I walked up to the counter and said, \""I'll have an Italian Beef, Hot, with provolone and hot Giardiniera, Full Dip\""!\n\nLobby (I don't know if that's his name, but he's the owner and the place is called \""Lobby's\"", so...) looked at me, puzzled and said \""what part of Chicago are you from\""?\n\nI know...ending a sentence with a preposition...so authentically Chicago!\n\nHe was puzzled because my accent ain't exactly South Side...but I've spent a lot of time in Chicago over the years and one of the things that I developed there is a taste for Italian Beef Sandwiches, made just the way they make them at Lobby's...WOW is that good!\n\nI was extra fortunate today, because he had just taken 50 lb's. of roast beef out of the oven, to  slice up for my sandwich (well, OK, and other peoples sandwiches, too)...and I got to stand there and snorkel in the aroma as they unwrapped the top of the roasting pans, right on the counter in front of me!\n\nThe aroma of roast beef, oregano, pepper, onion, garlic...in other words, exactly what you want your roast beef to take a bath in!\n\nLobby makes his own marinade and roasts the beef wet, low and slow in a method that I like to call \""nearly perfect\""...he is proud of his place and of his food, and it really shows!\n\nFor me, it always starts and ends with the food itself.\n\nOh sure, I like to be pampered with spectacular service and surroundings as much as the next over-fed, self-absorbed, slightly insecure Brahmin, and the service was good and the place is clean and bright...but it really is about the food.\n\nAnd the food here is remarkable...a simple menu of Beef, Hamburgers and Hot Dogs...done the way that Lobby grew up loving in his hometown of Chicago and done with loving care...the result is a Chicago style food experience that almost can't be matched here in the desert!\n\nI do like my sandwiches and I did, would and will go out of my way to drop by Lobby's for their signature item (BTW, notice the name...it isn't Lobby's Burgers and Dog's...make no mistake, the Italian Beef is the big deal here).\n\nWhile there are couple of places around here that make an Italian Beef that comes close to Lobby's, none of them have invited me to smell the wonderful aroma of the beef just as it comes out of the oven and that made Lobby's a 5 star experience today!\n\nAnd for those of you concerned about where my nose has been, well, I keep my nose clean...at least that's what I tell my parole officer.