Chili Revolution

Recently one of our readers emailed us and told us they have their own Cincinnati chili spice mix and run the website ChiliRevolution.com. The reader wanted us to try a sample of her Cincinnati chili mix which she claims is the Empress Chili recipe. Since we want to experiment with various Cincinnati chili recipes and love free stuff, we took the reader up on her offer.

About a week later we received the spice mixes in the mail with the following instructions:

Chili ingredients

We followed the instructions exactly as stated (made it a day before serving) and it resulted in a pretty good Cincinnati style chili. The chili was definitely your stereotypical sweet Cincinnati chili, with cinnamon being the most prevalent of the sweet spices. I don't know if it reminded us much of Empress, but that is a bit hard to tell since overall our coneys weren't a copy of Empress'. This recipe called for more tomato sauce than other recipes I've seen. I didn't notice it while eating, but could after I was done. I will need to try one of the other recipes that calls for less sauce to make a verdict about which amount is more appropriate. Onion was the most prevalent of the savory spices and we could even see some onion flakes in the chili. 

The one downfall of our coneys was not the fault of the chili. The buns we purchased were sub-par. I do not recommend buying Butternut Golden Honey buns for cheese coneys, they got soggy way too quickly. Our freshly grated medium cheddar cheese and blue grass hot dogs were good and complimented the chili well.

Overall we liked Chili Revolution's take on Cincinnati chili. Even though it requires more effort than opening up a can of chili, we enjoyed the freshness of making it ourselves. We look forward to trying more recipes, and even tweaking some existing recipes, in an attempt to find a perfect homemade Cincinnati chili recipe.

All the ingredients before stirring together

Everything mixed together and simmering on the stove

Freshly grated cheese

Dogs and Chili warming up on the stove

Chili is ready to serve

Chili Dogs

Cheese coneys!

2012 Gold Star Chili Cook-Off

Good news for those who enjoy all varieties of chili, details of the 2012 Gold Star Chili Cook-Off have been announced. The event will take place at Findlay Market on Sunday January 15, 2012 at Noon. Gold Star Chili sponsors the annual event which features 30 different chili entrants judged by the firefighters from OTR Engine 5. After judges have made their decisions the public is allowed taste all the various chilies from the competition.  We attended the 2011 cook-off and enjoyed ourselves. It's a well run event and held at one of our favorite Cincinnati landmarks.

Mr. Hanton's opens storefront

Earlier in the quest we tried the Mr. Hanton's food truck and were really impressed. It was by far the best hot dog we have tasted on the quest thus far. Apparently Mr. Hanton's business is doing very well as over the weekend they opened a store front in White Oak. According to their Facebook page, here are some of the offerings they will have:

Aside from over 30 varieties dogs/sausages we also offer Philly Cheese Steaks, Italian Beefs, Gyros shaved off the cone, Deep fried PB&J, a monster grilled cheese on Texas toast with fried mozzarella, provolone and Marinara, Flatbread Chicken breast salad, Gravy cheese fries, chili cheese fries, bacon cheese fries, sweet potato fries, Mr. Hanton fries. We will also have cheese cake and other fresh baked goodies.

Mr. Hanton's is located on 5826 Cheviot Road and their hours will be 11a.m. - 9p.m. Sunday - Thursday and 11a.m. - 3a.m. on Friday and Saturday. Everything we have tried from Mr. Hanton's has been very tasty and we look forward to visiting their new storefront. 

Coney Mania and Cincinnati Chili in Portland

The other day I came across this flyer and had to make sure to pass the info on to fellow coney lovers. If you are looking for cheese coneys for a good price, Gold Star Chili has you covered next Wednesday. On Wednesday December 7th Gold Star will have another one of their popular Coney Mania specials. 99 cent cheese coneys all day long (limit 10).

If you are in Portland and have a craving for Cincinnati Chili, you are now in luck. The Oregonian reports Sandwich Island, a lunch stop in downtown Portland, recently added Cincinnati style chili to their menu. The Oregonian reporter had positive feedback and there is a 4 star review for the chili on Yelp. Sounds like a good option for any Cincinnati transplants in the Portland area.

Skyline Chili's Crosstown Shootout VIP Party Sweepstakes

One of the great Cincinnati sporting events of the year is around the corner, The Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout. This year's battle between UC and XU takes place December 10th at Xavier's Cintas Center. There is another great annual event that is attached to the basketball game, The Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout VIP Party. The VIP Party takes place the week of the shootout and as you would expect, features Skyline Chili as the meal, along with appearances by the coaches, cheerleaders and mascots. Attendees also have a chance to win various Crosstown Shootout related door prizes. We attended the party last year and can verify its a very fun and well run event. We will be attending this year as well and are looking forward to the festivities. Free cheese coneys and free beer with college basketball as the backdrop is an excellent night for me.

This year you have a chance of attending the Skyline VIP Party! We are giving away a free invite to one of our lucky readers. Just make a comment on this post that either says "GO MUSKIES!" or "GO BEARCATS!". We will randomly select one as our winner (the winner can also bring one guest). You have until 5 PM on Friday December 2nd to enter. Details about the event are below, only one entry allowed and please do not enter if you cannot attend the party.

• The VIP Party is on Thursday December 8th from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The party is located at the Fourth & Sycamore location in Downtown Cincinnati.  
• Attendees will have the chance to win Crosstown Shootout Prizes and enjoy a Skyline Chili buffet.
• Mo Egger of Cincinnati’s 1530 ESPN Radio will broadcast live interviews with Coach Mick Cronin of UC and Coach Chris Mack of Xavier.

Demetrios IV Review

Until two weeks ago, I had never heard of Demetrios IV. Based on our research it was a family restaurant in Mariemont that also had Cincinnati chili items on their menu. Would Demetrios be a hidden gem or would we end up wishing we had never heard of it?

The best way to describe the atmosphere for Demetrios IV is imagine a rest home that serves cheese coneys. Yes, that sounds a bit harsh, but its the best description I have. We were the youngest patrons there by about 70 years and we could overhear a conversation next to us about hospice care. But, as long as the food is good and everything is sanitary, I don't really care what the age makeup of a restaurant is. The dining area was clean and our waitress was very nice. The menu was a typical Greek family restaurant/diner menu. Along with the chili options there was breakfast, gyros, dinner and gigantic double decker sandwiches. I caught a peek of one of the double deckers and it looked impressive. No, we did not find what the meaning of Demetrios IV was or if there is a Demetrios I, II and III.

Clint's Review

I go into each coney quest stop wanting to find the best cheese coney in town. If that isn't the case, I hope to find some positives of the coney even if other aspects fall short. I want to promote local businesses, last thing I want to do is write a negative review. Unfortunately, I can't think of one good thing to say about the coneys I ate (or attempted to eat) at Demetrios IV.



The chili was not enjoyable at all. I don't know what spices they use, but a new recipe is in order. To make things worse there was tons of chili on each coney. The hot dog tasted like it was nuked in a microwave. Very rubbery texture. The cheese looked good, but couldn't overcome the poor chili and hot dog. This was the only quest stop where I could not finish the food in front of me. I tried very hard to finish, hoping the coneys would get better, but after the first bite of the 2nd coney I threw in the towel...or napkin in this instance. (Alison with the quote of the night: "It looked like you were a contestant on Fear Factor!")

I hate to do this, but I give Demetrios IV a .5 out of 5.

Alison's Review

Unfortunately, I cannot recommend the Demetrios IV cheese coneys. Most of the ingredients were subpar. The chili had an odd bitter quality. The hot dogs were rubbery. The buns were not fresh. The onions were cut in long slices rather than diced. I couldn't taste mustard if there was any at all on my coneys. I suppose the cheese was decent, but there was no redemption at this point. And though everything was a little off, I plowed through two coneys simply out of hunger until I looked up at Clint and saw the disgust in this face. In seeing his abhorrence to the coneys, I struggled to take another few bites before giving up, realizing we'd probably be stopping at Frisch's on the way home, anyhow.

In all fairness Demetrios had a very nice restaurant and the service was fine. But the coney, which was the worst we've had during the quest, was also one of the most expensive at $1.75. I'm giving this parlor 1 out of 5 stars for their cheese coneys.

Skyline Holiday Gift Card Promotion

As Thanksgiving approaches so does another event, "Black Friday". After Thanksgiving, holiday shoppers head to the stores to find great deals on gifts for their friends and family...or even themselves if they aren't in a giving mood. Skyline Chili is trying to lure in bargain hunters as well with a new promotion they are running. When someone buys at $25 gift card, Skyline will add another $5 gift certificate. If I remember Skyline's prices correctly, that should be good enough for 3 more coneys. This promotion begins November 22nd and runs til December 26th. (press release at bottom of post)

As always, we here at the Coney Quest give equal opportunity to any chili related deals. If any other chili parlors are running any specials this holiday season, please drop us a line and we will pass the word on.

Skyline Chili Offers Holiday Shoppers Free Gift Certificate with Gift Card Purchase

CINCINNATI – Skyline Chili is offering customers a free $5 gift certificate bonus with every $25 dollar gift card purchase they make this holiday season. The promotion begins tomorrow, Nov. 22 and will run through Dec. 26 – just in time for last-minute shoppers.

“This is a great way to give a little extra to our customers for the holidays,” said Sarah Lapham, director of marketing for Skyline Chili. “The gift cards are great for teacher gifts, holiday parties and gift exchanges, and are fantastic stocking stuffers for cash-strapped college students.”

A few restrictions do apply: the $5 gift certificates will be good at the location of purchase from Jan. 1 to Feb. 29, 2012. The promotion is valid in participating stores and is not available online.