I'm thinking I'd better finish off my Chicago area posts…….
In some strange way, I felt somewhat restored after my Italian Beef from Johnnie's so I went for a drive around the Arlington Heights and Mount Prospect area. Right up the street from Johnnie's, also on Arlington Heights Road was this rather bright looking shop called……
Scooby's Red Hots:
Hey, it's Chicago…. in San Diego, you got taco shops,,,, in Chicagoland, it's Hot Dogs and Italian Beef! The interior was a colorful melange of retro looking posters, signs, and the like……
Well, this place says "red hots"….. and the Vienna Beef sign hangs proudly in the window, so what else am I going to get?
This dog had a good "snap" to it, and the bun was better than what I had at Peep's…… I lamented the lack of celery salt on this one. Still, it was a pretty good dog, and for under two bucks….. not a bad deal.
Scooby's Red Hots
1039 South Arlington Heights Road
Arlington Heights, IL 60005
I called it a night after that dog, awoke the next morning, checked ot of my hotel, jumped into the rental car, and drove around a bit more. I actually had "breakfast" at Five Guys in Mount Prospect. As I drove down Elmhurst Road, I noticed a somewhat familiar name.
Mr Beef and Pizza:
Before my Beef from Johnnie's, the best Italian Beef I'd had was from Mr Beef on North Orleans. Well…. this place said Mr Beef… so could it be?
Looking at the dining room…..kinda beat, this looked more like a kid arcade than a serious Italian Beef shop.
In fact, it seemed that more folks were getting pizza than anything else….. I should have taken that as a warning and left, but I went ahead and ordered the Beef Sandwich with Hot Peppers.
This tasted like mass produced deli roast beef that had been soaking in canned jus…… it just wasn't very good.
It just wasn't a very good sandwich…… and I'm sure it has nothing to do with the other "Mr Beef" I ate at before….
Mr Beef & Pizza
1796 S Elmhurst Rd
Mount Prospect, IL 60056
After this, I jumped back in my car and headed off to the airport……. except I decided to take the "long way". I had one more stop in mind. Further down Arlington Heights Road lay an outpost of a Italian Beef chain I was told that I needed to try….
Buona Beef:
This location is in the "village" of Itasca, and looked spanking new.
Started in 1981, there are now over a dozen Buno Beef restaurants in the greater Chicago area.
The look of the place was in total contrast to the Mom and Pop Italian Beef shops….. I remember emailing Cathy and telling her this place looked more like Panera Bread, Chipotle, or some other "fast casual" restaurant.
Of course that didn't stop me from getting a Italian Beef with Hot Peppers……
The overall sandwich was too dry for my tastes….. perhaps there's a step or request I missed? The Beef had a nice flavor, though some of it was fairly rare….which seems to take this closer to roast beef. The hot peppers had a little zip, but due to the amount of olives was more briny than spicy. There was a bit too much bread (thought it was pretty good) for this type of sandwich. In the end; it just wasn't "wet" enough for my taste. This was more like a roast beef sandwich in disguise.
And yet, if there was a Buona Beef in San Diego, I'd be eating there once in a while.
Buona Beef Restaurant
1170 N Arlington Heights Road
Itasca, IL 60143
As I waited in the boarding area at O'Hare, I mentally took stock of what I had eaten in the last day: A Foie Gras and Sauternes Duck Sausage and Duck Fat Fries, two Chicago Dogs, One burger from Five Guys, and three Italian Beef Sandwiches…… that's a pretty good 36 hours in my book!