Meet Dexter the Pug!

Over the weekend we made a new addition to our lives, we adopted a dog! On Friday we made a trip to the SPCA shelter on Colerain to see what dogs they had available. Since we live in an apartment in the city, we had to find a good small dog that would handle city life well. As soon as we walked into the kennel every dog got excited and began barking non-stop, except one dog. That one dog was a 2 year old pug named Bugsy. We took him out of his cage and played with him a little bit and soon found out he was a fun ball of energy who was looking for a loving home.

After talking to the people at the SPCA we found out Bugsy had a rough time as of late. He was a stray, and when the SPCA brought him in he had really bad kennel cough and they weren't sure if he would make it. However, the Vet didn't want to give up on him and had faith he would overcome the kennel cough. Luckily after the medication, he did beat the cough. After hearing what this dog had been through and seeing just how adorable he is, we knew we had to take him home with us.

The first night with our unnamed dog (we weren't fans of the name Bugsy, so we knew we would change his name) was an adventure. It was pretty clear he hadn't been in a home in a while as he was very excitable and didn't want us to leave him for a second. We found out quickly that yes, he can bark. But look at that face, we could not be upset with him at all. After a couple of days he has calmed down a lot and has shown a lot of improvement. Still has some separation issues, but that is to be expected with what he went through. We decided to name him after one of our favorite TV shows, Dexter. Let's just hope he isn't living a secret life as a serial killer too.

I would like to give an endorsement to the SPCA. If you are looking to adopt a dog (or cat) I highly recommend them. It only cost $90 and the SPCA has already taken care of the shots, micro chip and spay/neutering. Plus you are doing the great deed of saving an animal who might have had a rough life and needs a good home to go to.

Poll Results: Location does matter

In our latest poll we asked do you go out of your way for a specific chili parlor even if there is one of that same brand closer to you? (e.g. you live by a Skyline in Newport, but go to the one in Clifton instead when you have your Skyline craving) The overwhelming answer was YES. 77% of the respondents indicated they go out of their way for what they think is the better location.

So it appears the old real estate slogan of "Location, Location, Location" can also be applied to the local chili parlors.

Chili Time Review

Cincinnati Coney Quest stop #6 took us to Chili Time in the neighborhood of St. Bernard. I haven’t been in the Saint Bernard area in a long time because I never really had much of a reason to. There wasn’t anything wrong with St. Bernard during our visit, it’s just a fairly non-descript residential community with a couple of high schools. Would Chili Time give us a reason to make more stops in St. Bernard?

The best description for Chili Time would be it’s a classic greasy spoon diner. It’s open until 4AM, has a full menu that not only features Chili, but also burgers, sandwiches, omelets and other breakfast items. So if you are looking for some food after a late night out, or if you work nontraditional hours, Chili Time is the type of restaurant you would be looking for. Since Chili Time goes for that greasy spoon feel, we liked the menu, however they have been the priciest parlor thus far. We expected the opposite to be true.

The interior is pretty bland. A couple of wall decorations, everything is white and brown. Nothing offensive to the eyes, but nothing memorable either. The dining area is fairly large with a variety of seating options from small booths to large booths, and regular table seating. Chili Time is the first location on the quest to have televisions in the dining area. At most of the previous parlors we have visited, TV’s would’ve seemed out of place, but they fit in at Chili Time. The kitchen area is out in the open, next to the dining area. While we were there the employees were friendly and seemed to get along well as some were having fun discussing the football game which was on the aforementioned televisions.

Alison's Review

My two favorite chili recipes have coincidentally fallen back to back in the quest. Camp Washington wowed me last week, but this week Chili Time has presented itself as a legitimate contender. Both chili sauces captured that perfect balance between spicy and sweet, but the recipes vary somewhat. The most noticeable difference is that Chili Time has a meatier base. It also had a slightly different spice combination, which I believe was simply more onion and garlic than Camp Washington. It wasn't a huge difference, but it was enough of a a difference to make the mustard and onions work better on the coney than they did at Camp Washington.

The other highlight of Chili Time's cheese coney was the bun. It was melt-in-your-mouth soft but held up to the chili without a problem.

The cheese on top was good. I'm learning that there is little variance in the shredded cheddars that chili parlors use. None have been bad, but none have been particularly outstanding. What it usually comes down to is getting the right amount of cheese on the coney, and in my opinion Chili Time had it right.

The only factor that kept this from being my favorite coney to date was the hot dog. It was pretty plain and flavorless. It seems that they use high quality meat in their chili, so it was a let down to not find the same with the dog.

Despite that, this is a chili parlor that will surely be high on my list by the end of the quest. I give their cheese coneys 4 out of 5 stars.

Clint’s review

For the 2nd time in a row I noticed the heat spices of the chili right away. Even though they aren’t direct relatives to Camp Washington, there were some similarities in flavor. Just like Camp Washington, the heat level stayed consistent and is never over powering. However, Camp Washington had better sweet undertones in their chili than Chili Time does. Overall it’s a solid tasting chili, not quite as great as Camp Washington or Dixie, but its better than average.

There are some pluses and minuses with the other pieces of the coney. The buns were fantastic. Definitely the best we have had since Empress. They were soft, fresh and held everything together very well. The amount of chili and cheese on each coney was also balanced very well. The one negative would be the hot dog, which was bland even for Cincinnati coney standards.

I give Chili Time a 3.5 out of 5. Chili Time has a good coney which I would recommend, but at the same time with each bite I took I just felt like there was something missing.

*Update* We visited a second time and I enjoyed the Chili Time coney a lot more. The chili is definitely one of the better ones we have tasted during the quest, cheese was freshly grated and a great balance of chili and cheese. I upgrade my score of Chili Time to 3.8 out of 5.

Chili Time tidbits

We like to find out the history of each chili parlor we visit, but unfortunately despite Chili Time having a long history in town, we could not find out a lot about its history at the restaurant or on the internet. We did find out some info during our sleuthing but not enough for a full fledged history post, so we will share the tidbits we found. If any Chili Time aficionados have more information about the restaurant, please share!

• There used to be multiple Chili Time locations.  The one and only Chili Time still operating is located in St. Bernard.  There used to be a Chili Time in Roselawn as well that many long time residents have fond memories of. However that location closed in the mid 90's. There appears to have been one in Bond Hill at one point, but not sure when that location was in operation.

• Chili Time is another Cincinnati chili parlor that can trace its roots back to the original Cincinnati chili parlor, Empress Chili.

• Chili Time is owned by someone named Chris. Don't know a last name, so I'm just gonna assume he has none and is the Madonna or Bono of the Cincinnati chili scene.

• There has been some major controversy at Chili Time within the past year. There was a waitress named Pam Holbrook who had worked at Chili Time for over 20 years and was very well liked by the Chili Time regulars. However she was fired in early 2010. This angered many of those regulars, who then started a group on facebook to try to get her rehired. Based on my research it doesn't look like that worked as she lists Walmart as her current employer. (I also found out via her MySpace profile that she is a "sexy bitch" and a "proud grandma". I would link to her profile, but I wouldn't wish going to MySpace upon any of my readers)

• MC Hammer may, or may not, have been involved in the naming of Chili Time.

Poll Question: Does location matter?

Location, location, location. This week's poll question is for those that like to frequent the chain chili parlors. There are multiple Skyline's, Gold Star's, Dixie's and Empress' throughout the region.  There are even some Skyline and Gold Star's outside of Cincinnati, I've heard different opinions on the out of town locations. Some thing they are nothing like the ones in Cincy, some notice no difference. This is also true for the parlors in town. For example, I know people that will go out of their way to visit the Skyline on Ludlow even though there is a Skyline closer to them. Reasons I've heard for this is they like the ambiance better or they claim the chili just taste better there than at other locations.

For this poll a couple of questions can be asked that are rolled into this theme: Does it matter which one you go to or does every Skyline (or any of the other chains listed) taste the same? Does one location offer things another one does not? If you think one is better but isn't the most convenient location to you, do you go out of your way for the better one or choose the more convenient one?

The two options for this poll are:

I will go out of my way (for a particular location, even if there is one more convenient)


or

I choose the most convenient location

And as always, feel free to explain your vote in the comments section.

Coney Quest Stop #6

Today was the first drawing of 2011 for the Coney Quest. Five new parlors were added to the drawing: Mr Gene's Dog House Weenies on Wheels, J and J's Restaurant, Gourmet Chili, Sam's Chili and one of the Cincinnati Chili heavyweights: Gold Star Chili. It has been a while since I have had Gold Star, so we felt enough time has passed to add them into the mix.

And Cincinnati Coney Quest stop #6 will be:

I know some people from St. Bernard who swear by Chili Time, so we look forward to visiting their neighborhood parlor and seeing how it stacks up to the competition.

Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout VIP Party

Along with chili, another great Cincinnati tradition is the Crosstown Shootout, where Xavier University and University of Cincinnati square off in basketball. Skyline Chili is the title sponsor of the game so it makes perfect sense for them to honor the tradition of the game by hosting a VIP Party at their location downtown on 4th & Sycamore. Skyline was gracious enough to extend us an invite to the party. Apparently blog about coneys is the way to become VIP, who knew?

Alison is a graduate of UC and I am a life long fan and season ticket holder of XU, so we were looking forward to attending the shootout party. We almost scored free tickets to the game, there were door prizes, our numbers were 11 and 12, the number drawn for the tickets (and $50 Skyline gift card) was 13. If only we had shown up slightly later. Along with the door prizes, the restaurant was decorated with UC and XU balloons and appearances were made by both schools cheerleaders and mascots. The UC mascot stopped by our table at one point and it did not appear that he approved of our intercollegiate relationship. Speaking of mascots, a fun fact about Xavier's famed Blue Blob mascot: One year (over 20 years ago) Skyline Chili offered a mascot to the winning team of the shootout. Xavier won that year and the blob was born.

Former Bengal, and current member of the Bengals radio broadcast team, Dave Lapham emceed the event, which featured XU Coach Chris Mack and UC Coach Mick Cronin as the main speakers. Both coaches talked about the tradition of the shootout, how they were from the area and how they have known each other for a long time. They appeared to get along pretty well considering how fierce the rivalry can be, definitely not hated rivals like Bob Huggins and Pete Gillen were in the early 90's. There was also a fun video that featured old shootout highlights and both coaches communicating via text messages talking trash to one another. As someone who follows both coaches on twitter, you can tell Chris Mack is a little more comfortable with new technology, and this was clear on the video as Mick's awkwardness showed. Wasn't a video that will win any awards, but it was effective for this event.

As food bloggers, the main attraction of the event was the food, which was all free! The invitation indicated it would be buffet style, but to my surprise waitresses worked the event and the whole menu (minus potatoes) was available. We of course ordered coneys, the main challenge was to eat the coneys without over analyzing them since this wasn't the official Skyline coney quest stop.  We did enjoy they coneys (and the oyster crackers, and the free Busken sugar cookies) and look forward to "officially' visiting Skyline later. Beer and wine was also served, I assume there were other non alcoholic drinks, but cmon, we took advantage of the free drinks as if it were open bar at a wedding reception.

Overall we had a lot of fun at this event and are gracious that Skyline extended us the invite. We will also have fun rooting against each others teams on Thursday night. I think loser has to buy the coneys on the next quest stop!