Ever since Hulu’s award-winning series The Bear aired last summer, foodies have been searching for authentic Chicago-style Italian beef sandwiches in their own hometowns.
The centuries-old sandwich played a leading role in The Bear’s fictitious restaurant, the Original Beef of Chicagoland, where prolific young chef Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) takes over the family business. As Season 2 returns to whet our appetites on June 22, we set out to revisit a Chicago favorite in Henderson—Windy City Beefs ’n Pizza.
Longtime Chicagoan Tim Korney, who also runs Windy City Beefs ’n Dogs near Summerlin, opened this Hendo spot in 2012 with legendary Chicago joint Johnnie’s Beef in mind. He estimates 98% of his customers hail from Chicago. How can he tell? They’re vocal about it.
“A lot of customers come in and they’re like, ‘Can you make my Chicago dog like Frankie’s did on 103rd and 14th Street back then?’ I’m like, ‘There’s 1,275 hot dog and beef stands in Chicago. I make it the true Chicago way. That’s how we’ve always done it,” he says.
A true Chicago beef sandwich calls for thinly sliced roast beef, giardiniera (a go-to condiment of pickled veggies) and an Italian bread sturdy enough to withstand the entire sandwich being dunked into savory au jus. Windy City Beefs has bread trucked in from the family-owned Turano Baking Company, one of the largest in Chicagoland.
“That’s who all the restaurants back there use,” Korney says. “I’ve had numerous bakeries here try and get our bread business, and when I do what I need to do to make an authentic beef, and dip the bread in the au jus, all their bread falls apart.”
At Windy City, you can have your sandwich dry, wet or dipped. For a soaking wet (and delicious) mess, go the traditional dipped route “with sweet peppers and giardiniera,” Korney says. The owner does his best to educate Las Vegans on how to enjoy their Italian beef, but he’s also grateful for The Bear to help with the heavy lifting.
“All my employees were like, ‘Boss, you gotta watch it, you gotta watch it.’ It’s a great show,” he says. “I think it’s close to 100% accurate.”
WINDY CITY BEEFS N PIZZA 9711 S. Eastern Ave., 702-388-4300, wcbnpizza.com. Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-7 p.m.
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