Birritalian Beef

Italian beef in Chicago is so dominant as a local dish that it doesn’t occur to the born-and-raised Chicagoans that it’s not available everywhere. I grew up with my mom and aunts, who loved traveling to extended family weddings, saving cousins a bit of cash on catering all the while laying a base for receptions that were reliably wild.

I just didn’t know it wasn’t the same for everyone else. My personal Twilight Zone moment happened during my first week of college in the Sout