Fib’s Fine Italian Beef & Sausage

This is one of my favorite places to stop at the farmers market. Try a hot beef sandwich with hot peppers!

My first Madison food cart experience and it was delicious. I had the Philly «Balboa» and it was really good. Served on one of the better buns/​rolls I have ever had. Fair priced combo with chips and soda for less than$ 10. Strongly recommend.

Man oh man was it good. I ordered an Italian beef w cheese for $ 8. It was a worthy experience. Chewy bread. Juicy flavorful meat. Spicy peppers. Get one asap.

Good food they just started offering soda and chips as part of the purchase of a hotdog which is nice but they need to mention that to people and ask what they want. I wasn’t aware of that and bought a chili dog on my birthday and walked away empty handed. Little disappointed but hot dog was good. Other items kind of get pricey 8 or 9.00 for a sandwich is a bit much

After a recent jaunt to Chicago and a first introduction to Portillo’s Italian Beef sandwich, I’ve been determined to find an italian beef sandwich in Madison to fulfill my new and frequent cravings.
Apparently this place has da beef, so I marched my way to this stand and ordered the italian beef sandwich with hot peppers and dipped, Chicago style. After he made it for me, he showed it to me to make sure there were enough peppers. Eeeek! Instant drool. I practically ran back home to eat it in the comfort of my home because there would be beef a-​flying.
I tore it out of it’s box and threw it on a plate that was admittedly too small for it and I began to gorge myself. It was absolutely fantastic. The beef was top quality. I never got a weird chewy bit. The bun (from Gonnella’s) was so delicious. The Au jus soaked the inside but the the outside stayed together. You had to really bite in to get a bite because the roll had such amazing chew. And the Au jus! Lord help me! It soaked into the bun and dripped all over.
Now, everyone is going to ask: is it better than Portillo’s?! Different experience, my friends. The meat was certainly better. I got a few ultra chewy pieces (and not in a pleasant way) at Portillo’s, but this FIB’s beef melted in my mouth. I actually preferred FIB’s bun, too. But shhh!!! I will certainly eat both without complaining.

I think that FIB’s Italian combo (a spicy Italian sausage topped with roast beef, provolone, and peppers) is my favorite thing to eat in Madison. It probably has about 20,000 calories, but it’s beyond amazing. The guy who runs the stand is extremely friendly. Service is fast and they always make a point of opening the container before giving it to you to make sure the order is right. I highly recommend this cart.

Move along, move along. Nothing to see here.
I was really excited to try Fib’s after learning all about the backstory behind the food cart’s name, but I was not at all impressed by the ‘Milwaukee Dog’ that I ordered. Maybe I just ordered the wrong thing? But for a food cart that specializes in only sandwiches and hot dogs, you would think that they would serve only the finest of the items they have on their menu. Then again, maybe I should have stuck with the Italian beef sandwich that everyone is raving about on Unilocal.
The ‘pure beef vienna hot dog’ could have easily been an Oscar Mayer’s beef frank. I honestly couldn’t tell the difference. As for the ‘poppy seed bun’, I don’t remember seeing any poppy seeds on my bun… it was just a regular white bun that could have been picked up from any old grocery store. They were generous with the mustard and sauerkraut though. that is for sure.
Oh well, for a mere $ 3.75/hotdog, I’ll just file this away into the abyss of my Unilocal ‘tried and reviewed’ list.

Oh hey Fib’s!
Not certain why it took me nearly two years to try a cart I was destined to adore simply by it’s name (it’s true, it’s true… yours truly is a FIB) but I’m sure glad it’s out Saturday’s on the square because I was haaaaangry (angry hungry) and didn’t want to sit down somewhere.
The wait was a touch on the long side for what seemed like little to no line, but that didn’t matter once I sunk my teeth into the tender, authentic, Chicago style Italian beef. It’s not quite on par with Portillo’s (the undisputed king of Italian beef sammies in the city), but it’s pretty damn tasty! They were nice enough to send me with some gravy so I could dip, but the sandwich itself is pretty wet.
I look forward to exploring more of the menu, pretty extensive when you consider the amount of space they’re working with!

Nobody in the country knows better about Italian beef than Chicagoans. And I’m one myself! The guy who runs FIBS is also from Chicago, & he knows what Italian beef SHOULD taste like. This Chicago themed cart, FIBS brings the true taste of Chicago to Madison. You won’t find a better Italian beef sandwich anywhere in Madison!

Update 8÷13÷2014
My wife met me for lunch to get some food cart eats and we both ended up here. We both agreed this was the best Italian beef we’ve had. Awesome.
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I work in Sun Prairie and live in the Milwaukee area, so I recently discovered the food cart scene in Madison and was impressed.
I had just been talking to someone about Italian Beef the evening before, so this seemed like a good start.
Nobody else was in line, not sure why that was, about 11:30 AM, maybe a little early for lunch yet, but the gentleman politely asked what I would like and I ordered the Italian Beef with cheese – he asked if I wanted mild or hot peppers on it and I said HOT, after all it’s an Italian beef, right?
I also added a Diet coke – they had different flavors of Pelegrino and normal cans of soda.
Stood back to wait, looked around (after all, this is new to me), and heard, «Dave, here’s you Diet Coke». Well no mistaking that, nice to hear proper communication rather than just setting it out and assuming I was watching.
A minute later, «Dave here’s your Italian Beef and cheese with hot peppers», in a nicely contained Styrofoam container that would save me from getting it all over myself.
I looked around, walked past a group of homeless folks, and picked a bench and started eating. It was almost melt-​in-​the-​mouth, and I’ve had a LOT of Italian beef – this was awesome. Peppers were hot too.
The roll was on the tougher side which is appreciate because it is a moist and dripping meat, so it held up awesome.
One of the best Italian Beef’s I’ve had. Easily.
Will be back, and highly recommend.

When I’m feelin’ homesick, & can’t get back t’ Chicago, I call inna-​my jaab n’ say I’m not feeelin’ so well. I sleep in, watch a lil’ Dennehy, n’ den quarter t’ twelve, I make my way to daaaaa Square, & den I go get my lunch from dis guy. He knows what he’s doin’, & he do it well. All youse guys need to eat here!

This cleverly named little food cart just started setting up a few days a week on John Q Hammonds Drive in our office park in Middleton (well, maybe the cart’s in Madison city limits, but Hammonds is a short road, so if it’s there you’ll find it).
While «FIBS» is a pejorative used by Wisconsinites to describe Illinois tourists, it’s used by the owners to describe their fine Italian beef and sausage. They clearly have a sense of humor and a keen sense of what makes an incredible beef sandwich. All the sandwiches and sausages are named after famous Chicago natives and the cart is plastered with photos of the entertainment and sports legends the city has produced.
I had the «Tony Bennett» beef sandwich. It was dipped in a «gravy» (basically an au jus), topped with the sweet and hot peppers I ordered, and served on a perfect, fresh Italian role with a crispy crust and a chewy inside that absorbed the gravy with perfection. The sandwich was priced fairly and perfectly sized for lunch, but when it was gone I wanted more. More. More. I wanted to eat 10 more.
Next time I’ll try a different sandwich just for fun, but I will go back to the Tony Bennett many more times. More. More.

They have changed their signs to advertise their current time of operation in McFarland from 11 – 2! Thank you! I had the Italian Beef, it was good!

By far one of the best hot dogs in Madison. Too bad they’re not open late. Terrific spot for a noon time lunch during the week