State Lawmaker Unveils Plan To Make Italian Beef The Official Illinois State Sandwich

CHICAGO—What do the violet, cardinal, painted turtle, white-tailed deer, big bluestem, and eastern milksnake have in common? They’re all state symbols of Illinois. Now, quite possibly the Chicago street staple, Italian beef, may soon be joining their ranks.

Rep. Rick Ryan (36th District), of Evergreen Park, unveiled his bill, HB 4669, to make Italian beef the official state sandwich of Illinois last Friday in front of his favorite beef joint, Pop's Italian Beef, at 103rd and Kedzie in Mount Greenwood.

“We have support from Republicans and Democrats, with co-sponsors up and down the state,” Ryan said. “The common denominator is everyone in Illinois loves Italian beef.”

Since word got out about the proposed bill, Ryan said his fellow state lawmakers corner him in the hallway or the state capital rotunda to tell him about their favorite beef joint.

“It’s mandatory that it gets bipartisan support,” the Evergreen Park state lawmaker said. “It’s amazing to me how many people in Illinois love Italian beef.”

Before Italian beef can become the Illinois state sandwich, some are questioning whether the state already has an official sandwich—the Horseshoe—that originated in Springfield. A regional favorite in Central Illinois, the horseshoe is served open-faced on toast with breaded meat and then cheese sauce circled by french fries.

Ryan claims the horseshoe isn’t a real sandwich because it’s open-faced and “you can’t pick it up and eat it with two hands.”

“ChatGPT says it was done in 2006,” Ryan continued. “I’ve been trying to do the research. I can’t find any document that says it is. I do have a colleague who wants to make it the official state open-faced sandwich. It’s an original thing in central Illinois and Springfield. I don’t want to take that away from them.”

Kacie Dancy, the daughter of Pops, said it was about time.

“It’s a privilege, it’s so exciting,” Dancy told Patch. “Obviously I was born into an Italian beef family. It’s a sandwich enjoyed by everybody.

Dancy said Pop’s goes through about 1,000 pounds of beef per week and 1,000 pounds on Christmas Eve at Pop’s 16 Chicago-area locations.

Behind the scenes of Pop's, where the magic happens, Pat Leonard, a Chicago firefighter working on his day off, prepared slabs of roasted beef for the automatic slicer.

His wife, Allison, who runs Pop’s Mount Greenwood location, said she’s actually eaten a horseshoe.

“It’s messy, and that’s coming from someone who makes Italian beef for a living,” she said.

HB 4669 has already been passed unanimously out of committee, and is expected to go before the Illinois General Assembly for a full vote in May. No matter what the outcome, state lawmakers can count on getting some free Italian beef. The Fraternal Order of Police Chicago Lodge has agreed to send a food truck to Springfield and pay for the meat

As for whether Illinoisans will prefer a savory Italian beef or a plate full of glop, if Donna, of Evergreen Park, is any indication, she thinks the horseshoe looks yukky.

“I really like the idea of what they’re doing. It should be Italian beef,” Donna said.