“I get a lot of: ‘I just moved to this city. Can you please open a Portillo’s here?,’” said Nick Scarpino, the chain’s vice president for marketing and off-premises dining.
Italian-beef fans are particular about the sandwich’s trifecta of critical components — moist, thinly sliced beef; a hearty roll; and the spicy relish known as giardiniera or sweet peppers that top it, or both. To keep the Italian-beef critics happy, many of these out-of-town restaurants order ingredients from Chicago-based companies associated with the sandwich, including Vienna Beef for the meat, Turano Baking Company for the bread and Marconi for the giardiniera.
“Some people try to make their own beef broth,” Mr. Boyle said. “They say, ‘I’m going to make this a special sandwich.’ But it’s a working man’s sandwich. It’s straightforward. We try to keep it the same traditional way that it was.”
Mazen Muna, the founder of the Dogg Haus, said that as long as you honor the classic Chicago model, you can make Italian beef anywhere. “I don’t think that it is difficult,” he said. “If a person is buying the correct products and not skimping on quality, geographic location doesn’t make a difference.”
Mr. Caudill, of Roy’s Chicago Dogs in California, believes that the only thing standing between the sandwich and national fame is customer comprehension beyond Cook County.
“It’s kind of funny,” he said. “I’m surprised more people are not doing it. Philly cheesesteak is popular everywhere, but Italian beef is kind of a learning curve.”
Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/27/dining/italian-beef-restaurants.html
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