A.P. Deli, My Client, Named 1 of the Best Corned Beef Sandwiches in Chicago & Suburbs

By LOUISA KUNG LIU CHU | lchu@chicagotribune.com | Chicago Tribune

March 4, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.

Since I started covering the corned beef beat in 2017, I’m pretty sure I’ve had more styles of the sandwich than anyone in recent history. Definitely more than my primary care physician will ever know. At dozens of delis, restaurants and drive-thrus across the city and suburbs, I’ve had thin sliced, thick sliced, piled high, and a few that have had my inner Clara Peller asking, where’s the beef?

But recently I had one unlike any other.

The corned beef is stunning at John’s Food & Wine in Chicago, where it is the chefs’ modern statement on not only the sandwich, but how to pay their cooks $36 an hour.

25 more of the best corned beef sandwiches in Chicago and the suburbs, in alphabetical order:

A.P. Deli

Joe Eddy Battee created a corned beef recipe for side hustle sandwiches at the corner store his father originally opened, with uncle and namesake Aaron Pollard, on the South Side of Chicago. A.P. Deli, a black-owned business now with three locations, celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. They still offer generous helpings of luscious corned beef and sides of fries tossed in A.P. sauce, the deli’s take on mild sauce.

Original corned beef sandwich, $15. 1759 E. 75th St., 773-288-4931; 10758 S. Michigan Ave., 773-821-8480; 15033 Dixie Highway, Harvey, 708-596-2270