Italian Beef Day specials in Chicago

Saturday ushers in National Italian Beef Day, offering a great excuse to indulge in this squishy Chicago creation for a good cause or just to save some dough.

The deals: Buona Beef will offer throwback pricing of $5.99 for all regular beefs Saturday.

• Frannie's Beef on River Road will donate a portion of all beef sales that day to Shriner's Hospital in Oak Park.

The best: In 2022 we compiled our favorites and then polled readers about the best beef spots around, which include Johnnie's Beef, Al's #1 Beef on Taylor Street, Portillo's, Mr. Beef on Orleans and Buona Beef.

The latest: I recently tried three lesser known but delicious beefs for an episode of NBC's Chicago Today.

What's next: This summer Chicago will launch its very first Italian Beef Festival on June 15-16 at 31st and Morgan in Bridgeport.

• "The Bear," the FX show that catapulted Italian beef to national fame returns for a third season in a couple of weeks, when the restaurant is expected to shed its humble beefy image for something decidedly fancier.