Thin-sliced roast beef on Gonnella French bread, ladled with peppery jus, finished with sweet peppers or giardiniera. Dipped wet is the canonical order.

The Italian beef sandwich was invented in Chicago in the 1930s among Italian-American workers in the Taylor Street neighbourhood, who stretched cheap roast beef by slicing it paper-thin and serving it on jus-soaked bread. The Ferrari, Pacelli and Cingari families each claim a piece of the origin story. Al's Beef opened in 1938 on Taylor Street; Mr. Beef on Orleans, in River North, became the cabbie favourite a generation later. The 2022 FX series The Bear made the sandwich an international object, but inside the city it has always been a 4pm-after-work staple. Hot (with spicy giardiniera) or sweet (with bell peppers) is the first decision; dry, wet or dipped is the second.

4 editor picks for Italian beef sandwich in Chicago, ranked by editorial score. All Chicago signature dishes · Italian beef sandwich across every city.