HAZEL PARK, MI - His family is Italian and he’s from Chicago. Now he’s brought his homemade Chicago-style Italian beef sandwich family recipe to Metro Detroit. We tried the food at Matt & Mo’s Italian Beef in Hazel Park to see if it’s as good as a place we crave when we go to Chicago, Portillo’s.
The food stand is located inside Doug’s Delight Ice Cream Shop at 24110 John R. Road. Owners Matt and Mo Marzullo said they wanted to bring the family recipe to Metro Detroit because there are not very many places you can find authentic Chicago-Style Italian beef in the area.
“I’m originally from here. I met Matt when I moved to Chicago. We wanted to move back here because I wanted to be close to my family,” Mo Marzullo told MLive. “We came up with the idea to do Italian Beef because it really doesn’t exist around here. We started our food truck and drove it all over Southeast Michigan to spread the word. Our goal was always to have a food stand and that’s where we are now.”
RELATED: Portillo’s to open its first Michigan location
Making their homemade, authentic Italian beef is quite the process. It takes two days per batch. As Matt Marzullo jokingly put it, it’s a pain in the you-know-what.
“We start with an au jus for the base. Then we add more than a dozen spices. We put the top round into a pan and sear it for an hour with garlic and other spices. Once we bring the au jus to a boil, we pour it into the pans and roast the beef for five hours. Then we strain the au jus, which we now call liquid gold. Then it all cools for 24 hours. The next day we warm the beef up, trim off all the fat and slice it paper thin. We then warm back up the au jus and pour it back in there, and that’s how we make it.”
If you want to sound like an authentic Italian from Chicago, tell them “I’ll take a beef hot sweet dipped” when you order. That is an Italian beef sandwich with hot Giardiniera peppers and sweet sautéed green bell peppers. The sandwich is then dipped, or submerged into the au jus. It takes the perfect type of bread to withstand a proper dipping.
“We do get the bread from Turano Baking Company in Chicago,” said Matt Marzullo. “It’s a high gluten bread so it can withstand the juice when you dip it. A lot of people tell us that they don’t want wet bread. I don’t either. This bread is made to hold together. It’s really just great.”
So, how does the Italian beef here compare to one of my favorite places, Portillo’s? I can’t believe I’m about to say this in writing because I enjoy Portillo’s Italian beef sandwiches so much, but the flavor of Matt and Mo’s was absolutely terrific. Dare I say that I enjoyed it a little more than Portillo’s?
THE MENU
Along with Italian beef sandwiches ($10.50), Matt and Mo’s serves Italian sausage sandwiches ($7.50), a combo sandwich of Italian beef and Italian sausage ($12.50), a Caprese sandwich $9.50, regular fries or Sriracha and 1,000 Island fries ($3.50 + $1.50 for cheese), toasted four cheese ravioli ($6.50), Chicago hot dog ($5) and a Coney dog ($3.50).
Doug’s Delight Ice Cream Shop serves Guernsey ice cream in its scoops, shakes and “Dougie’s.” There’s also soft-serve, slushies, Boston Coolers, sundaes, banana splits, cookie sandwiches and more.
HOURS
- Wed., 4 p.m. – 9 p.m. (Food closes at 8, ice cream open ‘till 9)
- Thurs. - Sun., Noon – 9 p.m. (Food closes at 8, ice cream open ‘till 9)
- Monday & Tuesday, Closed
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The Link LonkJuly 15, 2020 at 07:18PM
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Chicago couple brings authentic Italian beef sandwiches to Metro Detroit food stand - MLive.com
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