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National Italian Beef Day

Food · The fourth Saturday in May

A day for the Italian beef sandwich: thin-sliced roast beef, warm gravy and peppers on a long roll, a Chicago lunch-counter classic.

National Italian Beef Day falls on Saturday, May 22, 2027. That is 207 days away.

The Italian beef is a sandwich built around roast beef sliced so thin it nearly falls apart. The meat soaks in a seasoned, garlicky broth called gravy or jus, then gets piled onto a long Italian roll. It is closely tied to Chicago, where stands and counters have served it for generations. The day falls on the fourth Saturday in May.

Ordering one comes with its own vocabulary. "Dry" means the meat is lifted out of the gravy and left to drip. "Wet" adds a spoonful of gravy over the top. "Dipped" means the whole sandwich takes a quick plunge into the pan, roll and all. Toppings usually come down to sweet roasted green peppers, hot giardiniera (a mix of pickled vegetables in oil), or both.

A dipped beef is not a tidy meal. Regulars often eat it standing at a counter, elbows out, leaning forward so the drips land on the paper and not on their shirt. The roll matters more than it looks. It has to be sturdy enough to hold together after a soak, which is why soft sandwich bread rarely makes the cut.

At home, people make it with a slow-roasted beef, sliced very thin once it cools, then warmed back up in the seasoned broth. Some keep a pot of gravy on the stove so everyone can dip to their own taste. A jar of giardiniera in the fridge turns leftover roast beef into something close to the real thing.

Ways to celebrate

• Try an Italian beef from a local sandwich shop or counter.
• Order it dipped once, with extra napkins nearby.
• Roast beef at home and slice it as thin as you can.
• Make a quick batch of giardiniera to spoon on top.
• Share your preferred order, dry, wet or dipped, with a friend.

Dates

All national days on May 22

Also on May 22

• National Vanilla Pudding Day
• National Craft Distillery Day
• National Buy a Musical Instrument Day
• National Maritime Day
• Sherlock Holmes Day
• National Solitaire Day

Categories: Food days