Richard Kurek recently ordered an Old Style beer at The Mint Cocktails, prompting someone to ask, "Are you a Chicago boy?" "Yes, I am," the 36-year-old answered proudly, noting that drinking Old Style in Chicago is akin to drinking Coors in Colorado. In the next breath, the handyman started talking about how Luke's Italian Beef reminded him of home. "I think Luke's deserves more credit than it gets," he said. "The prices are great. It's authentic." Luke's, with its Italian beef, Chicago-style hot dogs and Windy City attitude, draws cultlike devotion from its many fans.
But few may know the family-centered sandwich dynasty extends beyond Tucson. Other Luke's are scattered in the Chicago area, Phoenix and Wisconsin.
Luke Del Principe, the man behind the name, said that some Luke's are still family-run. Many of the restaurants outside Arizona have been sold to previous managers.
Del Principe's family includes eight children, 13 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
"There used to be (a Luke's) in North Carolina," Del Principe said. "They just didn't know what Italian beef was."
Del Principe, 75, opened his first beef stand in Chicago in 1963 in an old Tastee Freez shop.
He and his wife, Pati, moved to Tucson in 1979. "I had relatives down here since the '60s," he explained. "I decided to give it a shot. This is one of the nicest towns I've lived in."
The couple and son Jason Amadori work most days at his South Alvernon Way store, the busiest one in town. Son Chris Amadori runs Del Principe's Thornydale Road location.
Del Principe's son Gregg and daughter-in-law, Patti, own the other two Luke's in town.
Another son, Kenny, owns Kenny D's, which has slight variations of Luke's Chicago menu, on East 22nd Street.
So far, only one of Del Principe's kids — his only daughter, Lisa — has bowed out of the restaurant business.
The sense of family extends to Luke's employees, with some working there for decades.
At the South Alvernon store, employees spend four hours every day except Sundays browning, cooking and seasoning 160 pounds of the famed Italian beef.
Luke's giant sandwiches, for the most part, are deliciously messy and reasonably priced. A wad of napkins or several paper towels are required to make your way at least semi-gracefully through a meal.
"We try to serve a sandwich as if you were making it for yourself," said Gregg Del Principe. "The spices are what make it special."
The french bread on the sandwiches comes from La Baguette Bakery, and Vienna Beef hot dog buns are brought in from Chicago.
On the retail end, Luke's sells jars of hot giardiniera peppers for $4.95 a pint, and T-shirts cost $10.
Gregg, a two-time Mr. Arizona, graduated from the University of Arizona with an economics degree. The 41-year-old worked away from the restaurant business for a while, but he returned in the early '90s and is back to stay.
"It wasn't for me to sit behind a desk," said Gregg, who owns the Luke's on East Grant Road and East Fort Lowell Road. "This is in my blood. It's fun to do."
Luke Del Principe, a solid man who's quick with a smile, still speaks with a distinctive Chicago accent.
"Every one of these guys is in here every day," said Del Principe, gesturing to eight or so men sitting at various booths on a recent afternoon.
Dennis Gierahn and his wife, Joyce, drive up from Green Valley about once a week for Luke's hot dogs and Italian beef.
"We discovered it by sheer accident over 11 years ago," said the 67-year-old, mentioning that he used to own a sub, bakery and ice cream shop called Professor Scoop in Illinois. "I wish he'd start a Luke's in Green Valley."
Del Principe said he's always looking to expand, and Green Valley is definitely a possibility.
Gierahn, a self-described "hot dog freak," ticked off the requirements of a Chicago hot dog: It's usually kosher and topped with relish, mustard, onion, pickle slice, cucumber, lettuce, tomato, celery salt and sport peppers.
There's one thing that you won't see on a true Chicago hot dog, however.
"You never put ketchup on it," Gierahn said. "It's always been that way."
Del Principe is proudest of the beef used in his Italian beef sandwiches.
"We use the same seasoning since the early '40s," he said, adding that the beef recipe is his mother's.
Del Principe eats an Italian sausage sandwich almost every day at Luke's. Saturdays, however, are reserved for Mass and then a visit to Rocco's Little Chicago on East Broadway.
Rocco DiGrazia, Rocco's chef and owner, moved to Tucson in 1992 and is from the South Side of Chicago.
He opened Rocco's in December 1998. It specializes in Chicago-style deep-dish pizza and ambience.
"Luke's a very amiable guy," said DiGrazia, 39, who occasionally returns the favor and eats at Luke's. "He's got the real Chicago dog. The fries are right. Everything is perfect."
It seems that Luke's is popular with all types. It's not unusual to see three firetrucks at a time parked out front, as well as a steady contingent of police cars, military personnel and, of course, native Chicagoans.
Matt Ronnfeldt owns Armitage Wine Lounge and Cafe. The 33-year-old grew up in Chicago and remembers Luke's vaguely as a kid and vividly as an Arizonan.
"It's the best Italian beef in town. They put a little extra Chicago love in it," said Ronnfeldt of the Arizona locations. "It's like Chicago — there's energy, people are barking back and forth. It's not for the lighthearted.
"You want to go there with an appetite and a good attitude."
Luke's Italian Beef locations
• 1615 S. Alvernon Way, 747-8399.
• 6741 N. Thornydale Road, 877-7897.
• 4444 E. Grant Road, 321-9236.
• 101 E. Fort Lowell Road, 888-8066.
Kenny D's location
• 8060 E. 22nd St., 722-8900.
