Eat Italian Beef Sandwich at Al’s Beef, Chicago, Illinois

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From its humble beginning back in 1938, brother Al Ferreri and his sister and brother-in-law, Frances and Chris Pacelli, Sr. began developing what is known today as Al's Beef. The original idea for the Italian beef sandwich was formed out of necessity. In the great depression era, meat was scarce. Chris and Al would go to family weddings and in order to make the meat go around, the family sliced it thinly and made sandwiches. The first official Al's Beef stand began as a small, curbside, outdoor, wooden neighborhood food stand with countertop service located on Laflin and Harrison Streets, in Chicago’s “Little Italy” neighborhood. The beef stand gradually grew and moved to its present location at 1079 W. Taylor Street, still in Chicago’s "Little Italy." It was here that they added Chicago hot dogs, fresh, homemade, hand-cut French fries, and Polish sausage to the menu. In 1999, Chicago Franchise Systems bought the rights to Al's #1 Italian Beef Restaurants. The first Al's franchised location opened in 2001 in Tinley Park, Illinois. Al's retail locations are positioned to compete with local independent beef stands as well as larger corporate entities such as Portillo's, Buona Beef and Scooby's Red Hots. On season 1 of Man vs. Food, Adam Richman visited Al's Beef in Chicago and learned the official "Italian stance" for eating such a juicy sandwich.

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