Celebrate National Italian Beef Day by getting a free beef sandwich from Buona Beef

Friday, May 27th, is National Italian Beef Day, and Buona Beef is giving away free sandwiches via their app.

(Image by The Buona Companies, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

(CHICAGO) Chicago has many iconic foods to be proud of, but the Italian Beef Sandwich might be the most "Chicago" food of all. And shouldn't a sandwich this great have its own holiday?

Next Friday is National Italian Beef Day. A day on which we can celebrate the city's beloved beef sandwich by getting a free Buona Beef sandwich.

According to a social media post from Buona Beef, the Chicago sandwich shop will give away free Italian Beef sandwiches for all MyBuona App users.

"Listen up! National Italian Beef Day is next Friday May 27th and we are giving away a FREE 7" Italian Beef Sandwich with 2 toppings to all MyBuona App users!"

How to get your free Italian Beef Sandwich

First, you need to be sure you have the MyBuona app installed on your smartphone by Sunday, May 29. Once it's installed, your free sandwich will appear as a reward. Buona says it might take up to 24 hours to show up.

You can redeem your free sandwich from May 27 to May 30. The limit is one sandwich per user.

A brief history of the Chicago-famous sandwich

There are a lot of Chicago sandwich shops that claim they invented the Italian Beef, but according to Thrillist, " all roads lead through Al’s #1 Italian Beef on Taylor St."

According to history, the sandwich began with the "peanut weddings" of Italian immigrants in the early 1900s. Newly arrived to Chicago, these immigrants didn't have a lot of money, but they made the best of it at their wedding receptions, serving cheap foods, such as peanuts, and cuts of beef, to their guests.

One man, Anthony Ferrari, found if you sliced the beef super thin and let it simmer in its juices, you could feed more people. And the people loved it. The Italian Beef sandwich was born, and Ferrari's son, Al, opened up his shop where he served the sandwiches.

However, this story is not without controversy. Some say Al wasn't the only one making the thinly sliced, juicy beef sandwiches in Chicago. Also, Al's sandwich shop was reportedly a front for a bookie operation when it first began. You can read the entire fascinating history here.

*****

Have you tried the NewsBreak mobile app yet? (Full disclosure: I get a small commission if you click my referral links.) Download the NewsBreak App to get local news conveniently delivered to your phone.