May is National Beef Month and Buona, The Original Italian Beef, is celebrating with its second annual National Beef Day. Meat lovers can celebrate with Buona's Italian sandwiches—ordered in classic Chicago style—with hot giardiniera or sweet peppers, and just the right amount of gravy—a little (dipped), a lot (baptized), or somewhere in between.

In 2015, Buona launched National Beef Day, which set record-breaking Italian beef sandwich consumption. This year, National Beef Day will be celebrated on Saturday, May 28 at all of Buona's 17 Chicagoland locations with half-priced Italian beef, Italian sausage and combos, a mix of both Italian beef and sausage.

"Due to the popularity of our first National Beef Day, we've decided to make it an annual tradition," says second-generation owner Don Buonavolanto.

The Buonavolanto family's patriarch, Joe Sr., was among a group of Italian immigrants who made the now-famous sandwich a staple of Chicago's culinary scene. Depression-era stockyard workers who were looking for ways to make food go farther introduced Italian beef to the city. The sandwich, which typically uses lean and tougher cuts of meat that has been cooked for several hours, was often served at weddings and banquets. The meat was sliced thinly and served on bread with gravy to ensure that every guest was well fed.

With ever-changing trends in the food and restaurant industry, Buona has stayed true to its roots and has carefully safeguarded its recipe and the traditions of Italian beef making. Buona's process uses no preservatives, no chemicals, or additives, and takes absolutely no shortcuts.