Chicago is famous for many things but their beef sandwiches and hot dogs are two of their best local foods. So when we learned about Red’s Dips and Flips and their Chicago-style beef sandwiches we headed on up to West Caldwell to see what we could find.
We got the Chicago Italian Beef and Sausage Combo. It’s a sight to behold before you even dig in.
A big Italian sausage split down the middle with heaps of roast beef slices piled on top, the sandwich is then dipped in au jus to make the bun a little soggy and a lot delicious. You can get pickled peppers or cheese on top as well as a celery relish which is what we got. You can see the celery relish in the first picture above. It’s crisp, tangy and a little spicy and it’s just right to cut through the fatty meats and big bun. Yeah, it’s Chicago on a bun and you should get up to West Caldwell and get yourself one.
There’s also a Chicago Hot Dog that’s split and topped with a giant pickle, tomato slices, vinegar peppers, mustard, onions, sweet relish, celery salt and poppy seeds. That’s about as Chicago as you can get, folks. I went to college in Chicago and I’ve had a lot of these dogs. This one is just about perfect.
Next up for us to try was the Italian Grilled Cheese Panini. WOW! New Jersey diners know how to make the perfect classic grilled cheese but Red’s version is the perfect specialty grilled cheese. Made on an Italian roll, it comes stuffed with your choice of Provolone, Cheddar or Pepper Jack cheeses along with sweet roasted peppers and celery relish. I picked Cheddar cheese. The sandwich was crispy throughout and had lots of cheese without it oozing out all over the place. The peppers and relish added a lot of acid and a little spice. One of the best jazzed-up grilled cheese sandwiches I’ve had in a long time.
Look at that turkey burger! Filled with healthy chopped up veggies, it was very juicy and tasted great on a toasted brioche bun.
You can order a bowl of pulled BBQ chicken and we got some to sample and took the rest home for lunch the next day. The chicken was very moist and had lots of big chunks. I added some hot sauce to mine because I thought it needed some heat. But, BBQ isn’t always hot so I know why it came the way it did.
Wow, look at that mac and cheese! It tasted just like homemade and came with lots of crispy browned cheese on top. Excellent side dish.
The fries were extraordinary, too. Crispy and hot, just like they should be. Regular and sweet potato fries were both great. You can see next to the regular fries above that Red’s offers catsup and chipotle mayo for dipping. That chipotle mayo was very spicy!
Red’s Dips and Flips is a great place to bring the family and try some Chicago-style sandwiches and satisfy nearly everyone in your party. The staff members were all really friendly and concerned that we had a good experience. It doesn’t get any better than that.
Next time, we will be trying some of their varieties of chili (including a vegan and gluten free one!) and some of their homemade ice cream sandwiches!
Red’s Dips and Flips
800 Bloomfield Ave., West Caldwell
973.226.BEEF (2333)
Mon-Sat: 11:00am – 8:00pm
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