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Chicago Italian Beef, Billy Goat Tavern and Grill, Chicago O'Hare Airport

I love how seemingly each major American city has its own way of doing up hot dogs, pizzas, and yes, sandwiches.

With time to kill and hours before my next meal, I tried my luck with a Chicago Italian beef.

At last, I understand why Arby's could be so popular after visiting this and the Philly cheesesteak. Thinly sliced beef is here slathered with giardiniera, a mixture of pickled and or hot vegetables and sauce.

Reading up on the history of the Chicago Italian beef, the drippy nature of it now makes more sense when compared to the poor man's beef dip. However, if I had known this, I would have never tried it as the dip is not one of my personal favorites from the classics.

This thing was more meat than bun, more soup than sandwich, and the giardiniera was not great. I should have known, Chicago, your deep dish pizza's are also pretty gross.

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