TV Restaurants

What Happened to Joe Boston's Italian Beef After Best Thing I Ever Ate?

Closed verified

As of September 2026, Joe Boston's Italian Beef has closed — confirmed via chicagoist.com, May 11, 2017.

Primary source
chicagoist.com ·
Secondary source
Yelp ·

Last verified

What the source shows: Chicagoist reported the closing announcement on 2017-05-11, and Yelp's listing (updated 2026-09) continues to mark the address closed.

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What happened after Best Thing I Ever Ate?

The 'Meat-Fest' episode featured Joe Boston's Italian Beef's classic Chicago-style Italian beef sandwiches, along with sausage combos served at the counter. Joe Boston's was a sandwich shop at 2932 West Chicago Avenue in Chicago, run for nearly 70 years by the same family. According to Chicagoist, the shop announced its closing on May 11, 2017, ending its run as one of the city's longtime Italian beef spots. Yelp's listing for the address was updated in September 2026 and continues to show the business marked closed, consistent with the 2017 closure. No reporting was found indicating a new business has taken over the address as of this review.

In the Season 9 episode 'Iconic Eats' (fp-s9e11), the show featured Joe Boston's Italian Beef, a Chicago sandwich stand at the corner of Chicago and Grand Avenues known for Italian beef sandwiches, Polish sausages, and hot dogs, with beef dipped and topped with giardiniera. The stand operated from a distinctive light-green building and had served the neighborhood since 1949, later run by founder Joe Boston's daughter Ellinor and her husband Spero Kutrubis. According to NBC Chicago, the owners announced a delay in closing the restaurant, pushing the final day back by 18 days. Yelp lists the location, at 2932 West Chicago Avenue, as permanently closed, per a listing updated September 2026. This appearance is treated as the same business already tracked in this database under a separate record.

Featured on Best Thing I Ever Ate

Season / episode
Season 2, Episode 5
Original air date
Not confirmed
Episode title
Meat-Fest
What was featured
classic Chicago-style Italian beef and sausage sandwiches
Role
Featured restaurant
Name on the broadcast
Joe Boston's Italian Beef
Season / episode
Season 9, Episode 11
Original air date
Not confirmed
Episode title
Iconic Eats
What was featured
classic Italian beef sandwiches and Polish sausages
Role
Featured restaurant
Name on the broadcast
Joe Boston's Italian Beef

Frequently asked questions

Is Joe Boston's Italian Beef still open in 2026?

As of September 2026, Joe Boston's Italian Beef has closed — confirmed via chicagoist.com, May 11, 2017.

What happened to Joe Boston's Italian Beef after Best Thing I Ever Ate?

The 'Meat-Fest' episode featured Joe Boston's Italian Beef's classic Chicago-style Italian beef sandwiches, along with sausage combos served at the counter. As of September 2026, Joe Boston's Italian Beef has closed — confirmed via chicagoist.com, May 11, 2017.

Is Joe Boston's Italian Beef permanently closed?

As of September 2026, Joe Boston's Italian Beef has closed — confirmed via chicagoist.com, May 11, 2017. We publish a closure only with a dated source behind it, and we say plainly when it has not been independently confirmed.

Where is Joe Boston's Italian Beef located?

2932 W Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL 60622. That is the address on the record as of September 7, 2026.

What season and episode of Best Thing I Ever Ate featured Joe Boston's Italian Beef?

Season 2, Episode 5 of Best Thing I Ever Ate. The episode is titled “Meat-Fest”.

What do reviews say since Best Thing I Ever Ate?

No reporting was found indicating a new business has taken over the address as of this review. We summarise what dated sources report; we do not publish our own rating.

Every status on this site carries a confidence label and a date, and names the source it rests on. Read the Editorial & Corrections Policy for what each label means and how quickly we act on corrections. The questions above are generated from this record's own published fields — we never publish a question we cannot answer from the data.

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Visit info

Address
2932 W Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL 60622
Venue type
deli
Official website
None found

Businesses change fast. Always confirm directly with the restaurant — call ahead, or check its own current website or social media — before making plans around anything on this page.

Sources

  • chicagoist.com — https://chicagoist.com/2017/05/11/joe_bostons_one_of_chicagos_all-tim.php
  • Yelp — https://www.yelp.com/biz/joe-bostons-italian-beef-chicago-4
  • nbcchicago.com — https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/joe-bostons-italian-beef-chicago-closing/14538/

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