For most of the world, chili is thick, spicy, and eaten with a spoon. But in Cincinnati, they looked at that tradition and thought: What if we poured it over spaghetti, added cinnamon, and built an entire food culture around it? Welcome to the strange and legendary world of Cincinnati chili, a uniquely Midwestern dish made famous by restaurants like Skyline Chili. Instead of a bowl, it’s served on a plate of spaghetti and topped with towering piles of shredded cheese, onions, and beans in carefully ordered combinations known as “3-ways,” “4-ways,” and “5-ways.”
Do you love it or hate Cincinnati Skyline Chili? Let us know in the comments!
#chili #cincinnati #weirdhistoryfood
37 Comments
Ohhh… cinnamon. No wonder I didn't like it.
Skylight is awesome
Born and raised in Cincinnati. Skyline is the best. The first food I get when I come home from traveling. There's a restaurant in Tokyo that serves Cincinnati Chili!
Extreme cheese 4-way
With now offered ice cold Coke,
Queen City breakfast.
"… not to mention preventing it from starring in any potential remakes of Blazing Saddles" 😂
I'm down.
Being a Cincinnati native Skyline chili is part of our DNA and I thought the Weird History Food Channel did fair explanation to the world what our beloved Skyline chili “ Cincinnati chili “ is all about . But there is another rule WHF fail to mention and that is when eating, Cincinnati chili {{ NEVER EVER }} twirl your spaghetti no to your fork, you know like eating spaghetti and meatballs, HUGE NO NO, don’t do that !!!.. And always when ordering, always ask for an extra pack of crackers, this way you’ll have something to nibble on while you are waiting for you’re most delicious Cincinnati experience!
Cooking up a pot right now mmmmmmmmm
When I was in the Navy, mt wife and I would stop by Skyline in Price Hill. We did this before even visiting relatives.
It's spaghetti with kidney beans in it. NOT chili
Every time a loser talks shit about they just laugh to the bank. They love it! Free advertising at the hands of scumbags 🤭😂
This chili or hot dog sauce has been made for over one hundred years by Greek immigrants all over the US…. Its not just a Cincinnati thing…
Next video should be on Goetta Please.
The waitress at 3:55 was my grandmother. She is on many signs in different skyline restaurants through out Cincinnati and the tri-state area. Years ago my family was eating at a skyline and my dad seen the poster on the wall and was shocked. He said thats my mom! She had passed away many years before. He remembered her telling him and his brothers when they were kids that she did an advertisement job for skyline. I love skyline it runs through my blood. We also love going into different skylines and seeing her picture. It brings a smile to my dad's face every time. Rest easy grandma. Until we meet again
But it's not chili. The original creators were a Greek family. The recipe is far more similar to a Greek version of a Bolognese meat sauce. Hence why it goes over pasta. The cheddar, onions, and beans were added later as an Americanization.
I worked for a man who came from Cincinnati, and when we had a client there, he purposefully made me go to do the client training, and told me to make sure I got some Skyline, 5-way. (He knew I wasn't fussy.). I was skeptical, especially when he described it, but I did make sure to go there the first night. WOW. Not at all what I expected, but yeah, the combination was incredible. I ate there for dinner each of the remaining nights. Also snuck in an after-hours run to Kings Dominion, which was the wildest thing ever (discounted ticket so late on a weekday, riding the Big Beast…. OMG, never rode such a cool coaster, before then or ever since; I think I rode twice, and then one of the early stand-ups, which was cool). Got back and told him thanks, that chili was amazing. Made him super happy. And the client was happy with the training too. LOL.
I've been to Cincinnati. Used to travel there occasionally on business, decades ago. Nobody warned me about the chili ahead of time. I was walking around one evening after work and saw a Skyline and thought, "I could go for some chili."
It's an experience that I remember to this day as being deeply unsettling and just… confusing.
So it's like Greek spaghetti sauce?
Not impressed AT ALL with it ! Tried several times . But I'll say this …..! Top anything with a ton of cheese , even shit might taste good !
Noodles, meat, and spice,
Mountains of cheddar cheese high,
It is Skyline time.
1:37 Cincinnati chili is not sweet.
2:02 A hot dog is a sandwich, but Cincinnati chili isn't chili.
tradition over practicality.
Well the thing is though its not actually chili. Its just an Americanized version of saltsa kima which is a greek meat sauce that has nothing to do with chilie con carne (mexican chili).
I've loved chili on pasta since I was a kid. I just loved pasta. Never new there was a place known for it until I was an adult. It was just my favorite way of eating canned or leftover chili. Though I tend to only eat chili w/o beans with pasta. I still add sour cream and cheese. When no pasta I loved eating it with saltine crackers in the chili.
Now do one on Goetta! Frisch's would a good one! And from down in KY Ale-8 is not just the best ginger ale its the best drink ever!
I like skyline chili, I eat there from time to time.
It is basically an Americanized Makaronia Me Kima (Greek Bolognese with Percatelli) with the addition of cheddar cheese.
The Texas Weiner (or Coney) uses the same style of sauce. Also created by Greek immigrants.
It sucks. Nuff said.
Hype rip off. Tiny weiner brown water and imitation cheese. Overpriced crap.
Skyline chili is something you either love or hate, nothing in between. I absolutely hate it.
I moved from Indy to central Wisconsin and I sure do miss a 5 way.
The dark souls of restaurants
Yea… you lost me at cinnamon 😂. Nope. 👎
made it once…was told to never make it again
I had my first Skyline Coney dogs in the Cincinnati airport during a connection to another flight. When I watched the lady pour that watery chili into bun that she had just pinched at each end (to keep the chili from flowing off) I immediately wanted to cancel my order. The thought of a soggy bun just killed me. But, when I had them I was a convert for life. Perfect combination in the perfect proportion. Skyline Chili is its own thing. Simply no comparison.
Its the bomb diggy Skyline Chili is as addictive almost as Crack 2:20
I’ve never had it but I know I wouldn’t like it. Runny and sweet? Sounds like baby diarrhea. Chili doesn’t need cinnamon, that’s sounds more like a curry than chili. Gross. 🤮