When Eric Flanagan, owner of the new Jim’s Alley Bar in the Crossroads (500 E. 18th St., #103, KCMO), lived in Chicago, he ate too many Italian beef sandwiches.
“I spent my twenties there and fell in love with the city and the sandwich,” he says. “I had it three times a week, which was overkill.”
Indeed, cardiologists would stand aghast at that consumption. But if there are any doctors or vegans inside the wood-paneled walls of Flanagan’s throwback dive, they keep to themselves.
Flanagan was partial to Portillo’s, a Chicago institution now expanding to Sun Belt cities like Phoenix and Orlando. You can see the similarity in Jim’s sandos, especially the soaked bread “wet” with sweet peppers and cheese.
Jim’s gets Turano rolls par-baked in Berwyn, Illinois, just like Portillo’s. The beef comes from forty-pound flat-iron steaks slow-roasted in their juices and then cooled before slicing. Hot peppers and provolone are highly recommended. There’s also a mashup featuring Chicago beef and KC’s own Scimeca Italian sausage, called a “combo,” which is also popular in Chicago.
