‘The Bear’ review: A culinary ace takes over a Mr. Beef-esque sandwich shop. Chaos and dark comedy in one of my favorite shows of the year
Chicago is a major food town, from pricey fine dining to modest neighborhood joints that hit the spot, and I don’t know that I’ve ever seen the sweaty, cacophonous kitchen dynamics of the latter so richly and lovingly portrayed as they are in “The Bear,” a darkly comedic drama that takes its inspiration from a local staple: Mr. Beef.
On the show, this River North Italian beef sandwich shop is simply called The Original Beef of Chicagoland. But the exterior shots certainly look as if they were filmed at Mr. Beef. And a crew member told me that production designers all but rebuilt the interior of Mr. Beef on a soundstage at Cinespace (the studio complex on the city’s West Side) down to grease on the stoves and the walls. That had me laughing and intrigued before I watched a single frame.
