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| - I stopped in tonight after meaning to visit D'Italia for quite some time. I had high hopes after reading the reviews that I would find amazing Italian beef that rivaled Chicago's Portillo's.
When I arrived, there was plenty of parking spaces and the store had 3 people in line ahead of me. I ordered my italian beef sandwich without peppers, but with cheese. I also grabbed a slice of tiramisu from the refrigerator before checking out. The sandwich only took a few minutes to wait and they packaged it and the au jus tightly to go.
The italian beef was good, but I think I just had too high of hopes and was craving something just like Portillo's. Unfortunately, while the sandwich was good, it just wasn't quite a substitute for my Portillo's craving. The beef itself was good. It tasted like it melted in your mouth. However, it lacked a bit of seasoning that I would typically equate with italian beef and felt more like a french dip. That being said, it still tasted really good and I'll definitely go back for it, but a little seasoning could have gone a long way. I'm also used to a dipped italian beef where the sandwich is soaked in au jus, but the tiny cup of au jus wasn't really sufficient to be used in that manner. Next visit, I'll ask for extra. The bread is tasty, but has a harder outside, unlike a softer Gonella roll, so you really need a lot of au jus to permeate through the roll.
The tiramisu was amazing. It is heavy on the mascarpone and less on the lady fingers, but the lady fingers were still so sufficiently soaked in espresso that you got a strong taste to it. I'm a big fan of the cold custard-like taste of mascarpone and prefer the ratio of mascarpone to lady fingers to favor the mascarpone, so it was a perfect treat for me.
Outside of that, the general experience was great. Everybody was really friendly and helpful. The prices are very fair and I was able to get my sandwich and tiramisu for under $12. They also offer a variety of pastas that I will definitely be trying on my next visit, as well as their fill-to-order canolis.
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