(Image credit: Getty Images)
The Sandwich King of Chicago, Jeff Mauro, shares his picks for his favourite sandwiches, from hot Italian beef at Village Tap to the Chicago Puerto Rican Original at La Bomba.
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Chicago’s culture is deeply embedded in its working-class, immigrant history – including that of its food. While the city’s culinary scene offers plenty of fine dining options, food preferences lean toward hearty, practical and just plain good. A stroll down Chicago’s streets reveals too many sandwich joints to count; tucked into buildings on every corner of the 77 community areas that make up the city, the third largest in the US.
As Chicago’s Sandwich King Jeff Mauro describes it, “Chicago has a no-nonsense palate – we don’t need our food highfalutin and fancy. It is a combination of necessity – hardworking people who build and maintain the city who need something quick, quality and handheld – coupled with the sheer number of immigrants over the generations who bring their cuisine to the city.”
For Mauro, the sandwich is also a comfort that everyone can understand. “As a kid, it’s one of your first foods, carried in a brown bag lunch, your first connection to becoming independent and socialising at the lunch table. You develop an affection for it you don’t get with other foods. And it can be eaten every single day – how many foods do you see like that?”
Part of the Chicago sandwich craze rests on a condiment specific to this city – giardiniera. A medley of pickled vegetables, it has risen to the zeitgeist with the popularity of Hulu’s The Bear. But native Chicagoans have been using giardiniera in their dishes since the late 19th Century when Italian immigrants introduced it to the city. Mauro described it as “an explosion of flavour, heat and texture” that “adds more peppers, more colour, more crunch”.
Here are Mauro’s picks for the best sandwiches in Chicago, beginning with the most famous sandwich to come out of this city – the Chicago Italian beef.
In a city known for its Italian beef sandwiches, Chef Mauro heads to Village Tap on Roscoe Street (Credit: Jeff Hoffman)
1. Best Italian beef: Village Tap
“What pizza is to New York, Italian beef is to Chicago,” said Mauro. This sandwich has a storied history dating back to the early 1900s when Italian immigrants added a spicy broth to tough meat and tenderised it through a slow roasting process. They then threw it on bread for a heartier, more filling meal.
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Jeff Mauro is an Emmy-nominated celebrity chef and a life-long Chicagoan. After winning the Food Network Star competition in 2005, he landed his own series, Sandwich King. He also co-hosts The Kitchen, now in its 37th season, and is the founder and CEO of Mauro Provisions, a line of craft sauces, rubs and sandwich kits.
Village Tap, Mauro’s choice for the best Italian beef in the city, is comparatively new to the city. Begun in 1990 as a craft beer taproom, it expanded with a beer garden surrounded by walls trailing in ivy and a fireplace where diners gather during cold Chicago winters. Despite the popularity of its beer and its atmosphere, it’s the Italian beef that has gotten Mauro’s attention. “This neighbourhood watering hole in Roscoe Village has excellent bar food and serves USDA Prime Italian beef that sells out constantly,” he said.
Website: https://www.villagetap.com/
Address: 2055 W Roscoe St, Chicago, IL, 60618
Phone: (773) 883-0817
Instagram: @villagetapchicago
Chef Mauro’s favourite burger in Chicago is found at The Loyalist; a West Loop eater tucked beneath the Michelin-starred restaurant, Smyth (Credit: Huge Galdones)
2. Best burger: The Loyalist
The Loyalist – a garden-level casual eatery in the West Loop – is found below Smyth, a street-level Michelin-starred fine dining restaurant, but is worth a visit all on its own. While the Loyalist bills itself a “neighbourhood restaurant and bar”, the burgers here receive as much attention as the elaborate seafood offerings at Smyth.
Tip
Mauro strongly recommends trusting a local before online reviews: “A great source is the Chicago food subreddit, all people who actually go out and test the food. And remember that this is a city with neighbourhoods, and you’ve got to get out and experience the enclaves and institutions. Go six blocks in either direction and you’ll find better options that are more authentic than what’s next door to your hotel.”
It’s Mauro’s go to burger choice for the “best beef, best bun, best onions, best cheese, best ratio, in the coolest setting and with unbelievable menu items to go with that burger”. Designed after French brasseries, The Loyalist’s menu includes the French smash patty comprised of chuck (shoulder roast), short rib and bacon topped with escargot butter, cornichon and mornay sauce. The Loyalist OG Cheeseburger is served with pickled and charred onion on a sesame seed bun. And, according to Mauro, no burger is complete without fries – or frites, in this case.
Website: https://www.smythandtheloyalist.com/
Address: 177 North Ada Street, Chicago, 60607
Phone: (773) 913-3773
Instagram: @theloyalistchicago
Gene & Jude’s hot dog stand has been serving up one of Chicago’s finest hot dogs since 1945 (Credit: Nick Holmes)
3. Best sausage: Gene & Jude’s
Stopping at Gene & Jude’s is like taking a (very delicious) bite of Chicago history. It all began in 1945 when Gene Mormino bought a less than impressive hot dog at a Cub’s game at Wrigley Field. Convinced he could do better he opened a roadside stand just a year later. Instant success brought a move to River Grove, where for years, the lack of signage prompted the locals to dub the restaurant River Road Hot Dogs. But it’s always been Gene & Jude’s, and in Mauro’s mind, it’s always been the best.
“I grew up frequenting this hot dog stand as a kid,” he said. “My old man Gus would bring us there to dine al fresco on top of the trunk of his Oldsmobile, to keep the smell out of the car! He would lay out his mustard-stained towel to protect the diamond coat enamel from the grease – salty, hand-cut fries; sport peppers (hot chilli peppers) and onions and condiments – that top this snappy Chicago classic dog.”
The restaurant’s motto? No seats. No ketchup. No pretence. No nonsense.
Website: https://www.geneandjudes.com/
Address: 2720 N. River Road, River Grove, IL
Phone: (708) 452-7634
Instagram: @geneandjudeschicago
Three Little Pigs in Chicago’s South Wabash area serves Chinese American cuisine, and one of Chef Mauro’s favourite unique chicken sandwiches (Credit: Andy Aguirre)
4. Best unique sandwich: Three Little Pigs
New to the Chicago scene in 2020, Three Little Pigs serves Chinese American cuisine that head chef and owner Henry Cai calls “untraditionally authentic”. Visitors will find dishes like Mongolian beef and fried rice, but it’s the sandwich that Mauro sees as the true star.
“Go for the Honey G Chicago Hot Chicken Sandwich,” he said. “It’s topped with a cooling and crisp iceberg slaw and Chinese mustard aioli. The chicken breast is marinated for eight hours and then fried the next day, and it’s the crispiest, juiciest piece of fried chicken dunked into a vat of pepper relish right before serving.”
Website: https://www.3lpchi.com/
Address: 1150 S. Wabash, Chicago 60605 (and other locations)
Phone: (312) 300-9866
Instagram: @3littlepigschi
Mauro loves the vegetarian sandwich at Conte di Savoia deli in Chicago’s vibrant Little Italy neighbourhood (Credit: Alamy Stock Photos)
5. Best vegetarian: Conte Di Savoia
Black and white chequered floors topped with black bistro tables, a cornucopia of Italian fine wines displayed on shelves and in open drawers, and a deli counter where visitors can pick up a packed picnic – the scene screams “Italian-American deli”.Chicago’s Little Italy is a magnet for University of Illinois students, corporate executives, museum patrons and youth soccer players, and when they’re hungry, they go to Conte Di Savoia.
The build-your-own sandwich here fits a variety of tastes. “What I love about sandwiches is that they’re very personal,” said Mauro. “Everywhere you go, the sandwich experience is different, customised. And if you create it yourself, you believe that what you customised is the only way to do it. It creates a connection between you and that piece of food, and that connection is dynamic as your tastes develop and change.”
Mauro likes the vegetarian option. “This three-generations-old Italian deli makes its own mozzarella and its own sun-dried tomatoes, which makes this light and bright sandwich like consuming a gooey bite of sunshine with each bite,” Mauro said.
Website: https://contedisavoia.com/
Address: 1438 W. Taylor St., Chicago 60607
Phone: (312) 666-3471
Instagram: @contedisavoia
Tempesta Market sandwich shop on Grand Avenue displays its ethically-sourced meats and cheeses like art (Credit: Tim McCoy)
6. Best sub: Tempesta Market
In a nod to the Windy City, Tempesta Market chose a name originating from strong wind gusts and storms that are characteristic of the lakeside city. An indoor mural depicts a woman with long, dark locks, a breath of wind blowing from her lips. Cold counters showcase deli meats, charcuterie and gelato, and gourmet pantry items line the shelves. Down the hall, various meats hang like artwork in a display case, and rightly so – all of it originates from heritage breed animals raised with grass-fed diets on Midwest family farms; no growth hormones or antibiotics.
“Tempesta serves quite possibly one of my favourite sandwiches on the planet, The Dante” said Mauro of the shop’s spicy, meaty sub offering. “It has the best-cured meats on the best bread topped with the best spread. It’s made with Tempesta’s very own n’duja (a spicy, spreadable cured sausage from Italy’s Calabrian region).” He added: “And get one of their South Johnny pork sandwiches on the side… trust me.”
Website: https://tempestamarket.com/
Address: 1372 W. Grand Ave., Chicago
Phone: (312) 929-2551
Instagram: @tempestamarket
La Bomba Puerto Rican restaurant on West Armitage Avenue is Chef Mauro’s pick for their El Jibarito sandwich, made with fried plantains and steak (Credit: Getty Images)
7. Best for Latin flair: La Bomba
“If you think about it, every country in the world has a version of a sandwich,” said Mauro. The sandwich’s universality is one of the things that drew him to sandwich culture in the first place – just the sheer number and variety that can be created using ingredients from all over the world. In Chicago’s Logan Square, head to La Bomba, a place patrons appreciate for its warm, welcoming Puerto Rican flair that treats every customer like family.
It is well-named – loud, festive music fills a room framed by an island mural and colourful art. Menu items include ham and cheese, blood sausage and breaded steak sandwiches. Mauro goes for the El Jibarito. “This Chicago Puerto Rican original must be eaten to be believed,” he said. “I love the steak version on the golden-fried, flattened tostones (fried plantains), with American cheese and garlicky mayo. It’s an amazing sandwich birthed right here in Chicago not too long ago.”
Website: https://orderlabombatogo.com/
Address: 3221 W Armitage Ave, Chicago, 60647
Phone: (773) 394-0106
BBC Travel’s The SpeciaList is a series of guides to popular and emerging destinations around the world, as seen through the eyes of local experts and tastemakers.
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