Scatchell's Beef & Pizza

As the imprimatur of the mods here on LTHF is for venues to now have their own individual threads, I am beginning this specific topic for Scatchell's Beef & Pizza.
This is one of my Top 5 Italian Beefs.
YMMV, but I am unkeen on capers and jalapeños as the 'hot peppers' on my beefs. As this image reveals, Scatchell's 'hot' is mostly celery, onions, and cauliflower. It is its broth which provides much of the spice.
I was en route to Marz Community Brwg. on S. Iron St. in Bridgeport {the community of the future}. During daylight hours, my transit route is #54 Cicero south to 24th Pl., and route #35 31st/35th east to 35th & Iron.
As long as I make the transfer to the #35 within two hours of boarding the #54, I can squeeze in a visit to here. {A visit to Taqueria Aguascalientes is planned.}
Interestingly, when I arrived, the stand was crowded with patrons ordering Scatchell's Pizza for take out.
After this many years in business, Scatchell's is taking it up another level, for probably the first time since it installed cable television | internet; by bolting on a physical extension of the property to its west. Its exterior looks nearly complete. The interior, which will include a washroom, is less farther along.

Therefore, all of you should put Scatchell's on your 'to do' list.

Scatchell's Beef & Pizza
4700 W. Cermak Rd.
Cicero, IL. 60804
(708) 656-0911

I throw in my pic...


Definitely one of the better ones in the area!

Scatchell's is in my top 10 for sure. Right now, my top five are probably (in alphabetical order) Al's, Chickie's, Johnnie's, Mr. D's, Mr. Beef and Pizza. Mr. Beef and Pizza has new owners from what I understand and I am watching out for any deterioration in the product.

Ram4 wrote:Mr. Beef and Pizza has new owners from what I understand and I am watching out for any deterioration in the product.

We are talking Mr. Beef and Pizza on Harlem, right? If by new owners you mean in the last month or so then I don't know if they changed. I was at Mr. Beef and Pizza on 12.6.19, talked to the manager and he said Mr. Beef and Pizza Harlem is now an entity all to itself.

I posted very favorably about my Mr. Beef and Pizza lunch in the Best Italian Beef ------> Here

G Wiv wrote:

Ram4 wrote:Mr. Beef and Pizza has new owners from what I understand and I am watching out for any deterioration in the product.

We are talking Mr. Beef and Pizza on Harlem, right? If by new owners you mean in the last month or so then I don't know if they changed. I was at Mr. Beef and Pizza on 12.6.19, talked to the manager and he said Mr. Beef and Pizza Harlem is now an entity all to itself.

I posted very favorably about my Mr. Beef and Pizza lunch in the Best Italian Beef ------> Here

Yeah it's the one on Harlem (I never had the other one and I've heard it's inferior).

4 locations, all different owners.


From what I understand Orleans was the original, it was sold and the owner opened Homer Glen.

Not sure about the “and Pizza” locations and are not connected with the original.

Panther in the Den wrote:4 locations, all different owners.

From what I understand Orleans was the original, it was sold and the owner opened Homer Glen.

Not sure about the “and Pizza” locations and are not connected with the original.

Yes, the original on Orleans sold it (1978 I think) and moved to Homer Glen. Mr. Beef and Pizza on Harlem doesn't taste like Homer Glen or Orleans to me so I would think there may be little to no connection.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, I have been taking the CTA route #54 Cicero bus to here. (C.V.) On Sunday, since it has finally become climate, I went here again.
There are new elements to Scatchell's.
The western addition has been completed.
This addition includes slot machines should you want to try and win funds for your sandwich or pizza.
Scatchell's has a licensed beverage license with beers on draft and in packages.
Scatchell's now accepts a credit card. It adds a 5% surcharge if you wish to use one.
I bought only an Italian beef sandwich with hot peppers ($7.58 + tax = $8.40). I will not eat it until Monday. [I walked on from here to Nicky's - The Real McCoy on S. Cicero Ave. for today's dinner. I'll report on there in another forum thread.]

Thinking of trying Scatchell's today- is there anything else worth trying besides the beef? Pizza? Fries? Italian ice? Shrimp? Shakes?

ETA: We went. The beefs were generously-sized, and they had good quality meat and bread and did a good job preparing it. I like them juicy, and it was very adequately dipped. The seasoning lacked the complexity of Al's, Johnnie's, or Bob-O's, and I felt like the celery-based giardinara lacked flavor. The portion-size and overall good quality made up for it a lot, and if I was in the area, I'd go back. The shrimp were sorta the same thing- big shrimp, well-prepared, just not as tasty as Red Hot Ranch, but I'd get it again. Italian ice was average.

If I went back, I'd try the pizza. I think the fries are frozen, nothing special, but we didn't try them.

Wish I'd gone pre-remodel. The old building had a lot of character and now it's pretty generic, but they do have indoor seating.

I had Scatchell's beef for the first time about two months ago, and, to my tastes, it wasn't a very good beef. The texture felt that of overcooked, slightly grainy meat. The jus seemed a bit lackluster to me. I did enjoy the simple celery-peppers giardiniera -- I like that "fresh style" of giardiniera that places like Chickie's and Pop's do. I'll give them another shot -- everybody has an off day -- but my beef that evening was, at best, a middle-of-the-road beef sandwich. The main minus for me was the texture.