When I first heard of Boston's Italian beef, I was highly offended. I immediately thought to myself "How could a place named after another city, sell Chicago's Italian Beef, in Chicago and get away with it!" If I were looking for baked beans and clam chowder served by a staff who think they’re better than me, I’d go to a place called Boston’s. I wanted to walk in and tell the owner to shove his beef and his Red Sox haaat up an orifice I’ll refrain from stating.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that the name of the Beef stand was not Boston’s, but Joe Boston’s. I was immediately relieved and I hope this information calms the nerves of our readers. Now on to the beef.
Boston’s is a very straightforward beef stand: not too much decor or menu selection, but their options are good. The beef isn’t unique or experimental in any way, but the sandwich did its job. Although pretty tender and very juicy–the beef is nothing that pitched a tent in my pants, but I was satisfied nonetheless. The bread holds up well and the au jus is very good. With a medium heat and taste the peppers are only average, nothing special. The biggest drawback to the sandwich is that the only cheese they use is cheddar (huh?) JuicyBeef had the pleasure of trying the quite tasty cheddar fries. Drink selection at Boston’s is dedicated to the Pepsi beverage company, not a favorite amongst our panel.
The place itself was probably put together in as long as it took me to finish the sandwich. A few pictures of Al Capone, The Godfather, and The WHITE Sox, along with some oversized kitchen utensils mounted on the wall, but that’s about it. Only a few small tables and chairs to eat at and a bathroom are available, which contribute the lower location/ambiance scores. The neighborhood is not the greatest but the place does have a parking lot. Unlike some of the other places we have been to, with neighborhoods that are filled with life and shopping, there isn’t any atmosphere around Boston’s. It is in the middle of two busy streets with out any other businesses around. They do offer refills at a price of 50 cents, which isn’t breaking the bank, but it still isn’t free. The only thing that added to the ambiance is the fact that the place serves chocotacos, one of the greatest desserts of all time. Nice touch, Joe.
Boston’s Beef is pretty wicked awesome but the lack in location and ambiance really take away from the Beefing experience. It could be worse; it could have been staffed by people from Boston. Could you imagine that? The servers would be rude and inconsiderate and try to get you to eat the Beef however they liked it. Not to mention that fact that they would probably try to convince you that the worst day in history was Game 6 of the 1986 World Series…although that might not be so bad. I could then enjoy my Beef while asking them how many world series they won in the past 50 years…and how many the White sox won. Thank God Boston’s is a true Chicago establishment and we don’t have to deal with that dilemma.
Beef- 7.5
Fries- 6.1
Location/Ambiance- 4.3
2932 W Chicago Ave
Chicago, IL 60622
(773) 486-9536
Editor-in-Beef
1 comment:
My roomie and I ended up at Joe Boston's after a) being turned off by the line at Hot Doug's and b) almost being led by the hand by a very garrulous CTA driver who insisted we try it. He didn't steer us wrong (sorry, couldn't resist). The IB was great, high quality meat, good fries too. And I liked the "ambiance;" it is what it is, and definitely not a tourist trap. We'll be back!
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