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An Italian beef sandwich with a Chicago dog and a bottle and shot of Jeppson's Mal?rt on a black table at Tiny's Hi-Dive.

Watching ‘The Bear’? Here’s where to find a taste of Chicago around L.A.

July 12, 2024 12:46 PM PT

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It took “The Bear” to jump-start the popularity of the Italian beef, one of Chicago’s most iconic dishes, here in Los Angeles and beyond. But now that it has, the floodgates have opened. The world is finding out just how comforting, flavorful and craveable the city’s cuisine can be.

There’s the razor-thin-sliced beef nestled against hot giardiniera in an Italian beef — the sandwich that Carmy, Sydney, Richie, Tina, Marcus and others serve on the hit FX dramedy, which just released its third season. Then there are the acidic pops of sport peppers and pickle spears in a celery-salt-dusted Chicago dog, neon with green relish and brightened by onions and tomatoes. Rich, gooey deep-dish pizzas are so hefty that the takeout boxes could be used as free weights, while the thinner tavern-style pies — cut into squares for easy sharing — make for an ideal communal meal. While some of these items are more difficult to find in L.A., they can be found flourishing if you know where to look.

“I think the show kind of put that [Italian beef] on the map and let everybody know about it, that it’s a delicacy,” said John Grondorf, who operates Tiny’s Hi-Dive: a “high-class dive bar” and his ode to Chicago. “But also, there’s a lot of Midwesterners and Chicagoans that live in Los Angeles. They came out in full force [when we opened]. We don’t have just Chicagoans; there are people from Wisconsin, Michigan — they’re all coming because they want a taste of home, and we try to give them a little bit of that.”

To the casual observer these dishes might appear simple: roast some beef, throw it on a roll with some giardiniera, or slide a hot dog into a bun with some relish and pickle — but the devil’s in the details. How thinly are they slicing the beef? Is it cooked in the jus? How hefty and pillowy is the bread? What brand of relish and giardiniera is that? How wet is the sandwich, and do I get a choice? Where’s the celery salt? Is the hot dog bun steamed, or not?

These can make all the difference to native Midwesterners and the discerning palate.

“Chicagoans are fanatically protective of their foods,” former L.A. Times Food columnist Lucas Kwan Peterson once wrote, adding, “We Chicagoans hear what you say about us and our food. We hear every little gibe and good-natured insult.”

Chicagoan Courtney Storer, the culinary producer of “The Bear,” worked tirelessly to nail the recipes used for the show and continues to make the occasional Italian beef around L.A. through her pop-up, Coco’s To Go-Go. She’ll be popping up with legendary Chicago beef shop Mr. Beef — which helped inspire “The Bear” — this weekend. You’ll be able to find Mr. Beef’s iconic Italian beef sandwiches at the West Third Street location of Uncle Paulie’s Deli on Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., with no preorders and no online delivery orders. “Old school,” said Uncle Paulie’s co-founder Paulie James.

If you can’t make it to this weekend’s pop-up, there are a fortunate number of L.A. and Orange County restaurateurs and bar owners — be they from Chicago or simply devotees of the cuisine — who pay attention to the intricacies. And because this is L.A., it’s also possible to find gluten-free tavern-style pies and vegan Chicago dogs. Here are 13 spots to find a taste of the Windy City’s specialties across our own city, with pizza puffs, gravy bread and Mal?rt included.

Showing Places

Coco's To Go-Go

Pop-up

By Stephanie Breijo

Want to try some iconic Chicago fare — and other cuisines — made by “The Bear’s” own culinary producer? Chef Courtney Storer recently launched Coco’s To Go-Go, a pop-up and catering service that offers a taste of her hometown of Chicago. Check Instagram for updates on her next appearances, where you might find her serving tart Italian ice, fresh pastas, Italian beef sandwiches and more.

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Doughbox

Highland Park Italian Restaurant

By Stephanie Breijo

With flavorful deep dish pizzas weighing roughly the heft of a small baby and crisp-bottomed pan pies (think: thinner, tavern-style format, cut into squares) in a range of toppings and flavors, Doughbox is a favorite among L.A.’s Chicago-pie fans. This beloved deep-dish specialist began out of a commissary kitchen in City Terrace in 2016, moved to El Sereno and then closed — until longtime fan Andy Mueller purchased the business and revived it. Now Doughbox can be found operating out of Highland Park vegan panadería Delicias Bakery & Some until its new, permanent location — back in El Sereno — is ready to launch.

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The Escondite

Downtown L.A. Bar

By Stephanie Breijo

Homesick Chicagoans in L.A. often find their way to the Escondite, the downtown dive bar where the Mal?rt flows freely, Cubs and Bears games play on the TVs, antler chandeliers hang over the bar, and that iconic red and blue neon sign advertises “Vienna Beef hot dogs.” If there’s any question you’re in the wrong place, just look for the taxidermied bear rocking a Cubs chain and shades on the wall, or the felt pendant hanging behind the bar that says, “As for me and my house, we will serve Mal?rt.” When it comes to food, the Escondite serves the classics, no frills: a Chicago dog (“the Jermagical”), Chicago pizza puff (“the ‘High’ Nunez”) and the Italian beef (“the Escondite”), plus wings, fried pickles, burgers and other standard bar bites.

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A vertical pic of a hand pulling a slice of pepperoni-and-ricotta-topped deep-dish pizza at fast-casual chain Fresh Brothers.

Fresh Brothers Pizza

Burbank Italian Restaurant

By Stephanie Breijo

Brothers and native Chicagoans Scott and Adam Goldberg — along with Adam’s wife, Debbie — serve their take on Chicago pizza at their popular chain Fresh Brothers, which has sprouted through L.A. with 18 locations and six more spread throughout Orange County and San Diego. The Goldbergs’ “SoCal deep dish” is a blend of Chicago-style thick pan crust and a lighter California version, which is still satisfying and topped with preservative-free, locally sourced sauce. (For their more traditional-style Chicago deep dish, keep an eye out for it as a seasonal special.) The regional chain also serves their version of tavern-style pie, called “thin” and still cut into squares, with all pizzas available in a range of flavors — including multiple vegan versions.

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The Italian beef sandwich at Gino's East.

Gino's East of Chicago

Sherman Oaks Italian Restaurant

By Stephanie Breijo

This nearly 60-year-old Chicago institution made its way west in 2020, opening an outpost in Sherman Oaks that boasts 15 screens where Chicago sports are in constant play and rotation. While the restaurant is known for its deep dish, Gino’s East also serves tavern-style “thin crust” pies and even a gluten-free tavern-style option. Beyond the pizza, Gino’s makes a mean Italian beef loaded with giardiniera or sweet peppers — and it can be ordered wet, dry or dipped — plus Italian-beef-and-sausage sandwiches, mozzarella sticks, salads, pastas and deep-dish brownies.

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Juicy J's

Koreatown American Restaurant

By Stephanie Breijo

You’re greeted by a large mural of Chicago on the dining room wall, while the curtains to walk back into the kitchen are Vienna Beef flags. At this quick-and-casual Koreatown spot from two Windy City natives, a trio of ’90s Vienna Beef ad posters line the wall above the ice cream case and the whole space feels like a hot dog, all painted bright red and yellow. They take their Chicago dogs seriously here: The crucial details are all present, and they can be ordered with a classic Vienna Beef hot dog or swapped out for Polish or Italian sausages. There are standard chili dogs, Polish sausages with sauerkraut and mustard, burgers, milkshakes, pizza puffs and, of course, the Italian beef — which can come dry, juicy (slightly wet) or baptized (fully submerged), and topped with sweet peppers, giardiniera or a combination of the two. Want just a taste? This is also one of the only spots in town offering a side of gravy bread: the simple but satisfying Chicago staple of bread dunked in jus.

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Larry's Chili Dog

Burbank American Restaurant

By Stephanie Breijo

Larry’s Chili Dog has been serving glizzy-hungry patrons since 1953 via a walk-up window in Burbank, and it’s no surprise that one of the region’s oldest and most classic roadside hotdog stands — which specializes in house-made chili — is one of the few homes to a Chicago dog in L.A. There are corn dogs and Louisiana hot links and chili dogs and Polish sausages, but one of the most popular items to be found beneath the vintage neon sign of a weiner dog lying in a bun is the Chicago dog. Here the details matter: There’s the poppyseed bun, the neon green relish, thick wedges of tomato, finely diced onion and a squiggle of mustard. The only deviation is the pepperoncini in lieu of sport pepper; bite off the ends and drip the juice along the top of the dog to spread the flavor throughout.

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Masa of Echo Park

Echo Park Italian Restaurant

By Stephanie Breijo

This is real fork-and-knife pie. One of L.A.’s longest-running, most beloved deep-dish specialists serves inverted-layer pizzas so hefty and so messy there’s really no way to lift a slice to your mouth without utensils. The rich, fluffy, buttery crust serves as the vessel for a number of toppings and sauces, including a chunky, classic, savory tomato sauce that spills out in all directions, plus multiple vegan varieties. While the deep dish, which takes 45 minutes to bake, is the most traditional Chicago item at this stalwart, the Masa kitchen serves other Chicago hits, including a panini-pressed take on the Italian beef and a thin-crust pizza topped with all the Italian-beef trappings. Homey and full of comforting fare, it’s no surprise that patrons vying for a slice still line the sidewalk even 20 years in.

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Mustard's Chicago Style Eatery

Los Alamitos American Restaurant

By Stephanie Breijo

Mustard’s means business, and you can tell from first glance: That shining symbol of Vienna Beef — the large blue “V” — is right on the restaurant’s sign. The no-frills Los Alamitos strip-mall spot offers plenty of other signs of Chicago devotion inside, too, including framed ride ticket stubs from the city’s long-gone Riverview Park, vintage Chicago posters and newspaper clippings, and signs like “Reserved Parking, Bears Fans Only.” This decades-old favorite feels like a time warp and serves a range of deli sandwiches and doughnuts alongside some of the most pitch-perfect Chicago dogs and Italian beefs in town. The Vienna Beef Chicago dog comes with all the fixins, peppered so liberally with celery salt you’ll smell it on your hands all day, while the beef is so loaded with sweet peppers and onions it easily makes for the juiciest version of the sandwich in L.A. If you’re looking for a taste of Chicago without the meat, note that this is one of the few restaurants in town offering a classic Chicago dog with a vegan link. Enjoy your meal at one of the oversize checkers sets with a friend, for best results.

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Portillo's

Buena Park American Restaurant

By Stephanie Breijo

The mack daddy of Chicago’s culinary exports to California, Portillo’s sees constant streams of cars through its Buena Park drive through and lines of fans inside the restaurant waiting for a taste of one of the Windy City’s most popular chains. What started as a small hot-dog trailer in 1963 kaboomed into a national brand with more than 60 locations, including two in California: Buena Park and Moreno Valley. This is a mecca for Chicago dogs, which can come regular or jumbo-sized, or even with a vegan Garden Dog; Polish sausages, Italian-sausage sandwiches and chili cheese dogs abound. The Italian beef, here served on the signature Turano French bread, is one of the most iconic and customized with hot or sweet peppers or a mix of both, plus four types of cheese and five gravy preferences: dry, dipped, extra gravy, extra dipped, or on the side. There are also burgers, salads, sandwiches, hearty slices of layered cakes and more, so load up a tray and head to a checkered table amid all the bric-a-brac.

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Rance's Chicago Pizza

Long Beach Italian Restaurant

By Stephanie Breijo

Orange County native Rance Ruiz became obsessed with Chicago stuffed pizza during his adolescence, to the point where he began toying with home recipes at 18 when he couldn’t get a taste nearby. His years of efforts and testing grew into Rance’s Chicago Pizza, with outposts in Long Beach and Costa Mesa, where he serves buttery-crusted tavern, pan, and stuffed (deep-dish) pizzas. The latter separates the sauce atop it all from the cheese and toppings underneath, but even the pan pizzas are hefty and gooey enough to require a small army of napkins (note: These pizzas take 45 minutes to bake, so order ahead accordingly). The tavern-style pie, while thinner, still utilizes an ample crust that holds sturdy beneath an array of toppings and ultra-gooey mozzarella — and can be made with a vegan gluten-free crust, as well.

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Rita's Deluxe

Downtown L.A. American Restaurant

By Stephanie Breijo

Pint-size daytime dinette Rita’s Deluxe specializes in Midwestern comfort foods in a setting that matches the menu. The swivel stools at the small formica-topped counter offer views of the grill, and while the menu from chef-owner Luke Reyes is an ode to old-school diners and lunch counters across the East Coast and broader Midwest, there are a few specialties that epitomize the comfort foods of Chicago and its surrounding areas. The Chicago dog here is built with all the imported toppings — and in the case that they’ve run out of sport peppers, will offer a tangy side of sweet cherry peppers in their stead — while the Vienna Beef hot dogs are boiled and hit with a quick sear on the flat top. Don’t miss the side of beer-battered cheese curds served hot from the fryer, somewhat of a rarity in L.A., nor the thick and creamy milkshakes that sometimes come topped with crushed potato chips.

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Tiny's Hi-Dive

Sawtelle Bar

By Stephanie Breijo

It feels like the Midwest — and perpetual Christmas — inside Tiny’s Hi-Dive. With the glow of colored holiday lights reflecting off the wood paneling, a pool table and a map of the L train, it’s a cozy slice of comfort in West L.A. Ownership considers Tiny’s a Bears bar, with upwards of 300 people who show up to watch the games, but regulars often shuffle through for the Italian beef, Chicago dogs, Mal?rt and other classics.

“You can’t be a Chicago bar and not make the things that are staples,” said co-owner John Grondorf, who grew up in Chicago before moving to Los Angeles. “We’re very legit. If we’re gonna do it, we’re gonna do it the right way.”

He and his girlfriend, co-owner Kelly McLaren, import the buns, the peppers, the relish and the Vienna Beef from Chicago, and they’re such purists that even the rolls in the Philly cheesesteak are from the cherished Amoroso’s Baking Co. in Philadelphia. During the pandemic, with less traffic on the roads, they frequently trekked to Portillo’s and dreamt of opening their own, closer, bar that would offer these delights — and then, in 2022, they did.

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