The Chicago Chain That Gave Pope Leo A Tasty Tribute On Its Menu

May 9, 2025 was a big day for Chicagoans: the Windy City-based sandwich chain Portillo's renamed its Italian Beef Sandwich "The Leo" — after, of course, Chicago-raised Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected the 267th Bishop of Rome (now known as Pope Leo XIV) just one day prior. "In the name of the gravy, the bun, and hot giard — we introduce The Leo: divinely seasoned Italian beef, baptized in gravy," the fast-casual street food chain posted to its Facebook.

As mentioned, this is simply a new name given to an old favorite — which is clearly beloved city-wide, as the iconic restaurant that The Bear is originally based on also sells Italian beef sandwiches. Portillo's newly dubbed menu item is available to be ordered online and in-store for a limited-time. While its description differs slightly from the classic Italian Beef to play up the papal aspect, it's made up of the same ingredients: Italian slow-roasted beef on Turano French bread, your choice of peppers, and the option for it to be dipped in the beef drippings. One user in the comments of Portillo's Instagram post announcing the item also noticed this and asked, "This is just a dipped beef, whats special about this?" Portillo's cheekily responded, "it's called The Leo," with a smirking emoji. 

While it is unclear whether or not Pope Leo XIV is a fan of Italian beef sandwiches, the honor has been bestowed by Portillo's all the same — and he's certainly got the pull to have some delivered to the Apostolic Palace in Rome if the craving ever hits. However, we do have some insight regarding the Pope's favorite hometown spots. A college friend said in an interview with OSV News via Catholic Review that Prevost preferred — and would actually make for his classmates — thin-crust Chicago-style pizza. This regional variant, otherwise known as tavern-style, is notable for its square-cuts as opposed to triangles, which creates more pieces to feed more people. It was also recently discovered that his favorite pizza joint is a local Chicago gem, Aurelio's Pizza, who has set aside "The Pope's Table" just for the Windy City native, whenever he can make time for a quick visit. 

It was also revealed by Pope Leo's older brother that his younger sibling has a preference for Chicago hot dogs, per Catholic Review. This style differentiates themselves from regular hot dogs by the unique combination of toppings. For Pope Leo specifically, these toppings would include tomatoes and pickle spears wedged into a poppy seed bun, alongside yellow mustard, electric green pickle relish, and chopped onion to top it off — with nary a squirt of ketchup to be seen, just the way he prefers it.