The best Italian beef and hot dogs in Chicago: 20 stands

Beef, dogs and the Polish

An Italian beef is thin-sliced roast beef soaked in its own juice on a long roll, with sweet peppers, hot giardiniera or both. "Dipped" sends the whole sandwich back into the juice, and a "combo" adds a grilled Italian sausage. A Chicago hot dog is an all-beef frank with mustard, relish, onion and sport peppers, and no ketchup. The Maxwell Street Polish is a griddled sausage under a pile of grilled onions.

9 of the 20

1. J

   Johnnie's Beef

   Elmwood ParkItalian beef stand$

   Johnnie Aretos opened this Elmwood Park stand in 1961. The order is the combo: beef with a char-grilled Italian sausage, dipped, with hot peppers. Finish with a cup of Italian ice from the window. Cash only.

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2. M

   Mr. Beef

   River NorthItalian beef counter$

   The River North counter where The Bear shoots its outside scenes, an old-school room of shared tables in a neighborhood of clubs. The beef is lightly spiced and soaked through; order it dipped, with hot giardiniera plus sweet peppers.

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3. A

   Al's Beef

   Little ItalyItalian beef stand$

   Anthony Ferreri sliced roast beef thin and simmered it in its juices for Near West Side 'peanut weddings'; his family opened this Taylor Street stand in 1938. Get it dunked with hot peppers, or as a combo with a grilled sausage under the beef. Closed Sundays.

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4. T

   Tony's Italian Beef

   West LawnItalian beef stand$

   A family-run South Side stand since 1975, in a small brick building on Pulaski. The beef recipe is Tony's and the house giardiniera was his father's, and regulars still carry the beef home by the pound with a tub of juice.

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5. G

   Gene & Jude's

   River GroveHot dog stand$

   In 1946 Gene started out at Polk and Western; by 1950 he had moved to River Road. The menu is still dogs, fries, tamales and corn rolls, and each dog gets sport peppers, onion, relish and mustard before it vanishes under fresh-cut fries. There's nowhere to sit, and ketchup isn't an option.

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6. S

   Superdawg Drive-In

   Norwood ParkDrive-in hot dogs$

   Maurie and Flaurie opened this stand in 1948 to pay for college, and their family still runs it. Pull into a stall and a carhop brings the all-beef Superdawg to your window.

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7. J

   Jim's Original

   Near West SideMaxwell Street Polish stand$

   Jimmy bought his aunt's stand at Maxwell and Halsted and built the Polish there: a griddled sausage buried in grilled onions with a stripe of mustard. UIC's growth pushed it a block north and east to Union Avenue, where it still serves until 1 in the morning.

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8. W

   The Wieners Circle

   Lincoln ParkHot dog stand$

   Order a char dog with everything and a side of cheese fries, and bring a thick skin: the trash talk is part of the menu. After Bears wins the stand has given away free hot dogs by the thousand, and there's karaoke now too.

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9. R

   Redhot Ranch

   BucktownHot dog & burger stand$

   Jeff Greenfield and Barry Nemerow started by the White Sox ballpark in 2005 to bring back the Depression dog: sport peppers, onion, relish and mustard on a natural-casing frank, fries tucked in. The smashed double cheeseburger, added in 2013, now has as many fans. Open until midnight.

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The other 11

The 20 are spread across 19 neighborhoods. Little Italy (2) has the most; Bridgeport, Bucktown, Cicero, Dunning, Elmwood Park, Humboldt Park, Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Marquette Park, Near West Side, North Lawndale, Norwood Park, River Grove, River North, Ukrainian Village, West Lawn, West Ridge and Wrigleyville have one each.

For deep dish, tavern-style pizza and the rest of the city's own foods, see famous Chicago foods.

All 20, on your own map

This page is 9 of them. The Chicago Italian Beef & Hot Dogs pack in Whosly has all 20 — add it and every one drops onto your map, ready to save, rate and turn into a plan your friends RSVP to from a text, no app needed to answer. The pack is included with Planner Pro.

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