included because each store slow-cooks and slices its own beef and makes its own hot giardiniera, per the company’s site. The site lists 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, closed Monday, phone (773) 239-1243. This is a drive, and there is a lot.

Suburban beef

The flagship https://windycitymagazine.com/business/buona-berwyn/ at 6745 Roosevelt Rd. in Berwyn is where Joe and Peggy Buonavolanto opened the first Buona in 1981, with a recipe worked out alongside Carl Buonavolanto, the family member who started Mr. Beef. Buona is here because the beef is shaved thinner than anywhere else on this list, which lets a wet sandwich hold together. The site lists 10:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, phone (708) 749-2555. There is a lot and a drive-thru. In September 2026 the company opened a walk-up beef window on Division Street in Wicker Park, Block Club reported, as a pop-up that may become permanent.

A mile south in Cicero, https://windycitymagazine.com/business/freddys-pizza-cicero/ at 1600 S. 61st Ave. is an Italian grocery, deli and pizza counter that sells Italian beef on a nine-inch French roll and beef by the pound. Freddy’s is included because you can leave with a pint of gelato and a pound of house soppressata along with the sandwich. The site lists 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, closed Sunday, phone (708) 863-9289. Parking is on the side streets.

The one chain here earns the spot on volume. The https://windycitymagazine.com/business/portillos-river-north/ at 100 W. Ontario St. in River North is the downtown store, and the beef is the sleeper on a menu most people order hot dogs from. The site lists 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. daily, phone (312) 587-8910, with a drive-thru and a lot.

Combos, gravy bread and the rest of the menu

The combo is a beef with a grilled Italian sausage under it. Tony’s and Pop’s both char their sausage, so the smoke comes through the gravy. Order a combo dry or wet, never dipped, because the sausage adds enough weight to collapse a soaked roll.

Gravy bread is the cheapest thing on any beef menu: a roll dipped in the gravy, peppers optional, no meat. Buy one to taste a stand’s gravy before you commit to a large.

Beef by the pound, with a quart of gravy and a bag of rolls, is how Chicago feeds a house on a Sunday. Carm’s lists a pound with juice at $24.95; Bob-O’s, Buona and Pop’s all cater by the pound. Order the day before, and reheat the beef in the gravy on the stove, not in a microwave.

Then there is the rest of the counter. Johnnie’s, Carm’s and Bob-O’s make their own Italian ice, which is the July order. Southtown’s gym shoe, Freddy’s arancini and Al’s hand-cut fries are reasons to come back when you are not in a beef mood.

Good to know

• Italian ice at Carm’s, Johnnie’s and Bob-O’s is seasonal. Carm’s lists Sunday, ice-only hours from June 1 through September 1 and closes on Sunday the rest of the year.
• The Chicago Italian Beef Fest, the renamed Jeff Fest, ran July 31 to August 2, 2026, at Jefferson Park, 4822 N. Long Ave., with eight beef vendors and a $10 daily ticket, Block Club reported. Watch for 2027 dates in the spring.
• May 23 is Italian Beef Day in Illinois under a House resolution adopted May 20, 2026. A separate bill to name the official state sandwich passed the House on April 15, 2026, and was pending in the Senate as of Block Club’s May 2026 report; a later status could not be confirmed.
• Checked September 28, 2026.

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