The Original Mr. Beef (CLOSED)

For one of Chicagoland’s best Italian beef sandwiches, you’ll have to venture outside of city limits, to the far southwest suburb of Homer Glen. Here, Carl Bonavolanto III, son of the original owner of Mr. Beef on Orleans, serves up his ancestral sandwich from a strip mall storefront adorned with mob movie posters. (Bonavolanto’s father sold the Orleans location, sans family recipe, back in the ‘80s; it and his son’s Homer Glen shop are completely unconnected.) The genuine Bonavolanto article is well worth the trip; the beef is incredibly succulent, the jus perfectly garlicky and salty. It’s topped with giardiniera that might be the best we’ve ever encountered, a spicy, wonderfully fresh-tasting mix of diced green peppers, celery, and red pepper flakes.