Macedonian immigrants Tom & John Kiradjieff opened their restaurant, Empress Chili, on Vine Street on Cincinnati 100 years ago today, October 24, 1922 after having previously operated a hot dog stand outside of the Empress Theater, a vaudeville and burlesque theater next door to their restaurant. The restaurant, which opened in the storefront corner of the theater, served coney island hotdogs topped with their own version of coney sauce based off of a spiced meat stew from the Mediterranean called saltsa kima.

Cincinnati.com has put out a map of their "Cincinnati Coney Trail".

Years ago when I worked in Cincinnati, a coworker and I created our own list of Cincinnati Chili restaurants and made a mission to hit them all up on our lunch breaks. Looks like a lot of them have closed now....but we had a few spots that the Enquirer missed on their Coney Trail map.

Angelo's Family Restaurant
8270 Winton Road
Finneytown, Cincinnati, OH 45231

Blue Ash Chili (Original Location)
9565 Kenwood Road
Blue Ash, Ohio 45242

Bluebird Restaurant
4629 Montgomery Road
Norwood, OH 45212

Blue Jay
4154 Hamilton Avenue
Northside, Cincinnati, OH 45223

Camp Washington Chili
3005 Colerain Avenue
Camp Washington, Cincinnati, OH 45225

Chili Time
4727 Vine Street
St. Bernard, OH 45217

Christofield’s Family Restaurant
624 6th Avenue
Dayton, KY 41074

Covington Chili
707 Madison Avenue
Covington, KY 41011

Cretan’s Grill
7039 Vine Street
Elmwood, Cincinnati, OH 45216

Delhi Chili
4875 Delhi Avenue
Delhi, Cincinnati, OH 45238

Demetrios IV
4002 Plainville Road
Mariemont, Cincinnati, OH 45227

Dixie Chili (Original Location)
733 Monmouth Street
Newport, KY 41071

East Side Chili
671 Ohio Pike
Beechmont, OH 45245

Empress Chili
7934 Alexandria Pike
Alexandria, KY 41001

Fort Wright Family Restaurant
1860 Ashwood Circle
Fort Wright, KY 41011

Gourmet Chili
843 Monmouth Street
Newport, KY 41071

J & J Restaurant
6159 Glenway Avenue
Cheviot, Cincinnati, OH 45211

J.K.'s Chili
7718 Laurel Avenue
Deer Park, Cincinnati, OH 45243

Granny's Latonia Diner (formerly Lynna's Grill)
3728 Winston Avenue
Covington, KY 41015

Main Street Diner
900 Main Street
Downtown, Cincinnati, OH 45202

Mike's Chili & Gyros (Original Location)
2045 South Erie Highway
Hamilton, OH 45013

Moon-Lite Chili
236 East Main Street
Batavia, OH 45103

Mr. Gene’s Dog House
3703 Beekman Street
Cumminsville, Cincinnati, OH 45223

Mr. Hanton's
Traveling Truck
http://www.mrhantons.com

Papa Dino's Pizza
349 Calhoun Street
Clifton, Cincinnati, OH 45219

Park Chili Parlor
4160 Hamilton Avenue
Northside, Cincinnati, OH 45223

Patrick's Sports Bar and Grille
5060 Crookshank Road
Cheviot, Cincinnati, OH 45238

Pleasant Ridge Chili
6032 Montgomery Road
Pleasant Ridge, Cincinnati, OH 45213

Price Hill Chili
4920 Glenway Avenue
Price Hill, Cincinnati, OH 45238

Sam's Chili
3900 Glenway Ave
Price Hill, Cincinnati, OH 45205

Skyline Chili (Clifton)
290 Ludlow Avenue
Clifton, Cincinnati, OH 45220

US Chili
2965 Colerain Avenue
Camp Washington, Cincinnati, OH 45225

1 hour ago, Colonels_Wear_Blue said:

Fort Wright Family Restaurant
1860 Ashwood Circle
Fort Wright, KY 41011

I haven't been there in years.  Is it still open?

2 minutes ago, The Raven said:

I haven't been there in years.  Is it still open?

Breakfast and lunch only, yep. Always a decent breakfast crowd, but sometimes it's hit or miss on whether or not much of anyone is there for lunch.

Mon-Sat 8am to 3pm
Sunday 8am to 2pm

36 minutes ago, Colonels_Wear_Blue said:

Breakfast and lunch only, yep. Always a decent breakfast crowd, but sometimes it's hit or miss on whether or not much of anyone is there for lunch.

Mon-Sat 8am to 3pm
Sunday 8am to 2pm

I'm off work Friday.  I know where I'm having lunch.

I never knew how Empress Chili got its name.  That’s an interesting fun fact.

Pleasant Ridge Chili was right behind my house while growing up.  I would sneak out of the house when my parents were asleep to go get me some late night chili!  It became a tradition to break an Ash Wednesday or Good Friday fast at the stroke of midnight.

On 10/24/2022 at 10:14 PM, The Raven said:

I'm off work Friday.  I know where I'm having lunch.

Just how I remembered it.  I had a cup of chili (phenomenal) and a double decker roast beef and turkey that was literally too big to eat.   I should have taken a picture of it, but I’m not that guy.  

1 minute ago, The Raven said:

Just how I remembered it.  I had a cup of chili (phenomenal) and a double decker roast beef and turkey that was literally too big to eat.   I should have taken a picture of it, but I’m not that guy.  

What guy are you?

1 minute ago, theguru said:

What guy are you?

The one that doesn’t post pictures of his meals on the interwebs or that FaceTube deal.  

Every time I see or hear people talking about Cincinnati Chili, it reminds me of the Ron White bit about Cincinnati Chili being the Chili capital of the world.

I would post it but the language isn't family friendly. I'm sure that you can find it on YouTube.