Price Hill Chili Review

The West side of town, especially Glenway Avenue, is known for its numerous chili parlors. The biggest and most renowned of these is Price Hill Chili, winner of this years Metromix Best Chili Parlor category in their best of Cincy poll. For quest stop #11 we headed west to find out if Price Hill Chili lives up to the hype.

Price Hill Chili is one of the biggest chili parlors we have visited. There are multiple dinning rooms including an adjacent bar. We sat in the first dining area you come to which has a really homey restaurant feel. We went for an early dinner (around 4:30) and were the youngest people there by 50 years, I guess older people really do eat earlier than us young'uns. The topic of the day was the Charlie Sheen shenanigans...or is that Sheenanigans?...either way, the locals did not think highly of that "younger black haired" guy. Anyway, we enjoyed the atmosphere, the staff and patrons were all very friendly, and the restaurant was clean and pleasing to the eyes. Our booth had Tall Stacks prints hung up on the wall which reminded us of that great Cincinnati tradition and we look forward to Stacks returning in 2012.

While chili is their signature item, PHC features a large menu. The menu is a family restaurant style menu with various sandwiches, burgers, salads and even seafood. Across the board the prices seemed fairly reasonable, even though the coneys, at $1.75 each, are slightly more expense than other parlors we have visited. Overall its a good place to bring your family to and everyone will find something that they will like.

Alison's Review

The Price Hill Chili cheese coney is heartbreakingly close to being a perfect product. This parlor brings together many of the outstanding elements that we've singled out at other chili parlors.

To begin with, the hot dog was Bluegrass brand. I gave Goldstar major points for using the Bluegrass dogs, and the same goes for Price Hill. This meat is definitely the way to go. The bun was soft but held up well. It was comparable to the buns at Empress and Chili Time, which are among my favorites. The onions were fresh and sweet and probably the best since Pleasant Ridge Chili.

Price Hill gets serious bonus points for the cheese. I've been complaining about wanting a better cheese throughout the quest, and this satisfied me. The cheddar was slightly sharper than what most chili parlors serve. It was also shredded into heavier pieces which made for a nice texture. I wouldn't be surprised if they're shredding it fresh off the block in their kitchen.

The one element that is keeping me from giving Price Hill Chili a perfect score is the chili itself. The chili was meaty and fresh with both sweet and savory spices, but I found myself wanting to taste more. If this were something I was taste testing in my own kitchen, I would have immediately doubled the amount of spices that went into the meat. Though the flavor was good, it was missing a boldness.

I can't help but wonder if Price Hill Chili had Dixie or Chili Time's chili recipe that we would have found Cincinnati's best perfect coney. I'm giving them 4.5 stars out of 5.

Clint's Review

To echo Alison's thoughts, I also believe Price Hill Chili's cheese coney is very close to perfect. I will start with the chili. I enjoyed the chili a lot, more so than Alison. True, there probably could have been a little more of the spices, but I really enjoyed the balance of sweet and savory. What I enjoyed the most about the chili was the texture. It wasn't chunky, but it certainly was the thickest chili we have tasted thus far. Sometimes Cincinnati style chili can be a bit too watery in my opinion, not the case with Price Hill's recipe, which might not be THE best but I think is amongst the best.

What puts Price Hill over the top are the factors Alison cited. The hot dog had very good flavor, which is to be expected from Blue Grass. The cheese was fresh and flavorful. The buns also fresh, soft and held everything together. Perfect amount of chili and cheese as well.

I also give Price Hill Chili a 4.5 out of 5. Some of the best Cincinnati style chili I've tasted and overall the best coney thus far on the Quest.