Cincinnati Chili

For many Americans, the thought of a chili dinner conjures up a thick, hearty stew hailing from Texas. That is chili con carne, and if it’s what you expect upon sitting down at one of greater Cincinnati’s hundreds of chili parlors, you’re in for a surprise.

In Ohio, locals aren’t wild for Western-style cowboy chow. The bases of both dishes include ground beef and tomato paste, but the similarities stop there. In Cincinnati chili, ingredients like cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, cumin, cocoa, and Worcestershire sauce give it a quality akin to a thin, spiced meat sauce. Naturally, ordering a plain bowl of sauce is ludicrous. As standard protocol, parlors place chili atop a steaming pile of spaghetti. This is called a two-way.

More likely, you’ll begin the meal by asking your server for a three-way: spaghetti, Cincinnati chili, and shredded cheddar cheese. Requesting a four-way adds diced, raw white onions, and a five-way includes both onions and red kidney beans. In any given eatery, the protocol remains fairly consistent. There is no side of cornbread. You’ll get oyster crackers, which you can sprinkle on top, along with hot sauce.

The mashup of ingredients (and provocative terminology) suggests Cincinnati chili is some late-night dorm room experiment gone viral. In actuality, it’s been around since 1922. A Macedonian immigrant developed the dish after Greek food failed to entice the area’s largely German population. His venture into more accessible cuisine gave way to “spaghetti chili” topped with cheese. Eventually, his former employees started their own companies, including Skyline and Gold Star, which are currently the biggest Cincinnati chili parlor chains.

Locals eat thousands of plates of their namesake chili every day. It’s a nine-figure business around Cincinnati. If you’re on board with spaghetti, bolognese, and grated cheese, you’ll understand the appeal—just don’t anticipate chili con carne. And if you can’t bring yourself to ask your server for an any-way, order a Coney. It’s chili on top of a hotdog.