When I was depressed on Saturday afternoon because of the war in the Middle East, I thought I’d cheer myself up a tad by going to a place that has been in Chicago far longer than I’ve been here, and has been lauded for having “the best sandwich in the world”: Ricobene’s breaded steak sandwich. I’ve known about it for at least two decades, but somehow never hauled my sorry tuchas over there. I decided I’d do it at last.
From an article by Ted Berg called “Chicago has the best sandwich in the world and most people don’t even know it.”
The next paragraph of this post contains a bold and speculative claim about a sandwich, but I need you to understand that it is not an unresearched one. I worked in a deli, making sandwiches, for three years. At my last job, I regularly wrote sandwich reviews. I have traveled to 42 states and 20 countries and eaten sandwiches in most of them. I know sandwiches, I promise.
And the breaded steak sandwich from Ricobene’s in Chicago is the best sandwich in the world. Mark it down.
When ordered with mozzarella cheese and hot giardiniera — those are important — the sandwich presents a combination of flavors and textures that bests every single one of the thousands of other sandwiches I’ve sampled in my 34 years.
The primary ingredient, the eponymous breaded steak, is exactly what it sounds like. But even by the high standards we hold for fried steak, it’s amazing — piping hot, remarkably tender, and with a perfectly seasoned, tasty breading that somehow maintains some crispiness even when it’s slathered with the sweet tomato sauce that complements it perfectly.
The cheese adds some saltiness, some gooey texture, and works to bind together a very messy mix of ingredients (though somewhat inadequately). The giardiniera — a relish of pickled vegetables — adds some crunch and a vinegary heat that seems to amplify all the other delicious flavors in the sandwich. And the soft, fresh hero roll is somehow up to the challenge of containing this very sloppy sandwich without being too bulky.
Straight up: It’s a perfect sandwich. And so while I recognize the haunting fact that somewhere out there, someplace I’ve never been and someplace I might never be, there could be a sandwich as good as this one, I am unwilling to believe there are any sandwiches distinctly better than this one. That’s why I feel comfortable calling it the best sandwich there is.
How can you read that, live a 25-minute drive from Ricobene’s, and not try the sandwich? After having gone there on Saturday, I mourn my lost sandwich-less years in Chicago.
It’s an unprepossessing looking place in Bridgeport that’s mostly under the El; you have to know about the glories inside. Fortunately, there’s a big free parking lot across the street.
But the inside is full of feeders, most having the steak sandwich (I took mine away, which deprived me of the opportunity to get fries, an essential side):
The goods come within a few minutes, neatly wrapped inside two layers of aluminum foil and paper. It’s a messy sandwich so this is necessary:
And the contents. There are two big pieces of breaded steak (note: not one!), along with mozarella cheese and sauce, and of course the steak is breaded. I had regular grilled peppers and onions rather than the hot giardiniera, which I’ll get next time. And next time will be soon.
This, the “regular” (there’s also a “large” for $15), is a substantial meal, for the two big hunks of beef give heft to the sandwich. And the flavors are incomparable: somehow all that different stuff (see video below) combines into an ethereal piece of food. I thought to myself after finishing it, “Perhaps I should have ordered the large one.” But I wouldn’t have been able to finish it.
Is this the best sandwich in the world? I don’t know, as I haven’t had all the world’s sandwiches. Nor have I had all of America’s highly-touted sandwiches, like Iowa’s famous pounded pork sandwich or some of the BBQ sandwiches in the South (I think BBQ is best on a plate, not a sammy). And if you count burgers as sandwiches, as that would complicate matters.
What I can say is that this is one of the best sandwiches I’ve had in America, and the best sandwich I’ve had in Chicago. If you come here, get one.
Here’s a video about it.
Bravo, well done.
….
Actually, maybe rare is the way to go here.
Thanks Jerry, I too keep passing by Ricobene’s without getting my butt in there. You’ve motivated me. And I’ll motivate you hopefully to go to the home of the best tacos, also in Bridgeport, at Antique Taco–35th and Morgan. Huge outdoor seating area, so the most Covid-averse can eat there too. Totally unnecessary to tell you what to get because it’s ALL good. But the elote is the best I’ve ever had–we get it with guac and use the chips for both. The brisket taco and the carnitas tacos are my favorites but the others are amazing as well.
I LOVE Elote! I’ll go there soon!
Sounds great all right, but I submit as a contender for one of the best sandwiches is Buffalo’s Beef-on-Weck— thinly sliced roast beef piled on a kummelweck roll topped with kosher salt and caraway seeds, with a side of au jus for dipping and optional horseradish — a lightweight to heavyweight steak champ and certainly not as fancy or stuffed, but a terrific down home taste.
I’ve had that, though in Rochester, not Buffalo. I still say that the steak sandwich is better, but tastes differ.
This pickled beet sandwich is the goat, at least according to Singal & Herzog.
https://www.dunekitchen.com/menu/food/
First, I am sorry for the pain and anger you are experiencing due to Hamas terrorist activity in Israel, Jerry. It is shocking and I am angry looking at the atrocities. Take care of yourself, mate.
I’m glad the sandwich was good. It looks fabulous and if I ever visit Chicago I’ll head to Ricobene.
Short summary of a Jewish holiday: They hated us; they tried to kill us; we won; let’s eat!
I just had my normal skimpy lunch and reading this made me hungry. I’ll stick it on the list for next time the kids are in town. Thanks.
At a regatta in Erie, PA, my crew (an Erie native), took me to McGarrey’s Oakwood Cafe for a reuben sandwich–it was great, and gets my vote for best sandwich. If I ever get to Chicago, though, I’ll certainly try Ricobene’s.
My fav is a meatball sandwich from Pasquale’s in Cullman AL. They are going through a remodel and change of ownership, but meatball, gravy and mozzarella,oven baked wrapped in garlic bread. Two pickle slices on top. Their roast beef sandwich is also great but you can’t beat the meatball. “Utah, get me two!”
It looks like a good sandwich, but I am in general partial to shrimp and crawfish po-boys, available in lots of good places on the gulf coast.
I don’t find the one in the picture at all appetizing. It looks like the burst open Judas. There are, of course, sandwiches I would like better. But I can’t think of a favourite.
It doesn’t look appetising but I will take Jerry’s word on the taste.
My concern is that it is not practical. Sandwiches are meant to be portable food that you can eat anywhere. This looks like you’ve got to put it on a plate and eat it with a knife and fork.
Nevertheless, if I am ever in Chicago, I will definitely have one.
I did not need utensils to eat this sandwich.
But, did you need a shower afterwards?
Over many years of experience I have come to the conclusion that the best burgers / sandwiches usually require a trip to the bathroom to wash your hands, maybe your face too.
Agreed for burgers, though I’ve never had much trouble with sandwiches.
Thank you for your opinion, though it seems to be based on the appearance rather than the flavor of the sandwich. Many great foods don’t look great, you know.
Your appreciation of a good ‘Sandwich’ was a ’deli’ght to read. But things could have been so different.
Some years ago I fantasised about writing a ‘sketch’ for a tv comedy show.
At a social gathering, The Earl of Sandwich, The Duke of Wellington and the Earl of Cardigan met (the timeline makes this impossible of course) and were amused to find that their names had been associated, in the popular imagination, with items that they had apparently and unknowingly invented.
So, if each ‘innovation’ had been by a different member of the trio, we might today be keeping ourselves warm by wrapping up in a woollen ‘Wellington’, tucking into a beef ‘Cardigan’ and keeping our feet dry by pulling on a pair of ‘Sandwiches’!
Well done, William!
While visiting a friend in Enfield, CT in the 70’s, he took me to a simple and unpretentious looking sandwich shop just across the river. I do not recall its name, but had a roast beef sub that was so good that I continue to remember it as “the best” to this day, 50 years hence.