Bank Hogties Chicago's Mr. Beef, a Leno Favorite

(MoneyWatch)  Chicago's Mr. Beef is in trouble, with its lender threatening foreclosure.

Mr. Beef is perhaps the best-known purveyor of Italian beef sandwiches (though that designation might just as easily be applied to the much-better Al's Beef). Italian beef sandwiches are a staple of the Chicago diet, and they should be much better known than, say, Philly cheesesteaks, to which they are far superior. Chicago is covered with beef stands, and most corner pizza places also serve them.

Mr. Beef is a Chicago institution. Frankly, though, their beef sandwiches are average at best, as many Chicago natives will tell you. And judging by various online discussions and reviews, quality has gone down in recent years. You can get better beefs, for less money, at any one of hundreds of small corner joints in the city.

There seem to be three major factors behind Mr. Beef's success: longevity, location and Leno.

The restaurant has been around for three decades in the bustling, tourist-choked River North neighborhood. Jay Leno has sung the praises of Mr. Beef several times over the years, but it's unlikely he would ever have discovered the place if it were, say, on the Southwest Side. But his jokey endorsements have no doubt given the spot a lot of business.

But business isn't really the problem. The owner, Joseph Zucchero, says the restaurant is in no danger of shutting down. But the company is the subject of a foreclosure suit on its 30-year-old River North location. Midwest Bank is demanding more than $600,000.

Apparently, there was some sort of trouble involving a partnership involving another restaurant that Zucchero, was part of. He had to cover his partner's costs on that deal, leaving him unable to cover his mortgages on both Mr. Beef and the other eatery.

He's trying to get financing from another bank, though that's still in question. But his lawyer told the Chicago Tribune that Mr. Beef "is not being shut down."

Not yet, maybe. But foreclosure proceedings are foreclosure proceedings. And the lawyer, Jim DiChristofano, himself said that the credit situation is "really a nightmare" and that "banks are not extending lines of credit."

But he insisted that Midwest Bank "is waiting for us to get refinanced. They're not trying to get us shut down." Not yet, maybe. Again, foreclosure proceedings are foreclosure proceedings.