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Chicago Food Tour: Don't Miss These!

EpicureanRd. - Where to go, What to eat

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We spent six days hunting for Chicago's most iconic food — and not every legend lived up to the hype.

This is our honest verdict on the city's most famous bites: the Italian Beef everyone said we HAD to try, the "world-famous" hot dog that left us cold, the pancake spot with a line out the door, and the pizza that beat deep dish at its own game.

📍 What we ate:
🥩 Al's #1 Italian Beef — open since 1938, and it earns every bit of its reputation
🌭 Portillo's Chicago Dog — the most famous name in town... but was it the best bite?
🥞 Wildberry Pancakes — is the Pancake Mecca worth the wait?
🍕 The Pizza Pot Pie at Chicago Pizza & Oven Grinder Co. — the dish that made us question deep dish entirely
🍨 The Original Rainbow Cone — a slice of Chicago nostalgia since 1926

This isn't a highlight reel — it's an honest scorecard of what's actually worth your appetite in one of America's best food cities. Some icons deserved the hype. One surprised us completely. And one legendary name just didn't deliver.

Our Chicago food journey isn't over — next up, we're chasing the viral sensations, the high-end hotspots, and the most hyped-up burger in America.

⏱ Chapters
00:00 – The Hunt for Chicago's Most Iconic Food
00:00 – Al's #1 Italian Beef
00:00 – The Search for the Perfect Chicago Dog
00:00 – Wild Berry Pancakes: The Pancake Mecca
00:00 – The Pizza Pot Pie That Beat Deep Dish
00:00 – The Original Rainbow Cone

#ChicagoFood #FoodTour #ChicagoEats

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All music licensed to us by Epidemic sound.

5 Comments

@rico66hharvey88 3 days ago

Like your video... I'm visiting for first time in December 2026 from Norwich England, like how you give a story with each place you eat.
Just one thing 😬 take your coat off and sit back and relax lol

@titasmom678 3 weeks ago

Hey, Steve and Young. I have wanted to go to Chicago since I studied Hotel & Restaurant Mgmt at UH so I was excited to see what you thought. Thanks for the tips about the Pot pie Pizza and where to get a decent hot dog and Italian Beef sandwich. One day, I'll make it there. Oh and yes, Farrell's was the best!

@ireneadams7114 3 weeks ago

😮😅😊

@bitcrafter 6 days ago

Yeah, that's NOT the original AL's, that's on Taylor Street, about 3 miles from there. And AL's is not the best. You have to go to Elmwood Park, to Johnnie's Beef, if you want the best. AL's is crap. And your Uber driver was right, Portillo's has gone down hill since it's buyout, but it's still a tasty dog. I actually hung out with Portillo's son back in the 80's. The problem with Portillo's now is the service is terrible. When they opened in Addison (Villa Park), they used to stopwatch their employees, order out in under 90 sec. And YES, you get your hotdog the way YOU like it, don't buy into the NO KETCHUP BS. You'd have been better at Lou Mitchells for breakfast. Another institution. Regarding the SVDM, more exactly, the building across the street, and to the right, with the four black granite pillars outside, it's the empty grass yard is where the garage stood. If you look on the north wall of that building, you can still see the tar roofline of the old garage where it happened. The last building on the east side of the street is where the attackers supposedly held out, waiting for perpetrate the massacre.