Beefy King ★ 4.6
Why locals love it: The 1968 roast beef counter on North Bumby Avenue, with six counter seats, the original blue logo and a third generation behind the slicer.
Tip: Order the King with Spuds curly fries and a side of Beefy Sauce.
History
Beefy King opened on North Bumby Avenue in 1968 as a roast beef counter founded by Tom Viegle; Freeman and Margaret Smith bought the original location within a year and the shop has stayed family-run by their descendants ever since. The thin-sliced roast beef on a steamed bun is the city's defining 1960s diner sandwich, with the Spuds curly fries and seasoned Salts a constant since opening. Beefy King survived the chain era and the Disney boom by holding the same six counter seats and same blue logo for six decades, and it remains the canonical Orlando lunch institution.
Common allergens: Gluten
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 1.5kg beef top round or eye-of-round roast
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 4 small soft white burger buns, steamed
- 60g salted butter for the buns
Method
- Pat the roast dry. Mix salt, pepper, garlic and paprika and rub all over the meat. Sit at room temperature 1 hour.
- Heat oven to 135C / 275F.
- Place the roast on a rack in a roasting pan. Roast until internal temperature reads 50C / 122F for rare, about 1 hour 30 minutes, or 55C / 130F for medium-rare.
- Rest the roast on a cutting board 20 minutes, tented loosely with foil.
- Steam the buns 30 seconds over simmering water. Butter the cut faces.
- Slice the rested beef as thin as possible against the grain, ideally on a deli slicer or with a very sharp knife.
- Pile sliced beef on the buns. Serve straight or with a thin smear of horseradish sauce.
Tip from the editors. Resting and slicing as thin as possible is everything. A 1.5mm slice on a deli slicer is the canonical Beefy King thickness.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
Where to eat beefy king roast beef sandwich
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