You don't have to be Italian to appreciate the greatness of a dipped beef sandwich, packed with paper-thin beef dripping under the weight of savory jus. You certainly don't have to be from the Midwest to appreciate the bite of a Chicago-style hot dog, filled with Vienna beef and topped with the traditional slice of pickle, tomato, diced onion, relish, hot peppers, mustard and celery salt. And ever since Chicago's legendary Mr. Beef opened on the Venice Beach boardwalk on July 4th, you don't have to live in the Windy City to get them.

Mention Mr. Beef to any Chicago transplant and you'll need to give them a moment to compose themselves. Opened in 1963 on Chicago's Orleans Street by Italian brother-in-laws Carl Buonavolanto and Tony Ozzauto — grandfather and uncle of Tommy Costabile, owner of the Venice Beach location — the shop originally served their grandmother's sliced beef sandwich recipe. Chicago locals loved it as much as the Buonavolanto family loved making it. Over the years, the big beef sandwich at the tiny beef stand created such a demand that the family opened five additional Mr. Beef locations around the city.

Mr. Beef's Original Chicago Dog; Credit: Christie Bishop

Mr. Beef's Original Chicago Dog; Credit: Christie Bishop

Throughout the expansion, grandma's original beef sandwich kept its spot as the menu's signature item, but the family slowly added other Chicago staples like the Chicago Dog, The Maxwell Street Polish and the pizza “PUFF.” It also attracted the attention of food lovers beyond the streets of Chicago, beating out competitor Al's Beef on Travel Channel's Food Wars and winning the heart of talk-show host, Jay Leno. Since expanding to Venice Beach — the beef stand's first locale outside Chicago — Costabile says that his Mr. Beef location is the only restaurant in California to carry the real Vienna beef Chicago dog, Maxwell Street Polish Sausage and Iltaco's Pizza PUFF, a toaster strudel-esque pastry pocket filled with a mixture of meat, cheese, tomato sauce and spices. Perhaps ironically, Mr. Beef is located directly across from Muscle Beach, filled with meatheads and wanna-be Mr. Beefs.

Mr. Beef: 1809 Ocean Front Walk, Venice; (818) 606-6885.

Christie Bishop also blogs for PardonMyCrumbs.com.

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