City Beat Best of Cincy Results

City Beat released the results of their annual Best of Cincinnati poll and somehow we did not win Best Blog. I guess me and Alison's two write in votes were not enough. Darn, better luck next year. However the Top 3 (365 Cincinnati, Wine Me Dine Me, and Urban Cincy) are all very deserving and we enjoy each blog. Congrats to all of the City Beat best of winners, even the ones I disagree with (more on that later in this post).

No best of Cincinnati poll would be complete without Cincinnati chili so there were plenty of categories involving Cincy chili parlors. Here are the results of the Reader's Poll:

Best Chili Parlor (chain):

1. Skyline Chili
2. Gold Star Chili
3. Dixie Chili

Best Chili Parlor (non-chain):

1. Camp Washington Chili
2. Blue Ash Chili
3. Price Hill Chili

Skyline Chili was the biggest winner of the local chili parlors. Along with being voted as best chain chili parlor, Skyine finished #1 in Cheap Eats, #2 in Best Restaurant, 24/7 Restaurant (Camp Washington is #3), and Takeout.

When I first read the results I was prepared to go into an epic foodie rant. But I didn't want to be that guy. Like most years, I am disappointed in the results of the Eats category. I joke around about how Cincinnatians love their chain restaurants but polls like this reinforce that opinion. Obviously I love Skyline, but 2nd best restaurant in Cincinnati? Nothing against Bob Evans, but I wouldn't put it in the Top 3 of best breakfast restaurants in town. I'm not anti-chain restaurant, there are many chains I visit. You know what you are gonna get and can usually leave satisfied. I don't want to "hate" on any of the winners. We all have our favorite places to dine for various reasons and I can respect that. I just think this city has so many great dinning options that we should all explore, and I include myself in that.

Sam's Chili Review

History

The first thing one should know about Sam's Chili is that it's no longer called Sam's Chili. Even though the sign out front still says Sam's Chili, the actual name of the restaurant is Sam's Fish and Chicken. If you are a first timer, like we were, you wouldn't actually know this until seeing the take out menu with the updated name. However since we were there for chili, we will refer to it as Sam's Chili.

Sam's Chili was founded in 1967 by Sam Nourtsis. The first location was downtown on 8th and Elm but in 1980 they moved to its current location on Glenway in Price Hill.

Here is a commercial we found for Sam's. It's an odd commercial because it does not match the look or feel of Sam's at all. It doesn't even show the types of food that is served at Sam's. I know you shouldn't expect much from a cheaply made local commercial, but this is very poorly made even for those standards.



About the Restuarant

Sam's Chili did not look or feel like any other chili parlor we have visited. It is by far the smallest of the restaurants we have been to on the quest. It may even be the smallest restaurant we have been to as a couple. When you walk in there is a counter to the right where you order and 4 booths and one small table to the left for seating. I'd imagine most people do carry out there and even if you aren't planning on doing carry out, you may have to if there is a large crowd. Aside from the big Sam's Chili sign, the exterior doesn't scream chili parlor either. Along with chili, such food items as fish, chicken, gyros and pizza are featured in big bold lettering on top of the restaurant, this of course made more sense when we saw the name change.

The menu at Sam's could probably clog one's arteries just be looking at it. So many fried food options on their menu. The kitchen area wasn't far from where we sat so we could he the crackling of the fryers as we awaited our food. One thing we liked about the menu was how cheaply priced everything was. We both ordered combo #11 which was 3 cheese coneys, an order of fries and a drink for $5. Even if it were just coneys that would be a great price, but to add fries and a drink for that price easily makes this the best deal of the quest.







Clint's Review

The coneys at Sam's Chili were a mixed bag. There were some aspects that I enjoyed but unfortunately some aspects that were lacking. The chili itself was fine, had some savory spices with a sweet undertone, I also noticed some red pepper flakes but didn't think the chili came across as hot. It was a middle of the road chili in my opinion.

Where Sam's Chili sticks out from others is their hot dog. Sam's is the first place we have visited that uses a beef hot dog instead of pork. I have had conversations with readers who have asked if there are any parlors who use a beef dog, now we know of at least one. The beef dog tasted pretty good and worked well with the chili.

The two aspects of the coneys that sap their potential are the buns and the cheese. The buns were too big and two of the three buns I had were not fresh. It was weird, the first bun was ok, the 2nd bun was mildly too hard and chewy, then the 3rd one was rock hard. The cheese was also lacking. I didn't get as much cheese as I typically prefer and the cheese were in short strands as if you would find in the bottom of a bag of shredded cheese.

As I eat the coneys I often have a running ranking going on in my head. These coneys started out well. As I indicated the first bun wasn't terrible and I enjoyed the beef hot dog. Unfortunately they coneys just got progressively worse and like a move that starts off good but takes a bad turn somewhere, I just wanted to finish it. I give Sam's a 2.25 out of 5. The fries were good though.

Alison's Review


Sam's cheese coney's were not the best.  As Clint mentioned, the downfall here was really the freshness factor.  If the buns were fresher and the cheese was not so dry, we might have pretty darn good coneys.

The chili was acceptable.  It was just a little bit sweet and had a bit of a tang (but no significant heat level).  There were definitely some fresh red peppers in the recipe and probably a good deal of onion.  It was good, but not quite good enough to redeem the overall product.

The standout feature here was the hot dog.  The beef dog was good, lightly grilled, and reminded me of ball park hot dogs.  But I'm not entirely sure how I feel about beef dogs on a cheese coneys.  They could possibly have the unwanted potential to cover up the flavor of the chili.  I'm interested in seeing if any other parlors use this kind of dog.

It seems like it wouldn't take a whole lot of effort for Sam's Chili to put together a better cheese coney.  There chili is good.  There dogs are unique.  Unfortunately, the staleness of the remaining elements brings down the whole product.  I'm giving this parlor a 2.5 out of 5.

Poll Results: How often do you visit chili parlors

In our latest poll we asked how often you visited a chili parlor. If we had a vote it would have been three times a month, we wanted to see how our readers compare. Turns there are many who get chili fixes just as often or even more often than us!

Results:

30% Three times a month
30% More than four times a month
15% Four times a month
7% Less than once a month
7% Once a month
7% Twice a month

Thoughts at the halfway point

We currently have 24 restaurants on our list of places to visit on the Quest. The next stop will be Quest location #12 which according to my basic math skills means we are at the halfway point of the Quest. It has been an interesting journey so far and we wanted to share some of the thoughts of our experience thus far.

• We knew Cincinnati loved their chili, but wow, never really knew how much it was loved. When we started our list only had 13 locations and we figured it would take about 3-4 months to complete. Turns out there are about twice as many parlors to visit and our blog has a lot longer shelf life than anyone expected, including ourselves.

• When we first started the blog one of my friends asked "Is there really that much difference between the various brands of chili in town?" I wasn't sure at the time, but the answer now is a resounding yes. There have been some similarities between some of the coneys we have tasted, but none even come close to being identical.

• While the coneys have been like snowflakes, where no two coneys are identical, we have found that you can place the chili in categories. There are three different categories for the chili we have encountered: Sweet, Spicy and Savory. Going into the quest we would expect most to fit in the sweet category, but it has been pretty evenly spread out.

• Another common theme in the Quest has been the setting. A lot of the parlors go for a diner or greasy spoon atmosphere and menu. If you are with someone that doesn't care for Cincinnati style chili they will probably be able to find something on the menu they will like. Apparently double-decker sandwiches are a very popular option at our chili joints. So far the only place to really stick to mostly chili products is Gold Star.

• A nice aspect of our Quest is by the end of it we should know a majority of the tri-state region like the back of our hand. We have traveled to many parts of the area that we previously haven't had much, if any, experience with. 

• One final surprise goes out to you, our loyal readers. When we first came up with the idea to try every cheese coney and blog about it, we weren't sure who would read it. Cincinnati has a solid food "blogosphere" so we weren't sure if the Cincinnati Coney Quest would stand out or not. Turns out many people are interested in our journey to find the best coney in town. Every month we gain more readers, followers on twitter and fans on facebook. It has also been fun getting to connect with the various Cincinnati food blogs that we have always enjoyed reading. It has also been great to hear feedback and recommendations from you. Thanks to you all for reading and being a part of the Quest!

Poll: How many times a month do you visit a chili parlor?

The other day me and Alison were talking about how long it had been since our last cheese coney. During the quest typically we visit a new parlor once a week, so going without coneys for the last 2 weeks feels like an eternity.

For our latest poll we wanted to know how often our readers visit their favorite parlor. Is once a month enough to fulfill your cravings or are you like us and find yourself going once a week?

The options for this poll are:

Less than once a month
Once a month
Twice a month
Three times a month
Four times a month
More than four times a month

And yes, you can include any time you make your own Cincinnati style chili at home.

Heart Mini/Half Marathon

Last week the Coney Quest went on hiatus, this was due to us participating in the Heart Mini (and Half) Marathon. When you eat cheese coneys once a week one has to make sure to find a way to burn off all those calories. For us, it is running that helps burn those calories. As much as we love coneys, it does not make for a great pre-race meal, so we had to take a short break from the quest.

This was the 34th annual Heart Mini Marathon and the inaugural Heart Half Marathon. I am in the process of training for the Flying Pig Marathon so I decided the Heart Half would fit in great with my training plan. The longest Alison had run was the Thanksgiving Day Race 10K and she wanted to give herself a new challenge, which would be the Heart Mini.

For some reason whenever I run a race in Cincinnati, the weather stinks and this race continued that trend. It was cool and rainy, while I don't mind running in cool climates (its much preferable than hot environments) I could have done without the rain. This was the 4th Half Marathon I have run and it was by far the toughest course I faced. A majority of the course is Columbia Parkway which is very hilly and they throw in a portion of steep Torrence Parkway to add to your torture. The Half splits off from the Mini at the 6th street exit where you follow Eggleston to Newport and back. That section was tough not because the terrain, but because I was on my own as there wasn't much of a crowd rooting for you (like there is at the Flying Pig) and a majority of runners were doing the Mini. So it was up to yourself to stay motivated and root yourself on.

So how did we do? Alison did awesome. It was her time ever running that distance and she finished in 1:48. To compare, I ran the Mini last year and finished in 1:47 and I had run longer distances prior to last years mini. She was worried about her legs holding up but aside from typical aches after running such a distance, she felt good. I finished the Half in 2:43. This was below my goal time of 2:35. I was on pace for that 2:35 goal until Mile 11 when my right knee flared up. This discomfort got worse and I barely made it up Sentinel hill by P&G, but fought through the pain and finished strong once I turned the corner and saw the finish line. Luckily the knee pain was temporary, but its something I need to monitor as I continue my Flying Pig training.

After such a difficult race we both feel very accomplished and tired! We are also very happy to continue the coney quest where there shouldn't be another break until May when I tackle the Pig.

We finished!...and I enjoyed a well deserved ice cream sandwich

Gold Star Chili gift card winner

Congrats Scott B, you were selected as our Gold Star Chili $15 gift card winner! I will email you to get an address to send the card to.

Scott's favorite non-coney item is a 5-way with fresh onions and garlic from Dixie Chili. Of course ways are popular amongst Cincy chili lovers, other items mentioned were chili cheese fries, PRC's gravy fries, Dixie's Aligator, Skyline Chilito, Blue Ash Chili and Camp Washington Chili sandwiches, and oyster crackers.

Thanks to everyone that participated. We will have at least one more giveaway later in the quest.