Updated May 23, 2025 - Food and Drink
Readers: Buona Beef wins 'Best Italian beef' tournament
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Buona mascots at a White Sox game in 2017. Photo: Getty Images
On Saturday, the country celebrates National Italian Beef Day, which was a good excuse for us to dive into one of Chicago's greatest arguments:
- Who's got the best beef sandwich?
The winner: According to thousands of Axios readers, it's Buona Beef.
State of play: The Berwyn-based suburban restaurant chain drubbed the competition, including its rival Portillo's.
- Buona also beat Al's #1 Beef and Johnnie's Beef in this week's voting.
Methodology: Like every monthly tournament, the "best" is subjective and interpretive.
- We could only choose 16 for the tournament, so some great beef stands were left off the list.
Thank you for voting!