Welcome to the corner of the internet where we like and support all Cincinnati chili parlors.
Chili parlors have been culinary staples in Cincinnati since the 1920s and there are currently more than 200 of them in the region. Though National Chili Day is each February, every day is National Chili Day in Cincinnati!
Whenever I am asked which chili I prefer, it probably sounds like I’m taking the diplomatic route, but in all honesty, they each bring a different menu item to the table that I like. It’s really hard for me to choose because I really do like and want to support them all.
If you were to ask what my favorite chili dish is, I will absolutely tell you that currently it’s a Chilito with Spaghetti and Sour Cream, which is served at Skyline.
Alas, there are so many other dishes I like. So without further adieu, here are what I consider to be the best Cincinnati-style chili dishes:
Chilitos
A chilito—chili + burrito—with spaghetti and sour cream is my current favorite chili dish, and it’s served at Skyline. Delicious.
Cheese Coneys
Whenever Cincinnati chili is involved, I have to get a coney. I love plain cheese coneys, chili cheese sandwiches, and coneys with mustard and onion alike. While I think they’re good everywhere, my favorites are from Blue Ash Chili, Gold Star, Pleasant Ridge Chili (PRC), and Skyline.
Chili Dip and All Its Iterations
This classic Cincinnati delicacy can be found most commonly at graduation parties, movie nights, and pool days. Though Skyline Dip is the most popular, it can be made with any Cincinnati chili of your liking. You can make a dip and eat it with chips, or you can get creative and make something like Skyline Dip Naan Rounds (above). You can get cans of Skyline, Gold Star, and Dixie Chili from the grocery store.
Click here for more Cincinnati-inspired Recipes
Chili Cheese Fries
These are also good most places, but I absolutely love them from Blue Ash Chili, Gold Star, and Camp Washington—crinkle fries allow for maximum chili and cheese in all their divots.
3-Ways
The best three-ways (or, if I’m feeling froggy, a four-way onion) come from Camp Washington, Empress, PRC, and Skyline.
Chili Omelets
You can get an omelet filled with Cincinnati’s favorite food item at places like Blue Ash Chili and Price Hill Chili.
Chili Pizza
You can find Cincinnati-style chili pizza from Empress Chili and Newport Pizza Co.
Chili Melt
Melty grilled cheese topped with Cincinnati-style chili courtesy of Camp Washington Chili. Speaking of Camp Washington, check out their 513-Way, complete with goetta, chili, onion, beans, and cheese (plus spaghetti at no charge, if you choose).
Blue Ash Chili
I have to shout this place out generally because, in addition to its yummy standard items, I’d have to say that Blue Ash has the most inventive chili menu: Chili Lasagna (Layers of chili and cheese and carbs? Yep, I’ll take it.), 6-ways (5-way plus jalapeño caps), The Lizard (replace the hot dog in a coney with a fried pickle) and Slaw Dogs (coney with cole slaw replacing the cheese).
Not into Cincinnati’s flagship delicacy?
If you or a friend is one of those unfortunate souls who doesn’t like or eat Cincinnati chili, there are so many other menu alternatives at chili parlors around Cincinnati. Head to Blue Ash Chili for its famed double deckers; Camp Washington for 24-hour breakfast (six days a week); Chili Time for a burger and Time fries; Dixie for their deli goods; Empress for salads and sandwiches; Gold Star for burgers, salads, and sandwiches; PRC for gravy cheese fries; Price Hill Chili for a cheeseburger; and Skyline for a wrap and those delicious oyster crackers.
While We’re at It—A Hot Dog IS a Sandwich
*Any time you need to set a hater straight about Cincinnati Chili:
We’re always catching hell for our chili, which, according to the rest of the world, is the only thing Cincinnatians talk/think/dream about, eat, bathe in (what up, @themarkening?), buy …
So before I dive in to a giant bowl of chili to the best chili dishes around, it’s worth sharing my regular reminder with everyone: Cincinnati chili is chili. There are different iterations of pizza, aren’t there? New York-, Detroit-, St. Louis-, New Haven-style; Chicago deep dish. No one asks you to like them all, but there ARE different kinds by region defined by their main ingredients (flat, round base of dough baked with sauce and cheese).
Chili, short for “chile con carne,” is defined as “a spicy stew containing chili peppers, meat, tomatoes, usually beans, and other seasonings.” By that definition, Cincinnati chili meats the criteria. (I initially spelled meet wrong but decided to leave it.)
“B-b-b-but chili doesn’t go on spaghetti!” Cincinnati chili is essentially Greek bolognese, and if you’re opining on delicacies, I assume you’ve had spaghetti bolognese before.
…it also goes with hot dogs, grilled cheese, lasagna, omelets, fries, goetta; can be used as sauce on pizza; served as dip; and wrapped in tortillas. So not only is it chili, it’s more versatile than Texas chili. (Don’t @ me.)
And to the Texas chili loyalists: do you put beans in your chili? Because that’s incorrect. True Texas chili does not traditionally include beans. Ask @blackgirlin. (Not to mention it also tastes worlds better this way. You’re welcome.)
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