You enter Al's #1 Italian Beef to order Chicago's third-most famous food, after deep dish pizza and that hot dog with the neon green relish and not ketchup.

You order a “combo”, which comes with a sausage below the thinly sliced beef, because you want to retort. To the annoying people who ask “does a hot dog count as a sandwich?", you reverse “does this sandwich count as a hot dog?".

You order “with mozz(arella), sweet and hot”, because you want to balance against the heaviness of the meat, and more importantly because you know what that means, proving yourself part of the culture. They shouldn't see some international student; they should see an American, a Midwesterner, a Chicagoan!

You order it “dipped”, drenching the entire sandwich in beef juice, to commit hedonism, or “juicy”, if you're wearing a nice shirt.

Al's Bar B-Q renamed to Al's #1 Italian Beef in 1980, 2 years before the killing of Vincent Chin. Al probably would've called you an “Asiatic”, or some other term from Interior Chinatown that made you shift with discomfort. Though Al died in 2001, so he can't stop you, Vincent Chin scarfing down Chicago's second-famousest, first-moistest hot dog! Only your pristine white tee can, and you've learned the Chicago lean!