Weeknight Takeout: Manzella's Italian Patio
Here's another in the series of helpful posts (OK, it's a mini-series; see the right-hand sidebar for the other two posts) for week nights when you can't be bothered to cook. On those occasions, our default takeout dinner is Italian beef and minestrone from Manzella's. I call from work and order the usual: two Italian beefs, two bowls of minestrone, and a cup of extra beef juice. When I stop by 15 minutes later, my bag full of Italian goodness is waiting (and the restaurant is on my way home—a big plus).
(Forgive the crappy photo; we were too hungry to get professional.) Now, at around $10 each for dinner, you can't exactly call this a value meal, but at least it's all house-made, to use the parlance of the day, and you get both meat and vegetables. The roll the sandwich is served on works well; it stands up to being wetted down with juice but is tender enough to eat easily. It's actually not a roll at all but about a six-inch length of bread made by Gonella bakery (Gonella, the company whose motto is "We bake to differ." I had to work that in somehow, I just love it.) If you have a bottle of Chianti at home, so much the better.I like Manzella's Italian beef quite a lot. However, one of the missions I (and by that I mean Keith and I, although he doesn't know it yet) plan to embark on in the near future is this: Try to find all of the restaurants in C-U that serve the sandwich and do taste test to determine which is the best. So many places make Italian beef that it's going to be a huge endeavor, but we'll try to muddle through somehow. If you have a favorite venue in Champaign for this sandwich, let me know. And then later, I'll let you know if it's the best or not.
Update: In seeking out Champaign's best Italian beef, I am going to limit the contenders to only those establishments that make their own, from scratch, in their kitchens. I will have no truck with the "we buy it and heat it up here" definition of homemade. How will I know whether the beef is made in the restaurants' own kitchens? Why, I'll ask, of course. Yep, there's the problem. I might be lied to (having worked at a restaurant that used canned ravioli whilst proclaiming "all items homemade in our own kitchen!" on the menu, I know that this happens). But I'm going to give it my best shot.
If you feel like making your own, I like Jeff Smith's recipe very much, except that you should use at least twice the amount of oregano he specifies. And a commenter on this post said that he used to work at Buona Beef in Chicago; I found the recipe for their Italian beef on the Roadfood Web site, kindly provided by Joe Buonavolanto, Jr.
Labels: restaurants, weeknight takeout
posted by Lisa at 5:56 AM
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36 Comments:
I absolutely LOVE Manzella's Minestrone! It is the most homemade soup I've ever had in a restaurant. It helps that the restaurant reminds me a lot of my Grandparent's basement, but it still remains amazingly good.
As a teenager in the Chicago suburbs, I worked at a very good Italian beef place (Buona Beef). Some people like Portillo's, but I prefer Buona Beef... it's more flavorful.
Locally, I like the beef at Niro's, but I haven't had the beef at a lot of other places around town. I want to try more places, because good italian beef can be a treat, and there's got to be better than what I've had. I kinda want to try Manzella's now, though those pepperoncinis are definitely not authentic.
Hi Lisa! Your take out food always looks so good. Finding the best beef sandwich is a worthy cause. Wish I were there to help ;)
Zundian, I also love that soup. Sometimes it's better than others, which of course only adds to its homemade charm.
Jason: How interesting that you worked at Buona Beef. I've never been there and will have to try it sometime. I haven't had the Ital. beef at Niro's; I had a Philly steak there once that I thought was very greasy and heavy. However, I will try their Italian beef. Manzella's doesn't put bell peppers in (or on) their beef; I haven't run into any place around here that does, in fact. I like the peppers cooked with the beef, as in the Jeff Smith recipe I use when I make it.
Maryann, good one! Thanks for the desire to be of service. ;)
Oh, lordy, Lisa. I'm more hungry now than when I read your mezedes post.
Italian beef is a family favorite, though I've never made it. I lived mere blocks away from a place called Little Joes, which we thought was better than Buona Beef (in Countryside, of the Chicago burbs.) And when my sister has a party, she buys beef by the pound from Paul's in Westmont (and she's even brought it down here for my own birthday party.)
I might try making my own, but having the right bread is key. The stuff from Chicago (Gonnella, for instance) is the right density and chewyness, plus it soaks up the juice nicely. Locally, I find Niro's too spicy. There used to be a place years ago on Green, Bratworks, that had good beef, but it was very short-lived. He did serve sweet peppers, too.
Did I say I was hungry?
melissa: I like the spicy beef, so that's probably why I've enjoyed Niro's.
As for bread, the secret at Buona Beef (and mine at home when I make it) is trenching and toasting the bread in the oven a little to dry it just a little and give it a little extra crunch.
Mmmm..thanks for the inspiration. Just wolfed down a Manzella's meatball sandwich - also with homemade meatballs.
Anyone know where to get Gonnellas locally? As an Philly expatriot it's the closest thing to a real roll I've seen in a while. (and sorry Lisa, anything with "Philly" in front of it is usually Phake, Phoney,Phooey in my book. I have yet to find a good cheesesteak in town)
Timpone's has a pretty decent Italian Beef sandwich that I've had for lunch. Manzella's looks pretty tasty, too!
Melissa: Little Joe's sounds good. I see that your family is very fond of Italian beef! My biggest problem with making it is that I don't have a meat slicer, so I can't get the slices as thin as I would like them. I went so far as to ask Old Time Meat & Deli if they would slice it for me if I bought the roast there, but because of health regulations, they can't slice it once it's cooked. They've offered to slice it thinly while it's raw and then tie it up again for me; maybe I'll try that sometime. You're right that the bread is key, too. I'll have more to say about that in answer to Richard's comment.
Jason: A little toasting of the bread beforehand sounds like a good idea...
Richard: I've had Manzella's meatball sandwich, too, and I like it. Regarding Gonella bread: I don't know of any place to buy it locally in a store; what I did was call Manzella's, explain that I was making the beef and that I wanted to use their bread and asked them if they would sell me some. And they did! Don't think they'd want to sell a lot of it that way, but they did do it for me. There's absolutely no other bread or rolls I've found in town that works well for these sandwiches. You could try the Gonella Web site; I didn't check it thoroughly, but I think they list retailers, and maybe there is one in this area. And about the cheesesteak: I'd like to go to Philly for one sometime!
Lori: Of course, there's Timpone's. I haven't had an Italian beef there maybe ever, but the one at the Jolly Roger used to be good, and it's the same family, so that will definitely be on my list of ones to try in my quest for the best.
I ate at Manzella's so many times in college. I used to buy their house salad dressing to take home. They would fill up an empty wine bottle with it for $5.00. The key to a great beef is to get it sliced super thin. When the sliced cooked beef hits the spicy jus it tightens up and if it is not thin enough it can be tough to chew. You want it as thin as you can get it without it being shaved so it falls apart. It is hard to get it thin enough without a commercial slicer. At one time you could buy a roast at a grocery, cook it and bring it back and they'd slice it for you. My grocery won't do this anymore.
Lisa, I never saw that recipe in the Trib from Buona Beef. Back in the day the Buona beef in oak park nhad the best beef, so flavorful and spiced just right. I feel that they have changed quite a bit. Not as flavorful as it use to be. I think Portillo's is more consistant. About 2 miles from me is a Portillo's and right across the street is Buona's, you can't hardly get into Portillo's it's always packed! Buona on the other hand is nearly always dead. I think that says a lot!
Love your new pic
Toni, that's a great story about the salad dressing in the wine bottle! I can just see them doing that. And I agree about slicing the beef thinly. I've been tempted many times to buy a slicer so I can do it. It's so sad that stores/butcher shops won't do this anymore.
PIC: Yeah, the number of customers does seem telling. I've never had either Buona's or Portillo's—must make it a point to try them when I get up to Chicago sometime. Thanks, about the photo. The other one was a couple years old, plus I cut my hair recently, so it did not really resemble me anymore!
Hi Lisa - I always love your reviews.
No Italian Beef here in California (that I know of) but it is on my list every time I visit Chicago, along with a hot dog!
Hey! I get there a couple of times :)
Lori Lynn, thank you. And, having grown up in California, I realize that's another reason I had never had Italian beef till I moved out here.
Cynthia, you get to all the good places when you're in Champaign. :)
The best Italian beef? Oh oh - that can quickly become a discussion as complex as the comparison of religions.
My favorite locally was Jolly Roger but since it closed my fave is now the one at Nyro's Gyros. Also they have the *best* fries! ;-)
A great bred to use for home made Italian Beef is the bread from the Great Impasta. I hope Harold gets someone in town to keep selling his bread after he closes this December.
Anon -- Ha! You're right; trying to decide on the best Italian beef is quite the project. Thanks for the tip on Niro's; I'll have to try that one, for sure. I also loved the JR's sandwich. I used to work there, a million years ago, and I ate the Italian beef often. And the bacon-and-onion pizza, but that's another story. Great Impasta bread is a good idea. I do sometimes buy bread from them.
Lisa, I love your take-out suggestions! I really liked my Italian beef at Manzella's and my boyfriend really enjoyed his pesto pizza. I think I may go back again soon! =)
Snowdrop: So glad to hear you enjoyed Manzella's! I must try that pesto pizza; do you know, I don't think I've ever had pizza there. Thanks for the report.
I used to work at Manzella's. My favorite's from the menu? #1 pizza, thick crust only. The thin crust is from the freezer. The thick is house-made. #2 minestrone--again, house made and wonderful with the bread they serve #3 cheese manicotti. yummmm. I didn't eat beef at the time so didn't try the italian beef, but I do know there were MANY regulars who came in for it. Maybe it was one of your posters? Oh, and, yes, the house dressing is amazing. They wouldn't let us make it, but oh did we EAT it. And, yes, they'll sell it by the wine bottle. Enjoy!
Anon, it's great to hear your insider comments, thanks. I'll have to try a pizza; that's one thing I've never had at Manzella's. Don't know that I've had the cannelloni, either; another one for the list! The dressing-in-wine-bottle thing is wonderful.
I grew up in the Chicago burbs and am also on the quest to find a worthy "Chicago beef sandwich". My choice in CU is Windy City on Bradley and Mattis. You can get sweet peppers and/or giardiniera. It takes me back to my childhood. I haven't tried a lot of the places listed here but I do like Niro's gyros beef as a back up.
Anon: You know, I heard that Windy City had great sandwiches a long time ago and then kind of forgot about the place. Thanks for the reminder! I've got to take myself out there and try an Italian beef. I find a lot of Niro's stuff too heavy and greasy, but I don't think I've had an Italian beef there. What do you think is the best in the Chicago area? Having spent my childhood in L.A., I didn't know from Italian beef as a kid.
Thank you everyone for all the wonderful comments! I just wanted to post a correction in response to "anonymous" who used to work for me (not certain who). Our thin crust pizza is homemade and shelved in the walk in cooler not in the freezer. We do offer a thick crust pizza that is shelved in the freezer and is not as popular. Which ever pizza you would choose, I am certain you would enjoy!! Thanks again everyone for choosing Manzella's. Ciao, Ms. Manzella
Ms. Manzella: Thanks for stopping by and leaving your comments. I'll have to try a thin-crust pizza, now!
There are two critical components of a great Italian beef. The bread absolutely has to be of a Gonella sort, and I haven't found any other that measures up to it. You can dunk the whole sandwich into the gravy, and still tell it's bread rather than a pasty substance encasing a pile of beef. The second is to "lard" the beef roast with garlic, slice it thinly when it's done not quite medium, and simmer (never boil) it in the pan juices mixed with spices and water or beef broth, and don't cook it to death. Personally, I like the whole sandwich "dipped" and dressed with giardiniera in oil (no pepperoncini, please). I have had so many beefs in C-U that were dry, or over spiced or under spiced. I really haven't found one that nearly measures up to Chicago's Al's or Mr. Beef. Sort of like trying to find a decent cheesesteak outside of Philly.
JM, thanks for the comments. I heartily agree about the bread; the Gonella brand that I bought from Manzella's (thanks again, Manzella's!) was perfect and is the only bread in town that I think works. I also agree about cooking the beef; it sounds like we make ours very much the same way! I've never had a beef with the giardiniera on it, but you can bet I'm doing it that way next time I make it at home.
I grew up near Mattoon and had never had "Chicago style" Italian beef. We had come up with our own recipe. My husband took me to Buona Beef (before I had made mine for him)and dared me to try and make it. Here is what I came up with that satisfies his cravings (I only added one ingredient): Warning! I cook by look and smell!
Thin or shaved rump roast (uncooked)3 lbs or so.
Thinly sliced spanish onion
3 or 4 ribs of celery, sliced
One jar of sweet sliced banana peppers with liquid
One jar of sport peppers with liquid
One jar of stuffed olives with liquid
Minced garlic
Salt
Pepper
Italian seasoning
Celery seed
Your favorite beer
I build the beef like a lasagna. Layering the onion, celery, peppers and olives, and spices between the layers of beef. I finish it off by pouring the liquid from the peppers and olives over the beef and cover the beef with beer.
Bake until tender, cover and refrigerate. The real treat is after the beef is reheated the next day.
If you try it, let me know what you think!
Diamondfire: Thanks for the recipe! It sounds fantastic. I would love to try it sometime!
I would love the recipe for Manzella's Chunky Tomato Sauce - it is the yummiest sauce I've ever tasted!
Emily, thanks for the request; I'll work on getting the recipe.
Did you ever find the "best" Italian Beef in CU? There used to be a place on University just down from Carle that did it well, but has been gone for years now.
What about Wonderdogs?
It's been a few years since I've had theirs, but at the time I thought it was great.
BTW, you need to lose the picture with the perpperocini's. Definately NOT Chicago-style there. :)
Steph: I'm afraid I've let my quest for the best lapse for a while. Well, actually I had a beef at Timpone's but then didn't get around to reporting on it (it didn't beat Manzella's, which surprised me). I do want to get back on track with this, so look for upcoming posts. I didn't even realize that Wonderdogs had Italian beef! Guess I always focus exclusively on the dogs there. I'll have to check it out.
And btw, you can get giardinera at Manzella's instead of the pepperoncini. ;)
I went to Manzella's last night and got an Italian Beef sandwich for my husband, a cheese pizza for me, and cheese toasted ravioli and cheese garlic bread to share. We were not pleased with anything but the bread. My husband said the italian beef was small and was comparible to Portillo's (in our scale of italian beef, kinda mid-range). As for the pizza, we didn't even finish it, the cheese and sauce were nothing spectacular, but the crust tasted like chewy saltine crackers. The cheese ravioli were on par with the frozen ones we've purchased at the grocery story. I was very discouraged with the quality and especially the price. Way too expensive.
We lived in S.Ohio for 6 years and whenever I was in Chi (& it wasn't Xmas Eve or T-Giving I immediately went to a small local joint for an Italian beef that did not exist where we lived.
Now I've lived in C-U since 1968 with 7 years elsewhere. And we tried Manzella's for the first time this year. We always wetnt to Dom's & never did make it to Buttitta's. So we were pleased to find the down home feekl of manzella's.
We only had pizza the couple times we were there but last time I tried an Italian Sausage sandwich which surprised me since it was a huge patty & not a link. I thought it was good though I was really hoping for some fennel which is my personal authentic gold star item. But it was good. My wife lived the shrimp/sausage pasta in cream sauce.
Will have to try the beef.
TomL, thanks for the comments. In my view, Manzella's Italian beef is the best one in C-U (my 2nd fave is probably Papa Del's version). If you like giardiniera w/it, you can get that at Manzella's (but you have to pay I think 50 cents more).
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