When I lived near Chicago I only ate at an Al's once. Not particular reason. I just chose to buy my beef at Portillo's. But I was happy to see a place to buy Italian beef at a location closer to me than Dazzo's.
I ordered a regular beef with hot peppers, provolone and had it dipped (an absolute must). The beef was pretty good. I'm not too picky with my Italian beef and feel it's difficult to mess up (I went to a Rosati's in Queen Creek and the sandwich was baked! WTF!). In my humble opinion, when folks talk about who has the best beef it's typically the place they grew up eating. I never found much of a difference between beef options in Chicago.
The restaurant was clean and orderly. Service was blase and one worker was a bit rude with a guy asking where his order was.
I was eating with a Chicago native and a guy that spent time in the burbs. They ordered the Chicago dogs and neither were impressed. The toppings were skimpy and not messy enough for their taste. I'm not a fan of the Chicago dog myself as I feel there's too much vegetation on it. If you could trick a PETA person into eating the dog because the veggies overpower the dog, that's not a real hot dog. Just saying. They both referred to the dogs as "terrible" but try it out for yourself if the Chicago dog is your thing.
Dazzo's is still my pick for Italian beef in the Phoenix area but Al's is still good and worth a visit.