Al's Beef in Chicago was never one of my regular places that I ventured to to grab an Italian beef. There are so many other small "ma & pa" places that I pretty much passed Al's up. That being said, I at least got to try it in Scottsdale!
I ordered a sausage and beef combo with hot giardiniera and some fries. The fries were decent - crispy and salty. The giardiniera was great, and definitely looked and tasted like it was taken out of a big pot in back rather than a big jar from a wholesale store. The beef was also tasty and definitely seemed like it had been marinating in its juices for a couple hours. Everything was pretty good until the sausage. The sausage was an alright link, but it wasn't hot; it was cooling off. From "order up" to table to mouth is all it took, seemingly. I really like my hot sandwiches piping hot, especially when that sandwich is an Italian beef (hybrid). Shite happens unfortunately though, and at least the flavors were pretty good.
I'd give Al's another go. It passes, but didn't win me over.