Big Willy's Italian Beef Grand Rapids Mi

• 1450 Wealthy Street SE
• Thou Rapids, MI 49506
• (616) 288-5824
• Website
• Menu

I don't spend much time in Grand Rapids anymore since my company opened an office in Kalamazoo.  I, of course, don't miss the drive everyday only there are some things I do miss about not going to One thousand Rapids.

I miss the lonely time in the motorcar where I could only skid in my earbuds and listen to a podcast.  My phone memory is perpetually full because I know have podcasts waiting for me to discover time to heed to.

I also miss finding new restaurants.  If you haven't noticed from this blog, I like to eat out and I like to track downwardly as many new places as possible.

I of those places I've missed out on is Big Willy's Italian Beef.  I've gone on and on and on about my love of the classic Chicago sandwich and my quest for places upwardly here in Michigan that try their hand and bringing the sandwich hither.  I had been looking frontwards to getting back to Grand Rapids e'er since I heard about this place opening.

Big Willy's Italian Beefiness is located in Chiliad Rapid's Eastown Neighborhood.  It's right on the corner of Wealthy Street and Ethel Artery on the Southeast Side near the Lake and Wealthy intersection.  The building had been home to the Pita House for many years.  The building has undergone some clean upwardly and a new coat of paint on the exterior.

Parking for Big Willy'southward is mostly street parking just there is a nearby municipal lot besides.  I was lucky enough to find a spot right in front on the Thursday afternoon I stopped in for lunch.

Large Willy's is an lodge counter eating house with enough of seating inside for a large crowd.  The order counter is in the back of the space correct in forepart of the kitchen.  I of their big claims is that they don't accept any freezers in the kitchen so all of the food is made fresh.  At that place'south likewise a Vienna Beef sign hanging in the window to boot up their "Chicago-manner" authenticity.

I was never within The Pita House, but just from the looks of things, it appears a major renovation happened when Big Willy's moved in.  The floors are new shiny laminate and the night colour scheme from the extrior of the building is carried over inside with a lot of black and grey.  There'southward a large drink cooler congenital in to the wall but in that location isn't much in it.  Near of the drinks come out of a Coke fountain auto behind the counter.

I put in an lodge for an Italian beef combo and an order of fries.  Philharmonic in this case doesn't mean a combination meal.  In Chicago sandwich joints, a "combo" is an Italian beef sandwich with an Italian sausage.  I ordered my sandwich dipped with hot peppers and had the grilled peppers that come with the sandwich left off.  The sandwich fries cost me only nether $fifteen.

It took near 5 minutes or so for my number to be called.  I grabbed the pocketbook that was already wet from the gravy and grease soaking through the double wrapped sandwich.

The fries were the get-go matter I dug in to when I got in the car.  The hand cut chips remind me of the chips from Al'due south Beefiness….which is one of the big reasons I prefer going to Al'south over other sandwich places.  The chips are gold brown and crispy on the exterior, simply soft and flaky on the inside.  They retain some grease which helps the salt really stick to them.  They're not the healthiest chips you'll ever shove in your oral fissure, just they are dang tasty.

I had to wait until I got back to the office to fifty-fifty attempt the sandwich.  When I unwrapped it, I knew I had a sandwich that was going to be close to what yous get in Chicago.  The bun is a flaky, layered hoagie scroll with air pockets to soak upwardly the gravy.  The meat was thinly sliced and shiny from the juice.  The giardiniera is a expert mix of celery, carrots. jalapenos, olives, and cauliflower.  The sausage was perfectly charred and surrounded past a small-scale pool of gravy and meat.  All of those flavors gelled perfectly with the grill taste of the sausage coming through the spiciness from the combination of the sausage and the peppers.  The sandwich was delicious but really could benefit from a lot more than oregano being added to the au jus.  The meat was tender, the peppers, were spicy, the sausage was charred….a trivial more spice in the gravy and this sandwich is perfect.

My waistline is and then lucky Big Willy'south Italian Beefiness didn't exist when I worked in Thou Rapids.  This is as close to an authentic Chicago-style Italian beef I've had outside of the city in quite some time.

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Source: https://swmichigandining.com/2017/09/16/big-willys-italian-beef/

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