Western Pa. dishes out Italian beef sandwiches featured on 'The Bear'

Italian beef sandwiches are having a national moment thanks to FX’s restaurant-themed television “The Bear.”

The sandwiches featured on the popular series starring Jeremy Allen White as a chef are a staple of the Chicago area. The juicy, slow-cooked beef sandwiches topped with peppers are also popular at some Allegheny and Westmoreland County restaurants.

But, restaurant and shop owners in Western Pennsylvania say these beloved sandwiches are nothing new to the region as they already have a loyal customer base.

“Before us, no one around here knew about the Italian beef,” said Lee Yovanof, owner of Yovi’s food truck in Pittsburgh. A Chicago native, Yovanof has been slinging the sandwiches since opening his first Pittsburgh shop in 1987. He had two brick-and-mortar restaurants before going all food truck in 2019.

“A lot of my customers are now telling me to watch ‘The Bear,’” said Yovanof. “It’s kind of neat the sandwiches are gaining recognition.”

A core element of the show is the Italian beef sandwich, and “The Bear” and its favored sandwich that has its claws into New York City, Los Angeles, Houston and Chicago.

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At the Parkwood Inn in Greensburg, Italian beef sandwiches have been served since 1995, but owners said they are not inspired by Chicago, and are prepared differently than the Midwestern favorite.

Nick Wast, the general manager and co-owner of Parkwood, said the restaurant’s Italian beef recipe comes from his grandmother. She would slow cook beef and pork in a red sauce, and then save the meat for sandwiches the next day.

“We saved the meat from the sauce mostly because the beef and the pork in the pot was really good,” said Wast.

He said Parkwood’s Italian beef is a popular item, selling about six containers a week, but they haven’t seen any noticeable changes in sales because of the popular TV show.

Roasted, razor-thin slices of chuck meat are towered up on a soft bed of French bread, followed by Giardiniera and a shower of the meat’s own juices. The sandwich is then dunked into jus and soaked to the bone.

For any Chicago sandwich lover, Yovi’s is considered a local staple.

According to Yovanof, the Italian beef is one of the best-selling items on the menu, second only to its Chicago hot dog. The sandwich is heavily sought out now, but it was always immensely popular. As such, any difference created by “The Bear” is undetectable.

Yovanof still remembers the first Pittsburgh customer who bought an Italian beef sandwich from him in 1987. He called back to complain about it not having lettuce.

“I said, ‘You know, it’s supposed to be served without lettuce,’” Yovanof said. “Pittsburghers weren’t used to it. Now, many of them love it.”

In Pittsburgh’s North Side neighborhood, Flavors Famous Street Food serves everything from gyros to Jim Shoe Hoagies to Polish hotdogs and, of course, Italian beef sandwiches.

Owner Curtis Drane, also a Chicago born-and-raised, calls Flavors Famous “Pittsburgh’s first and only Chicago street food style restaurant.”

In the past three months, Flavors Famous Street Food has witnessed a doubling in Italian beef sandwich sales, from selling 15 a day to 30.

However, more so than “The Bear,” Drane, who said he had never heard of the show, attributed the sandwich’s success to his intense advertising through Food Network, BET and roadside billboards.

Italian beef lovers reside in Wexford, too, and they have made their presence known at Zuppa’s Delicatessen.

Restaurant owner Michael Kyle attributed the recent bump in Italian beef sales, about a 10 to 15% increase, to the show.

However, because the sandwich has only been on Zuppa’s menu for three months it is difficult to discern the proper cause for the Italian beef’s rise in popularity, Kyle said.

Arlington Market in Jeannette also serves Italian beef sandwiches. Owner Robert Berkepile told the Tribune-Review that the sandwiches have always been popular, but he hasn’t noticed a difference in sales of the sandwiches this summer.

Berkepile said he’s been making Italian beef since the market opened about 30 years ago, and his recipe, which he keeps a secret, isn’t inspired by Chicago or any TV show.

The market on Jeannette’s east side has been busy since the pandemic hit, and the Italian beef remains a popular item, especially for catering orders, but the “The Bear” fans haven’t yet descended onto Arlington Market.

Wast said if cravings for Italian beef sandwiches increase around the region, that Parkwood Inn would love to serve customers their family-inspired version.