Metro Detroit: Sterling Heights Portillo’s
What is an Italian Beef Sandwich? It’s a slow roasted beef, sliced thin and served on an Italian roll with a sweet and/or spicy giardiniera of veggies. Some places dip them (bun and all) right into the au jus for extra sloppiness.
How did such a sandwich come to be? It is an interesting story. According to an article on Thrillist.com the history traces back to just after WWI. A Chicago Street Peddler, named Anthony Ferrari, who (by modern days terminology) ran his own food truck selling sandwiches and other home cooked lunches to blue collar workers around the city. One day Ferrari went to a local wedding and “Chicago’s culinary history was changed forever”.
While a lot of people claim to be the inventors of the Italian Beef as we know it today, its origination traces back to the Italian-American Immigrant weddings in the early 1900’s known as “peanut weddings” Since the immigrants didn’t have much money many weddings were held in homes and basements of churches where peanuts and other cheap foods were served to feed as many people as possible…this included slow roasted cuts of beef sandwiches. These sandwiches were usually thick slices of beef. Ferrari figured out that slicing it thinner and letting it simmer in its own juices allowed you to feed twice as many people.
Anthony continued making his deliveries and serving local weddings for 20+ years and in 1938 his son Al Ferrari decided to make a business out of it by opening Al’s Beef in the front of a bookie operation and is still going strong today.
We are not here to talk about Al’s though. We are here to talk about another great institution who also does a righteous Italian Beef Sandwich: Portillo’s. We were reluctant to go to a “chain restaurant” since they tend to lose what made them special in the beginning when they start branching out. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case with Portillo’s . . . and we like a good success story!
In 1963 Dick Portillo invested $1100 (around $10,000-$11,000 today) in a 6 x 12 trailer and named it “The Dog House” in Villa Park, IL 2 miles west of Chicago. What started with hot dogs out of a trailer, has grown to the establishment they are today. With over 70 locations nationwide, Portillo’s is a fun and exciting destination for some delicious Italian beef sandwiches, Chicago Dogs and their famous chocolate cake and chocolate cake shakes.
The Italian Beef sandwich was juicy and delicious, we had it to go otherwise we would have had it double dipped for extra sloppiness. We also tried their Chicago Dog and chocolate cake. All were really good and we are going to go back for another round to try a few of their other specialties.
If you are not into Italian Beef, you can try one of their many other menu options. They offer burgers, chicken and fish sandwiches, salads and beef bowls for the carb conscious.
Save room for desert! They are known for their Chocolate Cake and Chocolate Cake Shakes, but also have other amazing looking choices!
Portillo’s is definitely worth the trip but it will be even more worth the trip once they get the Livonia location built. Their Sterling Heights location is at 14425 Lakeside Circle. The Livonia location will be at Schoolcraft and Middlebelt as part of the Millennium Park Shopping Center.
Until next week . . . Live well, eat well and enjoy life!
Keith and Teresa Becker