Beefathon V - WEEK DAY EVENT - POSTPONED - NEW DATE SOON

I wanna post this as a seperate thread to capture who can make a Friday beefathon, say May 27th.

I would suggest for Beefathon V to include Bombacigno's, La Milanese, Ricobenes, Freddies (the Bridgeport Freddies) and maybe one or two more in that area. It would be a relatively compact tour of places not too far from the loop and could be done in a few hours, say 11 to 2.

I'd like to avoid overlap w/Beefathon IV, but I do not know how much of that can happen. But on the other hand, worthies like Bombacigno's and La Milanese are weekday only. Since this would take place the week after beef IV, we can coordinate from what is on the schedule (or where we actually go) on Beef IV.

Rob

I'm on board with the concept though I wonder if 5/27 is the best date, being the Friday of Memorial Day weekend (I also happen to be in a conference that day). These are all places relatively near my office so this circuit is pretty "do-able" for me.

Kman wrote:I'm on board with the concept though I wonder if 5/27 is the best date, being the Friday of Memorial Day weekend (I also happen to be in a conference that day). These are all places relatively near my office so this circuit is pretty "do-able" for me.

I kinda thought that was a good thing as more people might be available, but I am flexible on the date.

Rob

Kman wrote:I'm on board with the concept though I wonder if 5/27 is the best date, being the Friday of Memorial Day weekend (I also happen to be in a conference that day). These are all places relatively near my office so this circuit is pretty "do-able" for me.

Same here. I'm already mnissing Beefathon IV, and I'll still be out of town the following Friday. How about some time mid to late June?

I'd like to join a Friday beef-a-thon. I should be good any Friday between now and the end of June, just not June 10th, when I'll be out of town.

I was talking to a friend today, a doctor, and like the doctors of old, he has Wednesday's off (but works on Saturdays). Instead of golfing, he wants to eat beefs. I told him that I thought that group of peple who can make a Friday run, could make a Wednesday run.

Shall we try for June 8th? It's a Wednesday

Rob

Since the person Rob was just mentioning is me, I have no choice but to accept an invitation to Beefathon V (my first Beefathon!) on Wed June 8th. Thanks Rob!

If you're going to be at Bombacigno's, I would say you might as well walk over to Luke's (215 W. Jackson Blvd.) only a few blocks away.

For my money, Luke's is the best beef in the Loop. Far from the best in the city, but I believe it certainly bears consideration in a tasting in or near the Loop.

Two caveats:

1) Luke's gets very crowded near noon. Beward the stampeding traders!

2) They charge extra (40 cents, I think) for peppers or giardiniera. I would deduct points for this practice.

Best,
Michael / EC

I'm only going to Luke's if you come EC (I've generally not been a big fan of the place)

Rob

Vital Information wrote:I'm only going to Luke's if you come EC (I've generally not been a big fan of the place)

Depending on my workload that week, I'm strongly considering calling in sick that day. I may call my boss and say that my Giardiniera Glands are really aching and I need to seek some therapy (it would go right over his head, guaranteed).

Worst case, I could very likely meet you guys at Luke's and possibly Bombacigno's too.

Keep in mind, I'm not saying that Luke's is a contender to knock anyone's socks off, but if you're looking for one or two more to round out the day, it's near by and decent enough for comparison. Like I said, best in the loop, which isn't saying much.

I don't think I'll be able to join the Wednesday beefathon, but I'd like to mention another place which has Italian Beef only on weekdays: Conte di Savoia West, in the Tri-Taylor neighborhood. This is a branch of the main store further east on Taylor (which, as far as I know, does NOT have Italian Beef) which just offers sandwiches, soup, lasagna, etc. for the weekday lunch crowd from the nearby hospitals and juvenile center.

I'm no beef expert but I think their sandwich is pretty good, certainly a generous helping of good quality beef for only $3.65. (Their prosciutto and fresh mozzarella sub is also excellent.)

Conte di Savoia West
2227 W. Taylor St.
Chicago, IL 60612
312 666-4335
M-F 9-5

Amata, that's great. I hope we can pack in as many of the "weekday only" places as possibleassuming the logistics work... More suggestions are highly desirable.

Rob

I did not realize (really pay attention) that I had scheduled this event for the same day as the Tipitina's/Edna's event--especially dumb on my part as I was given advanced notice of the event to get it on my calender (I blame it on new computer-itis )

Anyways, I'm pushing the week day event back two weeks to June 22. Eat Chicago, adjust your symtpons accordingly.

Anyways, I hope to see you all at this ever changing date.

Rob

i'll put dollars to dat doughnuts that a panel would choose J&C's beef over luke's!! darn, now i have to go J&C's tomorow! mmmmayybe a combo with red sauce, provolone, hot giardinara, sweet peppers and a side of pasta! rumble, rumble says la stomache!

luke's is good too, though, and, one big thing luke's has ove JNC's is it's open reasonable hours.

then again, Joey B has some fine out-of-print bourbon that places you tout, like delilah's and twisted spoke, dont' have. delirium tremens too!

-ep

I just recieved a new assignment this week that will have me out of town on Wednesday. Sorry to do this again, but it is hard to perfectly reconcile my schedule with my eating concerns.

I will re-schedule on a future Wednesday. I hope this does not place too many difficulties on the people who had committed fully or paritally to Wednesday. In fact, perhaps you all should still meet at J&C as planned.

Rob

El Panzone wrote:delirium tremens too!

I was in J&C (Bombacigno's) Friday. They've recently started selling beer and, among the usual suspects, they had a few more interesting labels, including a couple bottles of Delirium Tremens in the cooler.

J&C's has been selling beer for as long as I've been going there (~20 years). In recent years the quality of selection fell off from the wide x-section of brews Joe used to stock - but that was somewhat driven by the fact that customers just weren't ordering much beer. Back in the day when Sammy tended bar it was a different story (if for no other reason than that there actually was a bartender, vs. having to get Joe to leave the register to vend the beers). Glad to hear the selection has picked up. Friday nights (again, another 'back in the day') in winter J&C's was my go-to place for Samuel Smith's Winter Welcome Ale (sometimes accompanied by bottled-in-bond bourbons that Joe would bring up from the basement).

Kman wrote:J&C's has been selling beer for as long as I've been going there (~20 years).

That just goes to show my powers of observation are not so keen. It took a neon sign in the window for me to notice they had beer, and I've been going there off and on for maybe 10 years. Since I was only ever looking for soda anyway, maybe I just didn't see the beer? (And please don't tell me the beer sign went up in '89; I don't think I could take it.)

Hehe, as you've no doubt noted Joe has a veritable plethora of pre-modern signs and posters so there's been various indicators of beer-here for quite a while. The actual beer, though, is probably easy to miss as it's stored in the cooler nearest the front door behind the bar while the more obvious cooler (full of sodas) is near the register/ordering counter. Once upon a time the beer cooler was home to quite an array of imported and smaller domestic breweries, which made J&C's "upstairs" an ideal destination for a forgotten afternoon luncheon. A beef & sausage combo with fries to start and then taking turns to head downstairs to round up an order of 'orange whips' made for a great day (so long as you made sure they remembered you were upstairs so you didn't get locked in around 2-2:30 PM).

Back then on Fridays they stayed open in the evenings and Claude (the "C" in J & C's) would make thin-crust pizzas and set them out . . . for free. Piling a few slices of that hot out of the oven pizza on a plate and then spooning some of their homemade giardianera over that was a great way to wind down the week. She was usually doing that while prepping a new batch of Italian Beef - seasoning big hunks of beef and roasting in the oven to eventually transform into (IMO) a very tasty I.Beef sandwich.

Sorry I won't make the I-Beef-week-athon to share J&C's with others but Wednesdays just don't work well for me.