Gold Star Veggie Way

Last week we informed you about the new Skyline Chili Greek Pasta bowl which is being featured during Lent. Now its Gold Star Chili's turn. Gold Star actually has several vegetarian chili options which more closely relate to tradition Cincinnati chili dishes than the Skyline Greek Pasta Bowl. If you are in the mood for a 3-way but can't have meat, you can have it topped with their vegetarian chili instead. This isn't a new product, but it looks like Gold Star is going to promote it more than usual during Lenten season. Dixie Chili is another local chili parlor which features vegetarian chili on their menu. If there are any other local chili parlors with similar options or specials during Lent, please let us know!

Press release below.

Gold Star Chili Invites Cincinnati-style Chili Lovers To “Veg Out”

95-Restaurant Chain Highlights Its Vegetarian Chili Menu Items For Lent &

Year-round Healthy Eating

Cincinnati, Ohio – With the Lenten season upon us, Gold Star Chili, the Flavor of Cincinnati, wants to remind chili lovers that there are two ways to enjoy a Cincinnati-style 3-Way; the regular way (spaghetti topped with chili and shredded cheddar cheese) and the veggie way. Gold Star’s veggie chili variation of the famous Cincinnati-style 3-Way, plus a full line of veggie chili menu options including: a bowl of veggie chili, veggie chili burrito, veggie chili burrito bowl and a veggie chili salad have become increasingly popular year-round items.

“More and more consumers are demanding flavorful, but meatless menu options,” says Gold Star Vice President of Marketing, Charlie Howard. “A bowl of Gold Star veggie chili is only 160 calories, loaded with vegetables, full of fiber and protein and features a spicy, uniquely Gold Star flavor similar to our regular chili. As such, our veggie chili has become the foundation of a whole new line of vegetarian variations of classic Cincinnati-style menu options.”

With a major promotional focus on vegetarian chili menu items, Gold Star hopes to expand its customer base to include those who observe a strict vegetarian diet (Gold Star veggie chili is vegetarian and vegan), those seeking healthier lifestyle choices, regular Cincinnati-style chili lovers who crave the flavor and can now enjoy an additional “guilt-free” chili occasion each week, and in the short-term, people who observe Lent.

“With our emphasis on increasing awareness of our veggie chili, we’re following the lead of many school districts and encouraging the observance of “Meatless Mondays,” says Howard. “With the caveat of observing it with a veggie chili dish at Gold Star Chili, of course.”

Gold Star Chili’s veggie chili 3-Ways and other veggie menu items will be promoted with a six-week advertising campaign utilizing television, radio, billboards, digital and social media elements, beginning February 27^th, just in time for the Lenten season.

Skyline Introduces The Greek Pasta Bowl

Today is Fat Tuesday which means Lent is upon us. Cincinnati has a large Catholic community, many chili lovers will have to go without their fix the next 6 Fridays, or might even choose give up chili for their Lenten sacrifice. Skyline has introduced a new menu item, the Greek Pasta Bowl, to bring in customers during this season. The Greek Pasta Bowl features warm, meatless pasta dish, which includes kalamata olives, tomatoes, pepperoncinis, feta cheese and Greek dressing. This menu item will be available until April 9.

If any other chili parlors are offering new menu items or specials during Lent, please let us know.

(Press Release Below)

Skyline Chili to Offer Vegetarian Greek Pasta Bowl for Lent 

CINCINNATI – Skyline Chili is offering customers a meat-free menu item during this Lenten season. The Greek Pasta Bowl is a warm, meatless pasta dish, which includes signature Skyline Chili Greek salad ingredients, including kalamata olives, tomatoes, pepperoncinis, feta cheese and Greek dressing.

“We wanted to offer our customers who forgo meat for Lent a menu item that they can still enjoy at Skyline locations,” said Sarah Lapham, director of marketing for Skyline Chili. “This dish grew from a test-and-learn with a few select franchisees, and customers really seemed to love it. We’re excited to introduce it to all regional locations this year.”

The Greek Pasta Bowl is available from Feb. 8 to April 9 at Skyline Chili locations in Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky, Dayton and Columbus. The dish is available in small and regular sizes.

Silver Ladle opening in March

The newest tenant of Downtown's "Restaurant Row", Silver Ladle, is planing on opening March 12th. Cincinnati style chili will be featured on the menu. One of the items will be an open face, knife and fork coney which I look forward to trying. Cincinnati.com's Polly Campbell has all the latest info: http://cincinnati.com/blogs/dining/2012/02/15/silver-ladle-to-open-downtown/

The Silver Ladle website is now live: http://silver-ladle.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=featured&Itemid=435

Also, it looks like Silver Ladle is hiring for all positions: http://cincinnati.craigslist.org/fbh/2852752573.html

Best of Coney Quest: Readers' Poll Winner

Congrats to Dixie Chili on winning the Cincinnati Coney Quest Readers' Poll! The reader poll results were reversed from ours: we had Price Hill Chili #1 followed by Dixie, while the readers' had Dixie #1 followed by Price Hill. Another one of our favorites, Camp Washington Chili, finished 3rd. However, the voting wasn't very close as Dixie Chili brought in a comanding 41% of the vote. The results did not surprise me since Dixie Chili was the most recommended  parlor when we first started the quest.

Best of Coney Quest: Readers' Poll

Over the past year and a half you have followed our quest and read our opinions on the local chili parlors. When it was over, we crowned Price Hill Chili as our favorite. Now, it is time for you to vote for your favorite Cincinnati chili parlor! If your favorite parlor is not listed, please select "Other" and tell us which unlisted parlor is your favorite in the comment section.

Voting will be open until Sunday and we will announce which parlor won the Readers' Poll on Monday.

POLL CLOSED

Price Hill Chili wins Best of Metromix...again

2012 is starting off well for Price Hill Chili. First we crowned their cheese coney as the best in Cincinnati. Now, they have three-peated as Best Chili Parlor in the Best of Metromix Cincinnati 2012 poll. They are also nominated in the City Beat Best of Cincinnati poll in multiple categories.

Speaking of reader polls, keep an eye out on the blog this week. We will ask our readers which chili parlor in town they think is the best.

Best of Coney Quest: Individual Categories

Since so much goes into the cheese coney and the Cincinnati chili experience, we decided to do Best of individual categories. In a perfect world we would put all of these together to assemble the perfect cheese coney and Cincinnati chili parlor.


Best Overall Chili - Camp Washington Chili
Along our quest we found the Cincinnati chili flavor ranges from sweet to savory to spicy. The following categories show what we liked the best in each of those and which was the best overall. More details about Camp Washington below.

Best Sweet Chili - Pleasant Ridge Chili
This category had the most contestants as Cincinnati style chili is stereo-typically sweet. Pleasant Ridge was probably the sweetest and it was also the tastiest.
Honorable mention: Skyline Chili, Blue Ash Chili

Best Savory Chili - Dixie Chili
A flavorful chili with a variety of savory spices used. Even though its a complex blend, it is a very well balanced chili.
Honorable mention: Price Hill Chili, Gold Star Chili

Best Spicy Chili - Camp Washington Chili
No, its not so spicy that you will be chugging milk afterward, but there is a good kick there. Not only is this our favorite chili in the spicy category, it is our favorite chili overall. Along with the heat level, there are those classic sweet undertones. The flavor stays very consistent and is the reason Camp Washington is one of our favorites.
Honorable mention: Chili Time, US Chili

Best Cheese - Skyline Chili
Not only is the Skyline cheese very tasty, you also get a heaping amount of cheese on each coney. This is probably the reason I will always appreciate Skyline, even if its no longer my favorite.
Honorable mention: Blue Ash Chili, Covington Chili, J & J Restaurant, Price Hill Chili

Best Hot Dog - Mr. Hanton's
Mr. Hanton's is a hot dog stand, not a chili parlor, so it's no surprise they win the Best Hot Dog category. The big all beef dog is delicious and showed that beef hot dogs can work with Cincinnati style chili.
Honorable mention: Price Hill Chili, Gold Star Chili, Blue Bird Restaurant

Best Bun - Empress Chili
The original Cincinnati chili parlor and the first one we visited, had the best bun by far. Very fresh and the right amount of softness.
Honorable mention: Chili Time, Price Hill Chili, Gold Star Chili

Best Chain Chili Parlor - Dixie Chili
Gold Star and Skyline get the most attention out of the chili parlor chains, but our favorite is Dixie.
Honorable mention: Gold Star Chili, Skyline Chili

Best Independent Chili Parlor - Price Hill Chili
We found out there are a lot more independent parlors than we ever imagined. Obviously our favorite parlor is home to our favorite cheese coney.
Honorable mention: Chili Time, Camp Washington Chili, Pleasant Ridge Chili

Best Ambiance - Camp Washington Chili
Camp Washington Chili has the neatest looking architecture with the giant CHILI sign calling your name. The inside is also impressive as it features a classic and clean diner look. They have a lot of history and let you know it with the various pictures and framed articles along the wall.
Honorable mention: Skyline Chili (Clifton), Dixie Chili (Newport)

Best Ad Campaign - Gold Star Chili and Skyline Chili (tie)
Gold Star and Skyline have the most money and resources, so no surprise they win this category. I couldn't pick just one though as I believe they both do a very good job advertising their product. Skyline has the classic jingle that every Cincinnatian knows. Gold Star does a very good job incorporating various Cincinnati traditions in their ads.

Best Service - Skyline Chili
Luckily along the quest we didn't encounter too much bad service, other than the infamous Mike's Chili and Gyros incident. This was a tough one to choose. Every time we visited the Skyline in Clifton, there was a large staff working and they were very attentive and friendly. We would also like to point out that Dixie Chili had the fastest service, but that is due to it being counter service not wait service.
Honorable mention: Camp Washington, Gold Star Chili, Price Hill Chili

Best Hours - Chili Time
There are only a couple of hours each day that Chili Time is not open, even on Sundays. If you have a severe coney craving, chances are you can satisfy it at Chili Time.
Honorable mention: Camp Washington Chili, Dixie Chili, Skyline Chili (Clifton)

Best Deal- Gourmet Chili
For the most part, cheese coneys make for a pretty cheap meal. This is especially so at Gourmet Chili where their coneys only cost $1.25.
Honorable mention: JK's Chili, Gold Star Chili (during Coney Mania)