May 21, 2024 - Culture

Your guide to Italian Beef Day

Monica Eng

Italian beef sandwich — Lesser known Italian beef masterpieces from (top clockwise) JP Graziano's, Frannie's and Ciccio's. Photo: Monica Eng/Axios

Saturday ushers in National Italian Beef Day, offering a great excuse to indulge in this squishy Chicago creation for a good cause or just to save some dough.

The deals: Buona Beef will offer throwback pricing of $5.99 for all regular beefs Saturday.

Frannie's Beef on River Road will donate a portion of all beef sales that day to Shriner's Hospital in Oak Park.

The best: In 2022 we compiled our favorites and then polled readers about the best beef spots around, which include Johnnie's Beef, Al's #1 Beef on Taylor Street, Portillo's, Mr. Beef on Orleans and Buona Beef.

The latest: I recently tried three lesser known but delicious beefs for an episode of NBC's Chicago Today.

What's next: This summer Chicago will launch its very first Italian Beef Festival on June 15-16 at 31st and Morgan in Bridgeport.

"The Bear," the FX show that catapulted Italian beef to national fame returns for a third season in a couple of weeks, when the restaurant is expected to shed its humble beefy image for something decidedly fancier.

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Your guide to Italian Beef Day

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