Sandwich at Houston bar inspired by ‘The Bear’
The bread has to be dense, the beef has to be juicy, the peppers and veggies need to be just right. It’s what we know about a perfectly made Italian beef sandwich from the hit TV show “The Bear.” And it’s what one Houston bar is recreating in light of the series.
The show that took the country by storm and had people saying, “Yes, chef,” came out with its second season this month. Inspired by the series, Houston spot Better Luck Tomorrow, 544 Yale, is making its own version of the classic Chicago sandwich for a limited time.
The show resonated with owner and chef Justin Yu because it showed the hardships of kitchen restaurant culture.
Better Luck Tomorrow first sold the sandwich when Season 1 came out last year. Yu told the Chronicle he originally planned to put it on the menu for two or three days, but it was an instant hit, so they served it for four weeks. He sold a whopping 100 Italian beefs in one day.
“It ended up on the menu, honestly, because I have a dry sense of humor and it was just a joke,” Yu said. “I thought we were gonna do it for a couple days, but it ended up that people really loved the sandwich itself.”
The sandwich made its return before Season 2 came out on June 22.
Yu said the bar plans to sell it for four weeks this time, but a meeting next week will determine if another two weeks on top of that will be added. He said the sandwich is still one of the highest sellers on the menu, selling between 30 to 50 a day.
The traditional sandwich has thin slices of seasoned roast beef, simmered in au jus, topped in a spicy mix of diced peppers and veggies on an Italian-style roll.
Although Yu, a James Beard Award winner, spent some years working in Chicago, he said he had never made the sandwich. He wanted to put his own twist on it at Better Luck Tomorrow.
“We took all my favorite things I loved about the original sandwich and then kind of folded in our own personal inspirations of things that we thought were tasty,” Yu said.
His version is “hot and wet.” The whole sandwich is dipped in beef au jus on a toasted roll with smoked provolone. Yu said the restaurant makes its own giardiniera, a spicy mix of vegetables, and its own cherry pepper sauce. A unique ingredient he added was Chinese chili crisp. The concoction is a heavenly bite of beef and juices.
“I wouldn’t say that we’ve done anything specifically referencing pop culture before, but we do things like make odd and/or funny sandwiches,” Yu said. “I think there’s always something going on at Better Luck Tomorrow that has a little bit of like that slight smirk to it.”