Checked out US Chili which is across from Camp Washington Chili. Really good. Like it better than CW.

Checked out US Chili which is across from Camp Washington Chili. Really good. Like it better than CW.

 

I had that once several years back...I don't recall much about it, honestly. Anything in particular that you thought made it better than Camp Washington?

Covington Chili Has a New Owner & a New Vision

 

It opened in 1936 and now, eighty years later, Covington Chili has its fourth owner.

Greg Harris, a recognizable name if you follow Cincinnati politics, is trying his hand at a family tradition: owning a restaurant.

"I'm just amazed by the area," Harris said of the resurgent downtown Covington where his new business has operated for the better part of a century. "When I would come to Covington, I would go to Mainstrasse and I never made it over to Madison and this is such a stunning area. I'm amazed by all the stuff that's going on around where the chili parlor is."

Within a block of Covington Chili, the Hotel Covington is nearing completion, the Madison Theater has expanded, Braxton Brewing Company is hopping, new residential units are full, and a brand new mixed-use development that will include commercial spaces and 175 residential units will break ground soon. Covington Chili has seen good days and bad days in downtown Covington, and its survival over the years places it in the center of the city's renaissance.

Harris served on Cincinnati City Council after being appointed in 2009 to fill the unexpired term of now-Mayor John Cranley who stepped down that year. He missed being elected to a full term by one spot in the 2009 council race. He also ran for Congress as the Democratic nominee against Republican Rep. Steve Chabot in 2002 and 2004. He has directed nonprofits professionally, and is now eager to embark upon his next challenge: the "time capsule" that is Covington Chili.

"I want to keep it a nice vintage diner," said the resident of Cincinnati's Madisonville neighborhood. "We're gonna make some upgrades, we're gonna simplify the menu to focus on our strengths: double-deckers, and of course the chili and the full breakfast."

Forthcoming changes include weekend hours, Sunday brunch, free WiFi, and the acceptance of credit cards, a departure from the hand-written "cash only" sign that has warned would-be customers for years.

"We will start taking credit cards within the next week," Harris told The River City News while he was out introducing himself to neighboring businesses.

In a profile last year by The River City News, previous owner George Stamatakos said that he was not interested in selling the business or the building. While not much has changed about the business, that Stamatakos's position apparently did.

The chili parlor was founded by Christy and Mae Terzieff who ran the place until the 1950's when brothers Tim and Michael Stephans (derived from the Greek name Stephanopoulos), from Kastoria, Greece, purchased it. Sometime in the 1990's, Stamatakos bought it and began to offer menu items outside of just chili, like burgers and sandwiches.

 

Harris got his hands on the keys - and the sacred and secret chili recipe, a less sweet version of the Cincinnati-style staple. It is tradition at the shop to use whole hams and turkeys - cooked and sliced in-house. The breakfast sausage - yes, breakfast will still be available - is also very good, Harris said. But, he'll be expanding the fresh ingredients to the parlor's other items, like French toast.

He hopes the changes will delight regular customers and new ones - including those who may have decided not to go back.

"I'm hearing amazing stories the customers, elderly women saying their grandmothers took them here when they were

 

kids," Harris said. To get the new people, he'll offer delivery service soon, and will provide discounts to Gateway Community & Technical College students who attend the downtown Covington campus nearby.

To make the business work, Harris is giving it his all. There will be no more politics in his future, he said. "It's so much fundraising," he said. "It's not how I want to use my time."

 

Harris is already hard at work. A new paint job is planned, the classic sign out front will be restored, a new webpage has launched, and for the first time, the parlor is on Facebook. The previous owner didn't use a computer, Harris said. "I'm hopeful that people who stopped coming in for whatever reason will start coming back and I can engage people in the area and people who are moving in," he said.

 

The price can't be beat: most items are less expensive than the McDonald's value menu, Harris said, "and what we put into is much more substantial."

It's amazing to me that there are still businesses that don't accept credit/debit cards.

Every time I see NKY and Cincy members talking about Chili it always reminds me of the Ron White comment when he was told that Cincinnati is the Chili Capitol of the World...NSFW or BGP or I would post it.

And to be fair, that probably makes all the difference. I was raised on what I guess you would call southwest or Tex-Mex chili. Heavy on the chilis/chili powder and cumin. No chocolate or cinnamon.

 

Different strokes for different folks.:thumb:

 

It's funny that many people raised on the Cincinnati style chili also enjoy the Tex Mex style but the reverse often isn't true. I only have a couple friends from out of the area who enjoy Cincinnati style.

In my younger days Camp Washington, Price Hill and Blue Ash Chili were all regular stops, depending on what area of Cincinnati we were in when our night ended. I thought all three were outstanding but being how I was seldom in any of them before 1am I may not have been in the best condition to determine how good they really were.

Love me some Dixie Chili!!!

 

Spiro and the gang are the best!

Camp Washington is fantastic.

 

Really enjoy Pleasant Ridge Chili as well.

 

Skyline is the best of the local chains by far IMO. I also enjoy Empress, and am okay with Gold Star if it's the only option.

 

Have had Dixie once ever. Will never make that mistake again.

Me too; just not the hot dog sauce they call chili around here. I can eat it, as long as there's plenty of cheese, onions, beans and spaghetti to cover/thicken it up.

 

The other night I ate a couple of bowls of chili that had ground deer meat as the base. That was some good stuff.

 

How do you keep your figure eating like that? Never see you out jogging anywhere. Laxatives?

It's amazing to me that there are still businesses that don't accept credit/debit cards.

 

I get it, saves the company money, saves the customers money, relieves the company from liability of things that happen using cards.

To be real, cincy chili isn't real chili either.

It's funny that many people raised on the Cincinnati style chili also enjoy the Tex Mex style but the reverse often isn't true. I only have a couple friends from out of the area who enjoy Cincinnati style.

 

I like both but don't even consider them the same thing. Cincinnati chili is a sauce that you put on top of other stuff versus a chili by itself. Tex Mex is a stand alone dish.

Guees I wsn't around when this thread first started, glad it was dug up.

 

I'm sorry, but I have a hard time believing someone would put a Cincinnati style chili place on any top 10 list when, as VOR stated above, it's not really even chili, it's a sauce. To me it brings the whole list into question. Also, by far the majority of chili fans outside the Cincinnati area I am quite confident in saying would not find this product to their liking, no matter the brand (Skyline, Gold Star, mom and pop place, etc.).

 

I wasn't really raised on chili. My dad didn't cook (chili seems to be more of a male thing when it comes to cooking it, kinda like bbq) and my mom didn't make it, so I had no specific type of chili I was pre-disposed to. Over the years though and after having many different styles/types/varieties, I easily like the Texas no bean style chili the best, by far, and it's the style in which I make my chili.

I like both but don't even consider them the same thing. Cincinnati chili is a sauce that you put on top of other stuff versus a chili by itself. Tex Mex is a stand alone dish.

 

I know I'm certainly in the minority, but I pretty frequently but chili by the bowl at Skyline. I have them put a scoop of onions and cheese on top, but still, I go without the hotdog or spaghetti about as often as I do go with them.