Both Al's and Johnnie's follow the basics of the traditional Italian beef (with Al's, arguably, being the original creator of the Italian beef sandwich), but they both taste extraordinarily different. All of the eight food fight participants had something to say about which they thought was best after tasting both sandwiches. Only one person had eaten at Al's and Johnnie's before.
The rules for this food fight were simple. People ordered their food in whatever way they chose as long as they got Italian beef. While this may affect the results in some way, I wanted people to order what toppings they'd normally order, because if they don't like hot giardiniera, then they for sure wouldn't like their beef sandwich.
To keep our biases in check, each of the eight participants could award up to 20 points at each restaurant, making a possible high total of 160 points. Everyone rated their sandwiches based on these categories:
* Taste: up to 10 points
* Quality of toppings/bread/juice: up to 5 points
* Presentation of sandwich/ease of eating: up to 5 points
[Pictures documenting this food fight are in a slideshow at the end of this post].
JOHNNIE'S
7500 W North Ave.
Elmwood Park, IL 60707
The food fight started at Johnnie's. At 3:30pm, the line was short and the food flew across the counter into our waiting hands. The menu at Johnnie's is simple with beef sandwiches, hot dogs, sausages, fries, and, a customer favorite, Italian ice.
After ordering, all participants gathered around the outdoor table - because Johnnie's doesn't have any indoor seating - and chowed down. With an even number of participants, most everyone split a sandwich so as to save room for the next taste test at Al's. While the mood of this food fight was much more subdued than the hot dog war of August, people still had plenty of opinions.
The sandwich I shared with my boyfriend was the standard Italian beef sandwich complete with hot giardiniera. The meat was still plenty wet, even with most of the juices soaking into the Italian bun and even though my boyfriend and I didn't get our sandwich dipped. (A true sign of a good Italian beef, I say, is that the sandwich doesn't need to be dipped in order to showcase all the meat's juices). With a few big bites, my half of the sandwich was gone, and I continued spooning out the large Italian ice, the perfect cold complement to a hot and spicy sandwich.
What the other participants said:
* Yikes! The food is too hot (in a spicy way).
* There isn't enough juice and everything's falling out. (Granted, he didn't get his 'dipped' since he didn't know he could).
* The meat and the giardiniera taste delicious.
* There's plenty of juice even without getting the sandwich dipped.
* Amazing. I'm speechless.
After eating and collecting all the votes, we sat, letting the food digest as we talked. We would have stayed longer too, but then a bee - which hadn't checked into the yellow jacket motels hanging above our heads - started chasing my boyfriend. We all skee-dattled out of the parking lot and to the next contender in the Italian beef fight.
AL'S
1036 Higgins Rd
Park Ridge, IL 60068
This food fight might be remembered as the 1st Avenue fight as both restaurant locations weren't too far off of 1st avenue. Over at Al's in Park Ridge, the restaurant was empty except for one other customer. The choices of sandwiches seemed overwhelming in comparison to Johnnie's. Al's famous Italian beef sandwich not only came in various sizes (or bread lengths) but also offered even more toppings - provolone or american cheese anyone? The menu also contained much more than just beef, including pizza, chicken wings, hot dogs, chicken, wraps, salads, and even tamales.
But we came for Italian beef and that's what everyone got. This time around, my boyfriend and I got our sandwiches loaded with stuff - or so we thought. We asked for provolone, sweet peppers, and hot giardiniera. Unfurling the sandwich from the wrapper, we were delighted to see how appealing the sandwich looked. But then we took a bite.
The meat was drier than at Johnnie's (if you don't get it dipped), and it had a strange sweet flavor that wasn't coming from the peppers, as if the meat was seasoned with ginger or all spice. The giardiniera was not like any giardiniera I'd seen before - gone were the carrots and cauliflower - and the little spice we tasted came from red pepper flakes.
For most participants the food was edible, but we wondered aloud: this is Al's famous beef? Something must be wrong. And then one of the guys hurried away from the table, ran to the bathroom, and puked. Mind you, he's a tall guy and can eat a lot (and he was only eating halves of sandwiches). As he said, something in the food hit the stop button on the way down and wanted out. Fortunately, everyone else had, at the very least, a better experience with their food.
What the other participants said:
* Looked good, not too oily, but disappointing overall.
* Where's my giardiniera?
* I like the fries. But the meat tastes oddly sweet and nasty.
* I like this bread better.
* My beef is too dry. And what is that funky sweet taste on the meat?
And the winner is...
The points were tallied, a winner was announced, and none of the food fight participants were surprised.
We definitely didn't have the good experience that we expected from Al's. But other than the one participant's unfortunate experience in the bathroom, we thought the sandwiches were decent... just different from Johnnie's and not what we'd expect from a traditional Chicago Italian beef. Who knows? Maybe the result would have been different had we gone to a different location? Maybe the batch of meat at Al's was cooked differently than usual?
Nonetheless, the first official food fight of Chicago Food Fights was deemed a success with Johnnie's the clear winner. Do you agree with the pick of Johnnie's over Al's? Or do you have another favorite Italian beef restaurant?
Check back for more food fights over which classic Chicago dishes my friends and I like best.
