Trying Chicago’s Most Iconic Foods
Chicago is one of the food capitals of the world with thousands of restaurants lining its bustling streets. During my most recent trip to the windy city, I made sure to try some of Chicago's most iconic dishes and indulge in plenty of deep dish pizza.
Al's Beef Sandwiches
With Chicago's rich italian heritage it's no wonder their beef sandwiches are amongst the best in the world. On my most recent trip I visited Al's #1 Italian Beef, a local Chicago based chain that specialises in creating iconic italian beef sandwiches. Al's Beef has won a number of awards for its food including Best Sandwich & Sandwich Shop in America, Most Iconic Dish in America, and Top Food to Eat in Chicago Before You Die, so it made complete sense that I had to try it!
I ordered the classic beef sandwich with lashings of thinly sliced beef that had been cooked to perfection in its own juices, american cheese, sweet peppers and of course got it dipped in a vat of meat jus. This was certainly a unique experience as the moist bread complimented the meat but with the added crunch from the sweet peppers. It was a taste experience I would absolutely go back for and would highly recommend trying if you are in the Chicago area. There are several stores across the city but I tried the one located near Portillo's on North Wells Street.
Chicago Style Hot Dog
When it comes to hot dogs, the city of Chicago know what they are doing! They do hot dogs in an entirely different way and without a drop of ketchup in sight. A traditional Chicago style dog comes with an all beef hot dog, sandwiched between a poppy seeded bun, lashings of sweet relish, pickles, tomatoes and mustard. When it comes to finding the best Chicago hot dog it has to be at Portillo's. Portillo's is a long standing Chicago establishment that opened its doors in Illinois in 1963. It specialises in Chicago cuisine including italian beef sandwiches and Chicago style hotdogs amongst an array of other dishes! The hotdogs here are amazing and unlike anything I had ever tasted before, the relish and pickles added an extra crunch while the mustard complimented that classic hotdog flavour, its a must try in the Windy City.
Portillos Cake Shake
Carrying on with Portillo's, I had to try their iconic chocolate cake shake. The cake shake from Portillo's is made using an entire slice of fresh chocolate fudge cake baked on site, mixed with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup. The milkshake has an incredible texture that is both light and fluffy but thick and creamy at the same time. The cake pieces blend into the shake creating the most incredible chocolate cake flavour.
Garretts Popcorn
When walking around the streets of Chicago you will find a Garretts Popcorn on almost every street corner. Each store front boasts large samplings of different flavoured corn and you can often smell the freshly popped corn before you see the store. Garretts Popcorn comes in a variety of flavours including cheese, caramel and caramel pecan and comes in a variety of sizes from their individual blue and white striped bags to their family sizes tins.
I tried a few different flavours and was impressed with the caramel pecan flavour, it was coated nicely with the caramel drizzle and the addition of the crunchy pecans made for a really satisfying treat. I also tried the most iconic mix...the Garretts mix as they call it, which is a mix of the caramel and the cheese corn and unfortunately it was not for me. The mix of the sweet and savoury just didn't work and the cheese flavour was a little too artificial which made the corn taste a little like plastic. I'd still absolutely recommend getting some corn from garretts but maybe ask for a sample before buying a whole tin!
Deep Dish Pizza
Chicago is the home of deep dish pizza with dozens of restaurants in the city all claiming that theres is the best. In my opinion the pizza at Gino's East is the winner but everyone has their favourite. Deep dish pizza was invented in 1943 and was first served at Pizzeria Uno, a restaurant located on East Ohio Street, right in the heart of downtown Chicago. It consists of a huge pie like crust with layers and layers of delicious sauce, cheese and toppings. Traditionally they take over an hour to cook. On this recent trip I tried deep dish at two of the most iconic places in Chicago, Lou Malnotis and Pizzeria Uno.
The pizza wars in Chicago are a longstanding feud and it really is up to each person as to where they prefer to get their deep dish fix. On trying pizza in both of Chicago's most iconic restaurant's, my verdict was that when it comes to the perfect pie crust, Lou Malnotis has it down to a tee, however if you're looking for the best sauce it is Pizzeria Uno all the way!
