Food Network star Alton Brown tackles one of Chicago’s biggest food debates in his latest blind taste test.
Hunkered down in his tour bus with the shades drawn, the food show host tasted two well-known Italian beef sandwiches and picked a winner.
Die-hard fans of Al’s Beef or Johnnie’s Beef will be chewing over this episode for awhile. Brown selected those two finalists for his taste test, saying they got the most votes on social media from his followers.

Alton Brown | Food Network
Brown — in town Saturday for two shows of “Alton Brown Live: Eat Your Science” — knew he was possibly biting into trouble, saying he wouldn’t post the results until he was safely out of Chicago.
“But of course, we won’t put this on social media until we’re well outside of the Chicagoland area in case someone tries to, you know, retaliate.”
It was close. Brown needed a couple of bites of each sandwich to decide.
Al’s Beef got higher marks for the meat, but Brown declared Johnnie’s the better sandwich because it comes on a harder roll and the peppers are more thinly cut and better cooked.