Roma's Italian Beef

This small family-run operation in Portage Park has been around since 1968, and they’ve used the past 55 years to perfect the bread-to-meat ratio of their excellent Italian beef. At Roma’s, sandwiches come on bread that’s downright Cancerian: secretly tender, with a tough exterior capable of withstanding a dip (which is how you should order it). Add in the thin slices of mildly flavored beef, plus gentle heat from the hot peppers, and the result is a surprisingly light Italian beef. Conveniently, you can also get Roma’s sandwiches in half-sizes to keep things even lighter. Inconveniently, they only take cash (or Venmo or Zelle).