Windy City Beef

I only went once, thought it was extremely salty, not that tasty. Wasn’t surprised when they closed down. The owner was really nice, I had to wait for things to be heated up and he gave me a free soda.
I suppose if you’re from Chicago you have a taste for the sandwich but I just couldn’t get into it and I really wanted to. I enjoy most sandwiches and just didn’t find the beef all that tasty.

CLOSED!!!
Wow, that didn’t take long. Heard they had a family emergency or something like that:
5 stars– For the product
1 star– For their ‘reliability’

It’s cash only, and they have an ATM machine in the store that charges $ 1.95 transaction fee. THEY DISCOUNTED THE FEE FROM MY ORDER! It was magnificent, it was as if they knew I would hate to pay that fee! The food was good and manly, no sissy stuff here. Heavy salty greasy pastrami with yellow mustard and pickles on a toasted roll with sweet creamy cole slaw on the side. DEE-​LISH!

Things I have learned on Unilocal!:
1-​Yelp! reviews aren’t the Bible.
2-​People too often review their distaste for the food item, not the food served.
3-​Northern California Unilocal’ers can’t appreciate hole in the wall appeal.
My Brother Edward told me about this spot that just opened on the corner of San Pablo and Solano in Albany. Being the food explorer that I am, I took it upon myself to try it out. Street parking is street parking, you take what you can get, and for the most part, it’s not too bad to come by. Great name, «Windy City Beef.»
Experience:
I found street parking in front of the BevMo! and walked in to the wonderful aromas of cooking meat. The owner, David, greeted me and explained the menu options. I ordered a #1, (Chicago style) Italian Beef sandwich, which consists of thinly sliced roast beef, giadiniera (Italian relish), on a toasted Amoroso roll w/​au jus. The greatest part about this sandwich, is it is soaked in the au jus when served (In Chicago, they actually dip the entire sandwich). I also ordered a standard French dip which was pretty much the same sans the giardinera. I wanted to taste the quality of the cook w/​o the relish. David engaged me in conversation while he prepared my sandwich. He packed up a side of giardinera as well as a small cup of au jus, and I was on my way. Great service.
Food review:
The bread was toasty, not hard; the meat flavorful and tender. Some have said the meat was dry, but mine was quite juicy and succulent. The giardiniera was do die for. Being that it he uses «Il Primo», it made sense it was that good. Upon first bite, I was in love. The combination of a toasty yet soft au jus dipped roll filled with thinly sliced beef and spicy giardiniera was absolutely perfect. It tasted like the one I had in Chicago this past November. Was it salty? Yes it was. Just as it needed to be. The French dip was also enjoyable as I was able to enjoy the savory flavors of the well marinated roast beef. Great all around product.
Critique:
I do wish they had fries or something, just because I like eating them with hot sandwiches. A soda fountain would also be a great addition. All in all, it was great.
Other:
I hate how people say that the sandwich was «too salty.» It’s a Chicago style Italian Beef, what did you expect? This isn’t your momma’s roast beef (unless your Italian). The giardiniera is perfect and fulfills its need. And no, It is not too expensive. If you want a cheap, go across the street to Subway. They have roast beef there too, but not this roast beef. I hate how people complain that it is a «cash-​only» business. Bay-​Area dwellers are such Yuppies. Back when I lived on the East Coast, my favorite sandwich and pizza spots were cash-​only. It’s unfortunate that people here in NorCal can’t appreciate a good old fashioned hole in the wall.
Conclusion:
If you want a bland roast beef sandwich, don’t come here. If you want a taste of Chicago, this is your place. As a matter of fact, I went here yesterday for lunch, and I’ll probably be going there today.

Really this is a 2 star review. But being a new business and Unilocal ratings being crucial for a business’s success I went easy on them.
First of all it’s cash only which I understand, but no bathrooms for the patrons is a real deal breaker. I walk past this place with my daughter from school and if we are going to sit down and eat we need a bathroom to use or wash up. Also there is no kitchen of any kind in here. Everything is in steam trays. No actual cooking is done in here. Peppers are from a jar, rolls are shipped in. The meat taste like it’s just reheated in water in one of the steam trays.
Sandwich is just ok. Beef needs flavoring and less water. Bun was completely soaked and soggy by water, not from tender juicy beef. Jarred peppers we’re basic. Who cares if they’re from Chicago there is nothing special about them. Rolls are standard fare as is the cheese. Price is a bit high being almost 10 bucks with chips. The sandwich either needs to be bigger or at the least include chips with the sandwich. A Chicago sandwich shouldn’t leave you hungry.
Lose the cheesy Wal Mart type gangster posters. Open up the bathrooms to your patrons. Add a kitchen of some sort so your customers can see actual cooking going on and I’ll be back. They are certainly worth checking out.

Try the italian beef sandwich. no garnish! no cheese! just make sure there’s plenty of Au Jus (it’s not really gravy)
The pepper mixture (giar-​something) made it too spicy for my pallate and overpowered the fantastic flavor of the extra lean beef. That said, you will be hooked.
They’re currently open til 6 Monday thru Saturday but they don’t know the area and understand the foot traffic pattern yet.
Their hours will change once the find their business pace. The owners are really nice but the business is brand new and still a bit overwhelming for them. Be sure to try it soon so they understand what an awesome product they’re providing to the east bay food climate.
The italian roast beef sandwich may be $ 7 dollars but it’s a lott cheaper than catching a flight to Chi-​Town. This sandwich will make my people proud

2.5 stars… being generous.
When you arrive at the NW corner of SP+S, you will first spot the sign FOUR CORNERS CAFE… not having removed the sign, can get a bit confusing. The identification is eye-​level on the window that you have indeed arrived to a Chicago eatery shop, though the space could def use a keener eye and a bit of a designer’s admonitions!
The couple — and only other ones in there during dinner time last night — were quite amiable and explained their menu, their biz idea, etc…
I ordered the first thing listed on their menu… hot beef with gravy, which ran $ 7. Cash only.
The sandwich — bit lacking for me. Though plenty of gravy/​au jus, still could not mask the fact that the beef was indeed overcooked and beginning to border on dry. Furthermore, salty… not crazily oversalted, but that it was also could not escape me.
Altogether, with under-​par beef texture, the salt, and the sog of the enriched bleached no-​integrity white bun, the entire experience was somewhat underwhelming for me.
I’m glad that I went out and tried it… don’t think I can be convinced for a repeat visit, however. Even despite selling East Coast Tastykake treats…
Sparse display case… I do wish them the best of luck… that real estate spot seems a bit jinxed, if you ask me =(

This location seems to change hands every few months, so I really hope these folks are able to make their venture work. The menu is pretty limited, but that’s ok. They make some awesome beef sandwiches. They’re juicy, almost hard to eat without a knife and fork, but I managed just fine. As others have mentioned, they are CASH ONLY, so be prepared. But the food is tasty! And there isnt anything else like it around. You’ll enjoy!

Pretty spare, not a welcoming space. We haven’t been in this space since it was the late, lamented Café Ste. Honoré. The furniture looks as if it’s left from that incarnation. Inside there were three tables w/​chairs and outside there were two. It was very cold today, albeit sunny, and having the front door open added to the discomfort. There are a few Chicago sports jerseys, a battered Illinois license plate and some drawings of gangsters decorating the walls. It feels like a work in process.
We ordered Chicago dogs and got a couple of bags of chips and a container of coleslaw. The hot dogs were good, w/​that neon green relish you see only in Chicago hot dog places. I liked mine. Alan didn’t care for his that much, although I’m not clear why. The chips were chips and the coleslaw was homemade. It was good, not great. Counter staff were friendly. It’s cash only. Prices are reasonable. There’s little to draw us back unless we get a Chicago hot dog hankering. Too many other, more interesting options in the area.

Us 2 oldsters and our teen grandson give the dogs 5stars! they are «the real thing». Just like Chicago! The Chicago dog comes with ‘the works’: hot sport peppers, bright green sweet relilsh, dill pickle spear, tomatoes, celery salt, and a poppyseed bun. the Vienna dog was snappy!
The décor is very plain tho… the proprietor is fantastic & entertaining!
It’s our new favorite hot dog lover’s place!

Italian beef sandwiches are hard to come by in the Bay Area, so I was extremely happy to see this place open. The italian beef sandwiches are great, exactly like what you get in Chicago. Also the décor is exactly what you would find in an italian beef shop in Chicago. This place is awesome. The couple who run the place are very nice.
For those complaining about the price… is $ 7 expensive for a sandwich? Seems pretty standard to me. This isn’t a gross Subway shop!!!

While the atmosphere leaves much to be desired, the staff was very nice. The food is good. It’s not anything fancy, but it is good hot dogs. The Chicago dog was tasty. I could have eaten two, but at $ 4 each, I only ate one. The food prep time was very inconsistent. Our friends got their dogs super fast, while ours took 20 minutes for two dogs. Still, it was good. So, 3 stars.

*** CASH ONLY ***
Three little 2-​top tables in this bright former coffee house /​café. It’s either open or in need of furniture. Some Godfather and Chicago gangster pictures adorn the walls.
Simple menu:
— $ 7 Beef sandwiches (Italian Beef or Beef & Gravy) +$ 1 for cheese (Mozzarella or Provolone)
— Variety of hotdog offerings including a Chicago Dog ($ 4).
— A few side dishes and desserts like banana pudding with Nila wafers and Tastycakes
I went with the basic Italian Beef (which is like a French Dip but the meat cooked with Italian seasonings) and asked for the Hot peppers. Usually there’s a choice of sweet or hot peppers (giardiniera), but here there’s only hot, but you can choose Mild, Hot, or X-​Hot versions. The beef sandwiches are served on Amoroso rolls which I thought are more of a Philly thing, but who’s keeping track? ;-)
Decently stuffed with thinly sliced beef & giardiniera and coated in the juices (
). I found it tasty, but a little on the salty side. Also, the roll wasn’t quite up to the task, splitting open and dumping the fillings halfway through. Grab lots of napkins because it’s messy.
It might have been my lack of cheese, but I was still a little hungry after polishing it off.
So I ordered a Chicago Dog (
)
Authentic ingredients with a Vienna Beef dog & poppy seed bun along with the requisite neon green relish, yellow mustard, chopped onions, tomato wedges, pickle spear, sport peppers, and celery salt.
Everything was fresh and came together nicely. The contrast of soft juicy tomato and crunchy pickle are my favorite parts of a Chicago dog and this delivered along with a nice dog.
Italian Beef: 3.5 stars
Chicago Dog: 5 stars
I was thinking of deducting a star for value, but after seeing the 1-​star review based mainly on price, I’m going to stick with the 4 stars.
They’re going to have to work for it, though, with a Subway in sight sporting a huge «$ 5 For Any Footlong» banner dangling on the side.

For a new business in a good location, I walked in expecting the best and got kind of a «really?» feel. No real menu unless you call pinned up xerox paper with more grammatical and punctuation errors than I’d like to have counted, mixed with sky high prices. I mean, $ 7 for thin beef on a roll with a generic gravy? If I was more of a snob I would have just walked out. Mix that with one scoop of macaroni salad and yippie skip you have yourself a $ 10 lunch without a drink… that probably wont fill you up. Add a drink to that bad boy combo and you could well have a $ 12 plus tax lunch. Oh, and I almost forgot, leave your credit cards at home because this place is CASH ONLY. Get with the times, this isn’t 1912, people use credit cards for everything.
I mean I’m not trying to be harsh, lets think about it for a second, this is commoner food, you aren’t serving gourmet sushi. You are serving blue collar meat sandwiches that are supposed to be hearty and filling for cheap. Your business is located in the middle of about 200 mechanics… figure it out fast, cause I know I won’t be back until either the prices drop or the food improves to the par of any other $ 7 meal I can get within a hundred feet of your door, and to be honest, I’m not going to recommend this place to any of my co-​workers, at one of your biggest neighbor businesses.

My wife is from Chicago and I’ve eaten this stuff many times in the Chi-​town itself. Windy City Beef is the real deal and the folks that run it are wonderful. They said they’re working on getting the authentic italian sausage, so they will soon have combos too. When they do, a super nova of tastiness will form and explode Albany.

YUM! one star off for the gravy being a tad on the salty side, but the friendly service and yummy sandwiches make up for it! Came here w the fam and ordered the plain hot dogs (4), beef dip w jairdinere, and the beef and gravy sandwich. Super duper happy to see a different type of restaurant in the neighborhood which is already laden w indian, thai and asian restaurants! Don’t get me wrong, i love those cuisines too!
The owner and his wife were so nice. they let us try the chili and YUM! I love chili and would happily go back for the chili dog and chili tamale. I can’t wait. I think they need to sell chili on Fritos, chili fries and maybe cole slaw, but it’s their fourth (third?) day of operation, we’ll give them some time!

I was a little sad to see Four Corners go, but the new tenant more than makes up for it. My partner in crime is from St. Louis, and he was immediately taken by the chili and beef sandwich. I was so-​so until the owner mentioned that he gets his beef from Phillipes! (
). For the uninitiated, Philippe’s is the gold star for French dip sandwichs in at least the US. I’ve never seen them without a giant line snaking out the door. I almost hesitate to Unilocal this because i’m liking the thought of being able to get a sandwich that reminds me of LA at its finest a mere quarter mile from my house. Let’s try to keep a secret, guys!

SIGN IN WINDOW SAYS CLOSED FOR REPAIRS. Not a good thing for a place that’s been open a scant few weeks! (04÷08÷11)
(orig. review) Located at the corner of San Pablo and Solano Avenues, in Albany, today was Windy City’s first day of business. I’m always interested in giving a new place a try. Was out walking during a power outage and saw the Now Open signs. Tucked my head in and they would be open shortly, once the power outage in the neighborhood was fixed.
Came back later and there were a half dozen people in there already! Aroma wafting through the air was great. The menu is pretty small right now. Two sandwiches, a traditional au jous beef sandwich and one that had some type of cheesyness to it. They also offer hot dogs too. Tried the traditional sandwich. This is the first time I’ve ever had a sandwich like this before so don’t have anything to compare it to. The bread was saturated with the beef sauce. It was spicy and loaded with a traditional Chicago condiment whose name escapes me right now (Giardinetto???)
For me it was a bit salty. Again, I don’t know if that was the condiments talking or if it’s just made that way. Will definitely go back and try it again, especially the cheesy one as I like a good Philly Cheese Steak.
They also had a pasta salad, which tasted great and something that looked like a pudding with sugar cookies in it, which I didn’t try. Honestly, don’t remember what the drink menu was. Probably sodas, but not sure.
The workers are friendly and love talking about their sandwiches. Wish them all the luck in the World as they’re right across from Subway. Granted, it’s a different type of sandwich, but their pricing is $ 7 – 8 for a 7″ sandwich.