World's Longest Italian Beef Sandwich, world record set in Chicago, Illinois

February 16, 2025

Chicago, Illinois, United States--Buona Beef gathered a team of volunteers at the Cornerstone Community Center in the Sheridan Park neighborhood and cooked up 75 pounds of Italian beef and spread it across 109 feet of bread to set a world record for the World's Longest Italian Beef Sandwich, according to the WORLD RECORD ACADEMY.

"A Chicago eatery cooked up 75 pounds of Italian beef and spread it across 109 feet of bread to set a world record for the longest Italian beef sandwich," the UPI reports.

Buona Beef gathered a team of volunteers at the Cornerstone Community Center in the Sheridan Park neighborhood to spread the beef across the 109-foot Turano bread and top it with sweet peppers.

""To have something special like an Italian beef sandwich would be awesome. When you can't go to a restaurant yourself, it's pretty exciting to have someone bring the restaurant to you," Andrew Winter, chief financial officer for Cornerstone Community Outreach, told WLS-TV."

"With 75 pounds of its signature Italian beef and 109 feet of Turano bread, Chicagoland's Buona Beef attempted to set the world record for longest Italian beef sandwich," the ABC7 reports.

"Volunteers piled the steaming beef onto a bread train at the Cornerstone Community Center in Chicago's Sheridan Park neighborhood, topping the enormous sandwich with sweet peppers.

"Buona's marketing director, John Gill, said the company chose Cornerstone to help bring attention to the work the outreach facility does for the city's homeless. After documenting the sandwich's measurements and taking a group photo, the volunteers sliced up the massive meal and served it at the shelter."

"Chicago-area fast-casual restaurant chain Buona Beef is leading efforts to feed people served by the Cornerstone Community Outreach homeless shelter on Chicago's North side," the CBS News reports.

"The restaurant will also be serving up hot dogs, Italian beefs and other Chicago-style staples at the Taste of Chicago all week starting Wednesday when the festival opens in Grant Park."

"An Italian beef is a sandwich, originating in Chicago, made from thin slices of roast beef simmered and served au jus on French bread. Common toppings are a choice between spicy giardiniera (called "hot") or mild bell peppers (called "sweet"). The entire sandwich is traditionally dipped in the juice the meat is cooked in before serving with a side of French fries.

"The sandwich traces back to Italian American immigrants in Chicago as early as the 1930s, but the exact origin is unknown. The sandwich gradually grew in popularity and was widely eaten in the city by the 1970s and 1980s.

" The sandwich saw a substantial rise in popularity upon the release of the television show The Bear, set in a fictional Chicago restaurant which specializes in the sandwich." (Wikipedia)

"The story of how the Italian beef sandwich came to be one of Chicago's signature foods begins with discrimination against Italian immigrants in the early 20th century," the NPR reports.

"When those families would go to market, they would be only be sold the cheaper cuts of meat, like the roast or the ends of the cow, which are less tender, says Chicago historian Shermann "Dilla" Thomas. But three steps helped transform a tough cut of meat into a prime sandwich to feed big families.

"The families found they could tenderize the meat by cooking it for a long time, like over the course of a workday, Thomas says. They also masked the quality of the meat with fresh bread. And they sliced the meat very thin, to help stretch the supply.

"The sandwiches were frequent guests at weddings, where families would gather at a banquet hall or a home and bring dishes after the ceremonies."

"Four decades, three generations and several dozen restaurants ago, Joe and Peggy Buonavolanto opened the first Buona Beef restaurant in Berwyn, IL, which specialized in their authentic recipe for Italian Beef Sandwiches," the official website says.

"The year was 1981, and the dream location was half a mile from the family’s home. Joe & Peggy made the hard decision to take out a $10,000 second mortgage on the house to start the business.

"Their dream was to have their kids work side by side to create a business that could someday support their own families. The plan was simple, take a classic Chicago street food and elevate it with fresh ingredients, all-natural beef, a family recipe and a friendly atmosphere that could be enjoyed by all. Their 5 sons, Carlo, John, Joe Jr, Jimmy and Donny immediately took to the business and helped make the family dream come together."

Photos: Facebook/Buona