[Southsider2k12]

So the questions are, has anyone gone, and are they REALLY Chicago style.

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...amp;TM=47425.37

Chicago-Style Beef
Family brings Italian sandwich to Michigan City

Amanda Haverstick
The News-Dispatch

MICHIGAN CITY - There is a new spot in downtown Michigan City for fans of beef sandwiches to get their fill.

Arnold and Teresa Llorens have opened City Beefs on Franklin Street next to Domino's Pizza at Franklin Street and Greenwood Avenue.

"Really, it's all about bringing in a Chicago-style beef," Teresa said. "That's really what we specialize in."

City Beefs uses Vienna Beef products for its menu offerings, which include Italian beef, Italian sausage, Italian sub and Philly steak sandwiches.

"Our beefs include our secret recipe," Arnold said. "Everyone seems to think it's good."

Other menu offerings include a variety of hot dogs, collard greens, mac and cheese, dirty rice, chicken strips and wings and shrimp. They also make fresh hamburgers every day.

The idea to open City Beefs came from the Llorenses' own passion for the sandwiches. "Me and Teresa were always going to Chicago twice a month to bring back beefs," Arnold said. Because of that, the couple decided to open their own place that offered the beef sandwiches they enjoyed.

"We came up with the name City Beefs," Arnold said.

The Llorenses worked on their plan for a couple of years. Teresa said they tested recipes for a while to come up with the right flavor, the right beef and the right bread.

"We're still learning," Arnold said. "We took a lot of pride in putting this together."

The Llorens family remodeled the spot, with Teresa heading the redecorating. The interior has a modern look with a green marbleized floor and counter. The business is primarily carry out, but there are chairs and a counter for hungry customers on the go.

"I wanted it to have a nice look to make people feel comfortable," Teresa said.

The business opened March 8 and they have received good feedback from their customers.

"So far it's been going pretty good for us," Arnold said.

Teresa's daughter, Shawna Brown, helps at the family business. Brown previously worked at Nettie's Hot Dogs, a long-time Michigan City eating establishment that closed in early 2007.

Working together has worked out well for the family.

"It makes it nice," Teresa said. "I don't have to worry about everything."

City Beefs, 2314 Franklin St., is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The business is closed Sunday. The hours will change for the summer. For more information, call 878-5800.

Contact reporter Amanda Haverstick at ahaverstick@thenewsdispatch.com.

[Southsider2k12]

One review from the ND feedback page...

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...amp;TM=32869.49

Howell Jones

Chicago-Style Beef
Good luck with your new business. I just wanted to say from a real Chicagoan born and raised for 35 years, a real Chicago Italian Beef is Scalla beef Gonella bread gardinaire peppers and definitely biped.

[Dave]

One review from the ND feedback page...

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...amp;TM=32869.49

Howell Jones

Chicago-Style Beef
Good luck with your new business. I just wanted to say from a real Chicagoan born and raised for 35 years, a real Chicago Italian Beef is Scalla beef Gonella bread gardinaire peppers and definitely biped .

Biped? As in two legged? I thought that was long pig, not beef. Does it taste like chicken, or spam?

[RexKickass]

I'm guessing he means the bun is open, not sliced.

Although that'd be a different kind of restaurant. Soylent City, perhaps?

[Ang]

I'm guessing he means the bun is open, not sliced.

Although that'd be a different kind of restaurant. Soylent City, perhaps?

Is that the place where everyone eats soylent green?

[Roger Kaputnik]

I went to this establishment; review forthcoming.

[Roger Kaputnik]

I Have a Beef With City Beefs

After seeing this place beginning to take root and hearing some talk on the local radio station, WIMS 1420 AM, I decided to try the 1/3 lb. hamburgers, which were described as the "best in town." It was lunchtime, and it seemed like the perfect time to go.




It was slightly later than usual for lunch, so I was not surprised to be the only customer. The girl approached the counter from the back, and here was the first warning: She was using her right little fingernail, which was polished and squared off to a length of about 3/16th of an inch, to clean her right pinna. I vowed to keep a close eye on her to make sure that that finger did not add anything to my lunch.





I ordered a cheeseburger with mustard, pickles, and lettuce; they use white American cheese (she called it white cheddar, but I doubt it). The frozen burger was placed on a corrugated grill to cook, which I think is a good touch instead of the regular flat surface where burgers are squeezed dry with a spatula. The pickles are cut to be oblong, which is better because it allows a bit of pickle with every bite. The mustard looked to be the generic yellow mustard out of a squeeze bottle. She toasted the bun on the flat grill. It did look good, not fancy, but probably good. I did notice that she shook on some seasoning while the hamburger cooked.




Another woman came out of the back. She put on the plastic food handling gloves commonly used in kitchens. She got a rag from the counter and came out into the dining area to wipe down the counter and stools. Without changing her gloves, she put some boxes away in the kitchen area. Two customers came in. They chatted with her and evidently knew each other. One of the new customers wanted to try the chili before ordering chili dogs, she said, and the woman gave her a small serving in what looked like a two-oz. food service cup and a spoon. She still had on the gloves. All the while, the original person and this other woman used the spatula to flip my burger. I watched.




The original girl put on one of the clear plastic gloves. She held it to her mouth and blew it open. I wondered if the fog of lung moisture evident inside the glove would make it harder to slip on. It did not. She used tongs to put my bun on a sheet of waxed paper. Then she used her ungloved hand to pick up the mustard bottle, then transferred it to her newly-gloved hand, and squirted a neat series of spirals onto the bread. She put the bottle back in the rack. Using this same gloved hand, she picked up four slices of pickles and arranged them on the bottom part of the toasted bun. I told her to forget the lettuce.




The two customers were ready to order, so she came up to the counter to get it. The other woman, with her same gloves, brought out a burger patty, uncovered and in her hand, and a handful of what looked like beef hot dogs in the other. She put the hamburger and a couple of dogs on the grill, then put the rest of the dogs in a plastic container on the shelf by the condiments. She flipped my burger, then went to my open bun, still with the gloves she had on originally, that she had on while she used the wet rag (unrinsed out in the sink, by the way) to clean the counters and chairs, that she moved supplies with, that she went into the freezer with, that she took the uncooked meat and the hot dogs with, and got a hold of my white cheese.




"Hold it, " I called from where I had been watching them. She looked quite surprised at me, and I motioned her over with my right index finger. She put down the cheese and walked over.




"You can't do that," I said to her.




"What did I do wrong?" she asked.




"You used those gloves to clean with, you brought out raw meat with them, and you are touching the food you are going to serve me," I explained. "That is at least one health code violation."




The original girl stepped over. I told her that I could not eat there and I wanted my money back. She did get it for me, and I left. She still had the glove on.




Appalling.

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I am appending this to say that if any reader knows the owners, please let them know that the staff needs training to know how to operate in this business. I want them to succeed. I admire them for daring to open a business in MC, and it can be a pretty cool little place. They have a great menu and vision of what they would like to do, and I want them to achieve it. Best wishes!

[N.B.: Ang posted her comment below before I appended this.]

[Ang]

Good for you Roger. I'm glad you watched them and shared that with the rest of us.

I, for one, will avoid that place the next time I'm in town.

[Southsider2k12]

That is disappointing. I so would like a solid beef place to eat at locally.

[Roger Kaputnik]

I think the main problem is training staff to treat food with respect. On the other hand, restaurant staff and management should just almost instinctively draw the line 'tween clean and dirty. If you don't behave better when you are on-stage (like answering a diner at your counter), it is hard to imagine behavior being better when off-stage.

[ChickenCityRoller]

Roger, good review.



This is disgusting. In a previous life, I worked in the restraunt business in a number of states and countries. I'm very picky about things like this and I'm pretty damn jaded about the quality of product.

It's Indiana State law that someone at the establishment needs to have thier food service managers license or whatever they call it. I'm gonna go out on a limb and suggest neither of these woman have thiers.

In Chicago, one place I worked for required the use of those gloves. I HATE them. You lose a lot of dexterity, they can melt to your skin and worse of all people use them as a crutch. I'd much rather wash my hands 30 times during a service and dry the h3ck outta them than use those things. I almost never go out to fast food places. The last time I went to Subway about three years ago I saw a girl making sandwiches with those gloves, handling money then back to making sandwiches. I walked out. YUCK!

NOW, imagine what goes on behind closed doors. Uggggggggg



Thanks for the review though. I wasn't intending on trying it to begin with but you've made sure I won't now, lol.