I definitely need to know how one gets the nickname "Bricktop."

"No fank you, Turkish. I'm sweet enough."

I just spent a large part of the last 90 posts making various noises with my mouth as I read. I'm very glad I live alone.

We went out for hamburgers.

Heh. I'm not the most adventurous diner myself, but I'm amazed just how picky some people can be. A friend of mine is incredibly so. At another friend's wedding reception this Fall the entrees were steak, stuffed chicken breast, twice-baked potatoes and asparagus. Nice, but fairly common fare I thought. None of it looked appetizing to him until we pretty much badgered him into eating it at which point he liked pretty much everything but the asparagus.

More recently we had a vendor out from Michigan helping me try to fix the hands-free PC security system his company had installed for us. When lunch time rolled around I was listing off the various local eateries. He didn't have a real preference beyond no hotdogs so I suggested a local pizza place that has absolutely incredible Italian Beef on garlic bread sandwiches. I was shocked to find out he'd never had an Italian Beef before (or a Cherry Coke, for that matter, which was even more surprising.) though now I wonder how much of it was him being a fairly sheltered diner or whether Italian Beef's primarily a Chicago-area thing and I just take them for granted because I've lived here all my life?

whether Italian Beef's primarily a Chicago-area thing and I just take them for granted because I've lived here all my life?

I've never heard the term before.

I just spent a large part of the last 90 posts making various noises with my mouth as I read. I'm very glad I live alone.

Me too.

There is nothing wrong with brussel sprouts! They're just like little cabbages.

Not helping your case here. They're like little cabbages with added slime!

One of my former roommates once went through a 14 page menu at Cafe Roux and couldn't find a single thing that sounded good to him. I could have eaten a different dish every night for two months and not gotten tired of the place.

I've never heard the term before.

It's thinly sliced spicy beef on italian bread with mozzarella cheese and/or peppers often accompanied with additional "juice" to dip it in. Great stuff, though undoubtably bad for you. The local pizza place gives you the option of having it on garlic bread instead. (Basically the same bread, just toasted with butter and garlic before the the meat and rest gets slapped in)

ETA: Though traditionalists will tell you the only place to get a "real" italian beef is from one of the greasy spoons downtown. Having had one from both places, the only difference I can tell between the two is one look around the latter just clarifies what you're about to eat is bad for you.

I've never heard of Italian Beef either, but now I want some.

After describing it, I do too. I may have to make a stop on the way home from work tomorrow.

(ETA: Don't you just hate seeing a typo immediately after you hit the "post" button?)

How do they cook the meat, Kalshane? If it's thrown down on a griddle-thing (griddle isn't quite the right word, but I can't think of the real one) and cooked in front of you, it sounds like a close cousin to a cheesesteak. Otherwise, it sounds like a fancy roast beef sandwich. Either way, it sounds yummy.

I'd really like to have a proper cheesesteak again one of these days. I don't get quite as nostalgic for them as I do Alabama barbecue, nor even a proper Italian hoagie NOT from a Subway or Quizno's, but they're still good stuff.

Sure, I get home and everyone else goes to bed.

Guess I'll just go stack some cats.

Kalshane, Italian Beef is a Chicago specialty.

It's very yum, though. You can get a knockoff at Quiznos incidentally.