Italian Beef Sandwich
C.R. Heroes Family Pub
10570 E. 96th Street
Fishers, Indiana 46038
Website
I believe that I’ve lamented on this blog before how it is difficult to find a decent Italian beef sandwich in Indianapolis that even compares to anything that you would get in Chicago or at the king of the Italian beef sandwich (my opinion), Portillo’s. I’ve tried many different local places in the past in my quest for this sandwich and I’ve always come away disappointed. Like an explorer looking for fountain of youth, my quest is never-ending. Spurred on by a recent review done by the Tenderloin Connoisseur and the fact that I workout a few doors down from this place and have never been, I decided to give C.R. Heroes a shot. My visit was around the holidays and I had heard on the radio that Heroes was running a promotion where you got 10% off for every canned good that you brought in up to 50%, so that was not only a reason to get me in there, but also a very nice community-minded thing for a locally owned business to do.
What I Got: Italian Beef Sandwich with fries $8.99 (I got 50% off due to the aforementioned promotion).
First things first, I always prefer my Italian beef sandwiches served “wet” (the bread soaked in the au jus juices and basically the juices oozing everywhere) and usually when I ask for that around Indianapolis, people have no idea what I’m talking about or do know what I’m talking about it and serve it dry anyway. When I made this request at Heroes, they knew exactly what I was talking about and served it exactly the way I requested, so we were off to a good start. Also included on the sandwich was mozzarella cheese and the option for Giardiniera peppers as well. I asked that the peppers be included, but they neglected to do so.
When I took my first bite in the sandwich, I was immediately impressed. The meat was very tender and was also plentiful on the sandwich. The au jus (or “gravy” as they call it at Portillo’s) was also flavorful and as I said, covered the bread and meat. Frankly, this thing was delightful. I don’t ordinarily like cheese on my Italian beef sandwiches (I actually think it is communist to have it on there) and I would normally have asked not to include it, but since I made this carry-out order over the phone without a menu in front of me, it was my own fault for it being on there. In this case though, the melted cheese added even more to the flavor. That lack of Giardiniera peppers was disappointing, but that was okay because the taste of the sandwich made up for the simple error as they nailed every other key component with the meat and the perfect bread roll.
The fries were quite good too. In a recent contest for a local radio show, this place was one of the top five finishers for best fries and I can see why. These fries were large, well-seasoned and had a great taste. I’ve never understood why it is so hard for restaurants to have a solid tasting fry, but at least Heroes does not have that problem and that’s a big plus for them.
Would I Buy It Again? Yes, I definitely would and I may have finally found a place in the Indianapolis area where I can go to get a good Italian beef sandwich and that excites me, especially since it is close to my house. Nothing will ever be as good as Portillo’s in my mind, but this is a fine alternative. Like I said, I’m not normally a cheese person on an Italian beef sandwich, but the taste of the cheese on this one may slowly turn me into a convert.
I’m also anxious to try some of the other foods there too as I now know that this place has a good tenderloin (from the aforementioned review) and advertises on its website that it has the best ribs in town, which is another gripe of mine since I struggle to find good barbecue in Indianapolis as well. I can only hope that Heroes will fill that void for me too.
-IndianapolisEater
