I honestly do not understand how this place gets award after award for their beef sandwiches. The venue is a dive, but who doesn't like dives? The dirty factor is what gets me the most. The beef is a sloppy mess with tasteless flavor. The fries are usually burnt and the prices are too high! The price for a beef, fries and a coke are almost $20. You are better off at Portillo's or Mr. Beef on Orleans if you want a tasty Italian Beef.
Review Source:Went here b/c its beef sandwich won MIDWEST REGIONAL CHAMP on Adam Richman's "Best Sandwich in America" show (Travel Channel) in June 2012. Although it was good... our sandwiches did not look anything like they did on TV.
Place was a total dive... dirty, bad service, no bathroom, and just sketchy all the way around. Don't expect to feel welcomed, warm, or comfortable. Thus, even though the food is good, the place is such a dump, and service so bad, that I will never go back or recommend it.
Yo Yo
ZERO stars, this place blows.....overpriced, overrated, mush, on a greasy bun. WTF is with the cinnamon flavor? Do yourself and your gastrointestinal tract a favor, go to Johnnys, Mr. Beef, Lukes, Dog Stop, anywhere but this dump.I would rather eat a week old PB&J than this crap.....Al #1 Beef...shit...someone should sue for false advertising...
Review Source:After trying Al's for the first time, you will see why it has become one of Chicago's legendary eats. Â People come from far and wide to try this sandwich... and it has recently been named Midwest's Best Sandwich according to Travel Channel's show, Best Sandwich in America. Â The seasoning on the beef is ridiculously amazing and the sandwich as a whole is unreal. Â The only reason it doesn't get a perfect rating is because the fries are disappointing and the inconvenience of not taking credit cards (at least at the Taylor St. location).
Review Source:Delicious! Â Beware of the fountain drinks. Â Ice is served to the rim, it almost looks like a snow cone. Â When I asked for a free refill due to the exaggerated ice, they weren't too pleased. Â They complied after I told them to place a warning sign for customers to make them aware of the abundance of ice with minimal soft drink.
Review Source:Good not great is perfect way to describe Al's Beef. I would give it three stars, but the excessively high prices and cash only policy brings it down a notch. Its pretty clear they are catering to the tourist or suburban crowd with those prices, not the locals who are just looking for a quick bite to eat. The much superior Johnnies is somewhere around half the cost of Al's (ok....maybe a little bit higher than half but not much). I will say that the beef is well seasoned and the combo sandwich is a little bit above average in comparison to other Chicago offerings.
Review Source:Still without equal, though Johnnie's and Carm's do a fine job as well. Al's is a little pricey, but still has the most flavorful beef in the city. Too bad it seems to get more expensive every time I visit. Twelve bucks for a Big Beef (dipped with hot), fries and a Coke? FYI- A larger drink rather than a one-size-fits-all would be nice for a change. Or perhaps a dining-room soda fountain like many of the franchisees have embraced. Still, I gotta give them props for the beef. Pleasantly spiced better than anywhere else. Your tongue will thank you.
Be careful not to stray to some of the poorly run suburban franchises. Just not the same beef in my experience. Consider yourself warned.
I guess I was expecting the world in sandwich, having been hyped up by Mr. Richman and the like. Â Needless to say when Mr. Richman suggests a spot I blindly follow...most times leading to good things. Â I have nothing bad to say about Al's beef; it is a great sandwich, messy and tasty, and the fries are good. Â If I had a redo, I would do hot and sweet peppers and cheese; the au jus just doesn't have enough taste.
Review Source:Ok This place is REALLY popular and/or famous for it's sandwich right? And the sandwich is DEFINITELY worthy of 4 stars. The fries definitely are not. I got the "combo" which is a sausage covered with sliced beef, stuffed in a bun. Then it's DIPPED in the juice it's cooked in and covered with hot peppers. Salivating yet? You will. The sandwich is awesome, stick to that.
Review Source:Don't get fooled by the franchise Al's---You need to go to Al's #1 on Taylor st. for the real deal. Â (By the way walk across the street to the Italian ice stand after you have your beef). Â Â This place is tops-----WOW! Â Get the beef "wet"--- yes dipped, wet whatever you want to call it! Yum! Â Â Make it a wet combo with hot and sweet peppers and your in heaven. Â Better to bring a bib with you as you will be a mess! Â Bonus is the fresh but fries. Â No credit cards but an ATM is nearby. Â Love Al's!
Review Source:I've been wanting to try Al's for a while now  and decided today was the day!  I came in around 1pm and ordered a regular Italian beef with hot peppers. The food was incredibly fast, I got my sandwich before I even finished paying, so that was great.  The cashier was not too friendly and I felt like it was overpriced, but the sandwich was really good.  Usually I don't like when my bread gets all soggy from the juices...but I couldn't get enough today.  There's also a parking lot, which I wasn't expecting to be there, so that was a nice bonus!
Review Source:I had the italian beef/sausage combo, and the regular italian beef. Â The bread was nice and soft, the beef was tender , moist and flavorful. To top it off, this location is right across the street from the one and only Mario's Italian Frozen Lemonade. I had to give it 5 stars. Perfect combo
Review Source:Greasy deliciousness. Delicious greasiness. Take your pick but that is how I would describe the food here. I had the Italian sausage sandwich and the Italian beef sandwich, both with hot and sweet peppers. The sandwiches were dripping in their own oils/juices/fats/etc. but it was so good that I didn't mind at all. Cooked well, great flavors. Overall, a simple but satisfying meal.
Review Source:I have to say the first time I came here I was such a fan then I got what was suppose to be a bigger sandwich and it truly wasn't any bigger than the regular sandwich!
I still like this place and I would go back...
I do have a problem with the fact they only take cash...you should have seen me and my gf going through our purse for change and I do mean coins...lol, because we forgot they didn't take cash!
It is not a place to go if you think you will be sitting and hanging with friends because the sitting is limited outside the restaurant!
I will never buy a large sandwich again because it is not worth the extra cost!
I also don't like hot dogs that are very skinny like a finger and when I got my grand daughter's hot dog it was just that a skinny dog and meat!
I still say give it a try but remember to bring to cash!!!
I may have built this beef up in my mind to high expectations, but when people argue that this is THE beef to have, what would i expect. My GF lived in the area for a year, but I never had the chance of going. Now that I'm in the area regularly because of school, I decided to give it a shot.
I had a combo dipped, sausage was tasty, but the beef? :-/ Sorry but no. The juice wasn't even that flavorful.
I'm not exaggerating but Papa Charlie's beef that comes frozen from Jewel is more flavorful.
We're not talking about a cheap beef either.
It looks like the beef to beat is from Johnnie's, off North ave and Harlem.
Sorry Al's, its not the worst I've had, but I'm calling it:
LOST MY BUSINESS!
3.5 *
Yea, is is good but not great. It is cool but no chairs.
I had the combo and honestly feel that had it not been for the sausage I would've not liked it as much.
Yea is good greasy food, but no wash room to wash your hands afterwards.
I also tried the regular beef and it was good but just good.
Yes the fries are good, but not a meal on themselves.
Al's good, not great
I don't know why people go to this place with sooo many better options in Chicago to buy an Italian Beef. It is not worth the price. It's basically eating a piece of bread with a couple pieces of beef on it.
DON'T GO TO THIS PLACE!! THERE ARE PLENTY OF OTHER OPTIONS IN CHICAGO THAN THIS DUMP!!
Great italian beef, but no better than any other Al's location. Â Seems more expensive (one drink, two sandwiches and two fries = 25 bucks?) Â and with worse service... no bathroom for customers, no refills, no self-serve ketchup.
Not worth going to the original location.... just go to nearest Portillos or Al's
Honestly is the best policy.
I love coming and visiting the great city of Chicago. Smart people and everything, but i do not see how this place is a landmark. I have been here 2 separate times with 5 different people and we have came up with the same conclusion...disgusting.  The bread, the beef, the jardiniere (i guess that's how you spell it) everything just was nasty and off ( this is after watching the travel channel time after time featuring this place and them boasting about all these factors). I gave it two stars because i do think there cheese fries is good. Maybe i will try it again as i keep coming to Chicago with new people looking to try this place for the first time (wouldn't want  to rob them of their experience), but i have experience better and it is Mr Beef on Orleans and that's real talk.
101 Tastiest Places to Chowdown in USA
Countdown Number: 11
Famous for thin slices of oven-roasted beef dipped in au jus piled onto an 8-inch roll and topped with jardiniere.
No doubt, it's one of the most delish beef sandwiches all around. I finished the whole combo meal in less than 5 mins. Having dipped the sandwich with gravy somehow made it so much easier to eat. I like!
For me, Al's beef is the measure for all other Italian beef sandwiches, the quintessential, iconic example of all things beefy and good. Â
I attended my first class at UIC back in September of 1970, and within three days of being on campus, I had enjoyed my first Al's beef: with both hot and sweet peppers, a big mess o' fries and a Coke. Â And my life changed for the better.
Since then, I've enjoyed many a fine meal at Al's, standing with elbows on the counter, trying to not drip the juices down my shirt. Â And somewhere along the way, my preference morphed from the plain Italian beef (as wonderful as that is) to the COMBO sandwich, with charcoal grilled Italian sausage nestled in the bottom of a sliced hunk of Italian bread, covered by beef, then hot giardiniera over the top. Â I don't usually get "dipped", as it makes eating the sandwich too damn difficult, even though the juice-soaked bread tastes mighty fine. Â The fries are unique: they're dark brown, with a deep potato flavor, with bits of peel and misshapen, each fry one-of-a-kind, like some sort of potato-ey snowflake. Â
Al's Beef became Al's "Number One" Beef back in the early 1980's, when Chicago Magazine crowned it as such, in a multi-beef shootout covering most of the famous beef stands of the era. Â It's a little surprising that they're still touting a thirty-two year old magazine restaurant review, but there you go.
Al's has always been a temptation for excess. Â I remember one afternoon, final exams just past, when friends and I bought beef sandwiches with fries and carried them back to my student apartment nearby, where we washed them down with an entire bottle of Meyer's Jamaican rum. Â And then we walked (staggered?) back to Al's for a second helping. Â I'm surprised we survived. Â Then again, Al's never brooked any nonsense on premises: back in the '70's, before the neighborhood had gentrified and mellowed, the proprietor (the eponymous Al?) used to work behind the counter with a loaded pistol in a belt holster for all to see. Â People always seemed very well behaved when dining here.
Al's is truly a love it or hate it thing. Â It's pure Chicago history on a loaf of bread. Â And I love it.
My mother used to tell me "never trust anyone who doesn't like the comic strip ... they take themselves too seriously". Â Good advice, and it applies to the food world too, never trust anyone who can't enjoy a good greasy local stand up food joint ... like Al's #1 Italian Beef! Â Now, I like fine dining as much as the next guy, but how can you not love a juicy, freshly made italian beef sandwich that is so f**king messy that you have to use a special stance just to eat it?
We've eaten at several of Chicago's notable italian beef joints, but Al's is truly #1 in our book! Â The meat is very nicely cooked, tender, and very succulent. Â The roll, well let's say the roll holds the meat together, at least for a few minutes. Â What really sets Al's apart though is the giardiniera, it's crunchy, spicy and savory all at the same time (other gardiniera hold their heads in shame compared to this stuff). Add the sweet peppers, and then get your beef wet, and you have the makings of a fabulous sandwich! Â
My only gripe? Â No beer ... but depending on which location you go to, this can be rectified by getting carry out and then hitting the local liquor store to grab yourself a bottle to go. Â Now we are talking!
Yummy!!! This place is delicious! My husband and I first saw it on the TV show Man V Food, and decided to try it out. Wow, what a great surprise.
Many people may be turned off by the fact that it is dipped in the juices, but it doesn't make the bread soggy, it makes it chewy and adds a ton of flavor! I cannot wait to go back to Chicago and eat here because it is truly a gem!
So this was my first visit to Al's Taylor location and had sky high expectations coming in...i've been to the one off Ontario many times but always heard that this original Taylor locale was the best. Â No. I'd take the Ontario store over it.
It wasn't bad, mind, but I asked for my standard regular beef, dipped, with hot peppers and it was actually waaay too wet...if possible. Â I mean it was like they soaked it in the juice for a few minutes. Â And it had a very subtle "odd" aftertaste to it that, while not bad, was just a little hmm??
Excellent fries though.
It's pretty expensive too as the beef + fries and a pop was over $11, woah!
Wow what a great Italian Beef . I ordered a big beef extra juicy with hot peppers and fries and was smiling from ear to ear.
Sorry Mr. Beef or Portillos or anyone else trying to sell me a beef if I'm within 10 miles of here this will be the Italian Beef Stop.
The fries were ok but that juicy spicy sammich pushed it to a full five stars!!
holy mother of sandwiches.
Never had i tried italian beef.
but now, i want it. every day of my life. until i am old and have no teeth and even then i want an al's italian beef milkshake. scratch that. that sounds disgusting. but still.
i got mine dipped with hot peppers. this was a soggy delightful mess. I do not mind a messy sandwich. and this was a hot, hot mess.
the surprise hit? french fries. PERFECT. i thought the fries at Les Halles in NYC were good. they are good. but these? were fan-freaking-tastic. punted it right out of Soldier Field with this one.
next time i'm in chicago i will ignore all the deep dish and hot dogs and just eat al's italian beef.
Maybe it was because we were famished, but the Italian beef here (dipped, of course) totally hit the spot. I got mine with the spicy Giardiniera, while my brother and girlfriend got theirs with sweet peppers. We also shared an order of fries with a side cup of cheese; I would highly recommend you get it with the cheese. This meal I just wrote about is definitely not good for you, and you know what that means: it is absolutely delicious.
The only Italian beef joint we have here in SoCal is Portillo's, and it would be a crime to compare that to Al's.
Good stuff Al... good stuff.
When I play the word association game with the city of Chicago, my first 4 words are the Bean, Lake Michigan, Sears Tower, and Al's #1. Ok most of those are multiple words, but you get it.
I am not a big red meat eater, but I always make an exception for Al's. There's something irresistible about a big juicy sandwich stuffed with perfectly cooked beef and dipped in a spicy Giardiniera sauce. Take an Italian Beef sandwich and pair it with a generous serving of heart-stopping Buffalo Blue Cheese Fries and you'll be in paradise. Maybe not your own paradise, but at least mine. :)
Greasy, juicy beef... on a bun. What more could I ask for after a night of libations?
The day I arrived in Chicago - as I stepped off the red line at the Garfield stop - I looked around and saw a sign looming in the distance for Al's Italian Beef. I recall asking my friend, "What's an Italian beef? Wait, no, better yet... when do I get to have one?" His description sounded very much like a Philly Cheesesteak, without the cheese... I was intrigued and already hungry for it.
It was late in the afternoon on a Friday by the time we finally made it to Al's. By the time I had ordered I was seriously considering getting a Big Al (8"!), but thought better of it and went with a Regular Al & fries which I shared. My body thanked me later.
It was good. Unhealthy, but good. Throughout the duration of our meal not a word was spoken. We were that hungry and it was that tasty. Needless to say, Al hit the spot...(That's what she said!) I could see myself becoming a regular at this divey chain if I ever made Chicago my home - and for that reason I will never make Chicago my home. I love my healthy ways way too much to compromise them with the temptation known as Al's.
---
*Cash only.
**This is the original Al's. Makes the sandwich taste that much better.
Al's Beef is way overrated. It's too expensive for what you get. The Italian beef sandwiches are too small and they're not very good. The fries are way too greasy as well. Even though I don't live too far away from this location, I haven't eaten here since December 2, 2004. I didn't feel too well after eating from Al's that day. The next day, a friend and I went to a Bulls game. But, I had to leave that game at halftime because I was still sick from Al's. My stomach was rumbling and I had the cold sweats. I couldn't sit still at the game, so I went home and ran to the bathroom.
To this day, I still haven't eaten at this Al's or any of their other locations. I was so sick that day that I just haven't had any desire to go back. Besides, Portillo's and Johnnie's in Elmwood Park have much better Italian beef sandwiches. They're also larger and less expensive sandwiches than Al's.
This is my favorite place for an Italian beef. Â It get's no better than Al's! Â The other guys try, but this is by far my favorite. Â Anytime guests are in town I always take them here if they want an italia beef. Â I love mine with sweet&hot peppers, provolone, and dipped. Â Their fries are great too. Â I can't help myself and alway get them with a cup of cheese. Â I know they have several locations, but you have to come to this one, it's a part of Chicago History!
Just make sure to bring cash!
Ok I saw all the accolades, awards, and heard the hype, finally got over there to check out the Italian beef for myself. where should I start? the greaziness of the fries, the miniature sandwich, or the salty gymshoe tasting meat. It was a complete waste of almost eight dollars, ( beef and fries)
These guys recently won best beef in Chicago I think, I'm wondering how...
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