Italian Beef Week

Most tourists, having done some research on Chicago delicacies, order their Italian beef sandwiches “wet,” meaning that a slosh of extra meat gravy is dumped over the beef once it is in the bread.

Stacey Ballis

If you’ve ever been to Chicago you know, there’s nothing quite like an Italian Beef Sandwich to round out a perfectly good day at the stadium. If you’re a real aficionado you know that wet isn’t the appropriate way to order it at all, instead, you order it ‘dipped,’ and get ready for one of the most delicious meals of your entire life.

Italian Beef Week is a tribute to this incredible sandwich and its history, as well as the important role it plays in the life of the Windy City!

How to Celebrate Italian Beef Week

Enjoy Italian Beef Sandwiches

Well, the only proper way to celebrate Italian Beef Week is to get yourself a fresh and tasty Italian Beef Sandwich. Head over to the Windy City and stop by one of the many different independent or chain restaurants that offer authentic italian beef sandwiches. With a whole week to celebrate, there are plenty of opportunties to try a number of versions and decide which is best!

Make Italian Beef at Home

Not in the Chicago area? Not a problem! You can find hundreds of recipes online to show you how to prepare your Italian Beef in a way that will take you on a taste bud fueled trip to the windy city. Just be sure to leave plenty of time because the secret is in the hours and hours that the meat is slow cooked to perfection.

Learn How to Eat Italian Beef

The right way, as we mentioned above, is to have it dipped. If you’ve never had a dipped Italian Beef Sandwich, you’re in for a bit of a treat, but take warning. Proper consumption of an Italian Beef Sandwich requires you to take that freshly dipped treat and grasp it firmly in both hands.

Now place your elbows on the table in front of you, and start leaning over to eat. Any other method is going to result in your sandwich baptizing your front with rich au jus. Just keep eating until you’re done, don’t try to stop or the whole thing will fall apart.

And that is how you eat an Italian Beef Sandwich!

History of Italian Beef Week

This event’s founding is debated, with some saying that it was a grassroots group of Chicagoans who got it going informally as early as 2014. Others attribute the official start to Portillo’s, the famous Chicago chain of Italian beef street food restaurants. But however it started, we’re sure grateful to be able to participate!

The Italian Beef sandwich has a history that stretches a fair distance back through Chicago’s past and has become one of the iconic pieces of Chicago cuisine that makes the city’s culture what it is.

It all started in the 1920’s with beef that is lean, tender, and low in fat. Then, it’s mixed with an array of spices and seasonings that are nearly as closely a guarded secret as the right way to eat it. This delicious concoction is then slathered between two slices of Italian Bread and served up as the customer wants it. Yum!