tesg's guide to big chain road food consumption

CHAIN -- Gold Star Chili
Owner -- Privately Held
Primary Operating Region -- Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana
Number of Locations -- About 100 (December 2002)

Cincinnati chili is not chili as you know it.  It is not made for eating in a bowl as a standalone dish.  It’s a topping.  It’s a meaty brown beanless sauce that tastes like cinnamon.  Yes, cinnamon.  No, I didn’t consider it a good idea either.

The original chili parlor opened as a Coney dog parlor in 1922 next to the Empress Burlesque Theatre on Vine St.  Greeks Tom and John Kiradjieff modified traditional Texas chili to sort of Greek it up (bay leaves, vinegar, cinnamon) and Cincinnati chili was born.  The chili was sold on the dogs, then as a bowl, then on spaghetti noodles, then with other typical hot dog toppings like cheese and onions.  Thus Empress Chili, Cincinnati chili, and the Chili 3-Way, 4-Way and 5-Way were born.  Many employees went on to start their own chili parlors using modified recipes.

Gold Star Chili was the late bloomer of the three big players.  Gold Star debuted in 1965 as the result of a four-brother partnership whose original purchased restaurant included a Cincinnati chili recipe.  They modified it and renamed the restaurant (which was then called "Hamburger Heaven") Gold Star Chili.  They grew into a regional chain and even had a couple scattered franchisees to the West for awhile.

The first surprise I had when I wandered into Gold Star was the lack of a menu board.  So I’m standing there looking for it and the girl at the counter says “To stay or to go?”  “To stay,” I say.  “Sit down,” she says.  Oh!  They have table service.

You wouldn’t expect that from the layout or price structure (or the combo meal board posted on the wall behind the counter) but there it is.  So I look at the menu and she wanders over. “Do you need a minute?”  “Yep.”  “Something to drink?”  She gets my drink and I settle on a chili dog and a bowl of their “Tex Mex” chili.  Apparently even in Cincinnati there’s a market for it.  She walks behind the counter, throws it together, and brings it out.  Like everybody else I’ve met in Ohio, she never smiles and she looks like she’s only about halfway there, as if part of her soul has wandered off to a better place.

The Tex Mex is a slightly spicy red chili with beans and a hint of green chili flavor.  It’s not quite my cup of tea but many nationwide would consider it a good one.  The Gold Star version of Cincinnati Chili was much preferable to me over Skyline, being a little less heavy on the cinnamon.  

Cincinnati chili will probably always be a regional thing.  An occasional franchisee strays out of the normal trade area (like the Skylines in Florida) but the players today don't appear to be going anywhere...i.e., leaving the tri-state area, or adding on further territory.

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