5 of 5 DeliciScore™ (From Heaven) Awarded to Side Door for their French Dip Sandwich in Chicago, IL on this 2nd day of March, 2015 -

SideDoor is a restaurant owned by the Lawry's Group, but it sure doesn't feel like it when you step in there. I'd been looking for a good Gastropub in the neighborhood of my hotel, and I had decided SideDoor was a must-do given the comments on Yelp about the French Dip. But when I found out that Lawry's owned it, it lost a bit of the appeal - I typically prefer non-corporate, local joints. But hey, there are only two SideDoors in the country, so I decided to try it out.

The French Dip at the SideDoor doesn't come with any sides, and it's $18 - one of the pricier French Dips I've had, and once you add a side, it might be the most expensive I've had. Two beers and a bowl of chili as a side (who needs veggies?) led to this being a $63 meal for basically a sandwich/soup/two drink meal - it's up there on the price scale for sure, for a sandwich.

But, for that price, you get an excellent French Dip. The bread, baked daily in Wicker Park at the Red Hen Bakery, was just perfect. Fresh, slightly crusty, but not too much, and flavorful. The bartender gave me the choice of how well done I wanted the prime rib, which I thought was key. I prefer meat that is more done in my French Dip than I would typically order for a steak. I went with medium, and that was perfect - a bit of pink, and a bit of crusty goodness, giving the texture of the beef a good balance. If anything, I could have had a bit more beef, but it wasn't lacking by all means.

"The au jus was just wonderful"

The au jus was just wonderful, though the portion wasn't enough. So I asked for extra, and the bartender brought more with no hesitation. Just the right amount of sodium, and just the right consistency. There's a small margin between too watery and too soupy for au jus and many restaurants just can't get it right, but this au jus had a bold beefy, oniony flavor and was in that consistency margin of au jus perfection. They also include creamed horseradish, and while I typically prefer raw/dry horseradish, I really didn't have any complaints.

No, that's not something living in the au jus - just a reflection from the lights over the bar.

I've had probably hundreds of French Dips all over North America in my time traveling, but I must say that this ranks in the top 5. Well done, SideDoor.

The Beef: 5
The Bread: 5
The Portion: 4
The Au Jus: 5
Overall: 5

Near French Dip Perfection!

3 of 5 DeliciScore™ (Good) Awarded to Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse for their French Dip Sandwich in Chicago, IL on this 2nd day of March, 2015 -

While on a business trip in blustery Chicago, enduring a -20 degree windchill, I knew just what could warm me up – a good French Dip. So after a bit of scouring around for a place not too far away from my hotel (so I didn’t get frostbite), I found Gibson’s. Another reviewer online claimed it was the best French Dip he’d ever had, so that sounded like the place for me to check out.

Gibson’s is a high-end steakhouse with high-end prices. Steaks range from $41 - $100, so it was no surprise to me that this one be one of the pricier French Dips I’ve had. But from the amount of beef in the sandwich, $16.25 really wasn’t that bad of a price. The beef used was Gibson’s cooked-daily shaved prime Rib, mostly medium-rare. I must admit that though I am a rare-to-medium-rare steak eater, I prefer the meat in my French dip to be a little more thoroughly cooked, though. Maybe I’m the weird one in regards to that.

The bread was true French bread, and you could tell it was freshly baked. It had a nice crust on it, but not too hard – just sturdy enough to keep the sandwich together when dipping. The au jus was presented in a large, hot bowl on its own plate, along with various peppers, which I didn’t use to top my sandwich with. I chose rather to top my sandwich with a bit of dry horseradish – they offered both, creamy and dry. The au jus amount was plentiful for dipping through the entire sandwich.

"It lacked the salinity expected in a good au jus, and I felt that the right density of the beef broth/stock was just not there."

As I got ready to take my first bite, I was really anticipating that this would be a winner, but the au jus was a major let down. It lacked the salinity expected in a good au jus, and I felt that the right density of the beef broth/stock was just not there – it was like it was watered down. The jus overall had just very little flavor. More or less I felt as if I was just eating a prime rib sandwich dipped in light brown water. I added salt to the au jus, but salt can only go so far.

Nevertheless, the sandwich was still a winner. I don’t regret it. If the jus were a little darker, with more of that beefy flavor, it would have been a strong contender for a “5.” If it were just a prime rib sandwich, it would receive a “5.” But being that this is a French Dip blog, and as the only thing that constitutes a French Dip being a French Dip is, for the most part, the inclusion of the au jus, it just doesn’t all come together to make a good French Dip.

The Bread: 5
The Beef: 4
The portion: 5
The Au Jus: 1
Overall: 3

5 of 5 DeliciScore™ (From Heaven) Awarded to Mr. Beef for their Wet French Dip Sandwich in Chicago, IL on this 14th day of July, 2012 - Mr. Beef in Chicago!

I'd heard about Mr. Beef through Rich Albrecht, a former boss and all around great guy.  I found myself passing through Chicago while on vacation this summer and knew that I had to go to Mr. Beef.  My co-travelers (Jessica and her parents) were good sports and didn't mind having a sandwich.

It was a hot and sunny day and we were on our way to the airport.  Here goes!

Here it is from the outside.  Nothing special but Chicago's a  really cool city.  It was about 90 degrees in the city that day and we were impressed by all of the available and usable waterfront.  (not in front of Mr. Beef but in general).  It's in the heart of Chicago downtown.

A view of the city from in front of Mr. Beef.

The fine guy making my sandwich.  Their menu is impressive yet simple and the place is pretty funny and classic.

Sarcasm gets points for me.  The place is not impressive,  very humble but very famous.

Here's their "Elegant Dining Room" which is really just a long shared table with the Blues Brothers at the far end.  They have video games behind me in the same room.  It makes it feel very fun.  It wasn't very busy there that day but we didn't mind.  The place still felt clean enough and nice.

Here's the video games looking the other way.  It's a really long table.

By default, they make their sandwiches "wet", which means pre-dipped.  I didn't mind.  They also have the option for Sweet, Spicy, or both.  This refers to the peppers that they add to the top of it.  I went with Sweet & Hot because I'm just like that.

Here's what you're working with.  It has really good beef.  The bread is not so sloppy that it's a problem and the peppers are really good.  Overall, it's a great sandwich.

Here it is in its raw form.  You see the green peppers.  It also has celery and carrots on it, which makes it fun.  The size is pretty good.

They have a ton of signed celebrity art on the wall and the place is clearly famous.  Note Andrew Dice Clay.  (I don't mean this sarcastically, but he's the only one I recognize from this smaller pic.)

Sign of Mr. Beef.

The Review

• Bread.  4 of 5.  The bread's good.  Nothing wrong with it.  It absorbs the juice well and didn't get overly sloppy since it was pre-dipped.
• Meat.  4 of 5.  Nothing wrong here.  Good meat.
• Non-Meat Toppings.  5 of 5.  The sweet and hot peppers were really good.  They made the sandwich.  I especially enjoyed the celery and carrot in there!
• Juice.  4 of 5.  Nothing wrong here.  I liked this as a 'wet' sandwich.  It was good.
• Overall sandwich.  5 of 5.  Best wet dip I've had so far.  The peppers made it fun.  It's not gourmet, it's just good!
• Overall Location and Experience.  5 of 5.  This was a really neat place.  A very classic French dip.