Memorable | One of the Best
Price Hill Chili
Review by: Michael Stern
A charming family-friendly diner (with a larger cocktail lounge adjacent), Price Hill is open from dawn to late at night and is best known for its version of Cincinnati chili, available 2, 3, 4, and 5-way. The chili’s meaty stratum is not as complex as that served by Camp Washington Chili Parlor, nor as spicy as Gold Star’s and Skyline’s (the city’s two most popular chains). It actually is rather mellow, easy for taste buds to understand and enjoy at first bite.
Beyond chili, there are Coney Islands (chili dogs) and a Coney variant known as a Wiener Bun: two grilled wieners in one bun, with or without cheese. Double-decker sandwiches, a Cincinnati chili parlor specialty, are handsome jaw-stretchers, and there is a full menu of normal sandwiches, hot dinners, salads, and breakfast omelets. The homemade soup of the day, in our experience (Monday chicken noodle and Tuesday beef barley), is fantastic.
And there are gigantic goopy cream pies. The first time we dined at Price Hill, about three in the afternoon, a slender, elderly lady sat in a booth near ours and spent an hour eating an entire pie – eight slices – to top off her lunch of five-way chili and a pair of Coneys.
*NOTE: We have been informed by a Cincinnatian who definitely knows her beans about chili and chili parlors that the pie-eating woman is a regular at Price Hill and in fact does NOT eat an entire pie, but only her favorite part — the topping — off an entire pie, three times per week.
Directions & Hours
Information
| Price | $ |
| Seasons | All |
| Meals Served | Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Late Night |
| Credit Cards Accepted | Yes |
| Alcohol Served | Yes |
| Outdoor Seating | No |
What To Eat
Price Hill Chili Recipes
Discuss
What do you think of Price Hill Chili?
One Response to “Price Hill Chili”
Bryan Dove
June 25th, 2009
Price Hill Chili was a go-to parlor for me right after getting married. You see, the thing that very nearly ended our nuptials early on was that my wife didn’t like Cincy-style chili, while I ate it three times a week as a bachelor!
The strength of Price Hill is the diversity of the menu. The sandwiches in particular are fantastic; the BLT with fried egg is a classic, not to mention the double-deckers! And a note on the chili: it’s rich but subdued. The noodles are much thicker and juicier and always remarkably fresh. For this reason I label it a great beginner’s chili.
The joint itself has great history and atmosphere. It’s located right across from Elder High School making it a mecca for high school football fans. Don’t even try getting in on a Friday night in the fall! But the clientele is shockingly friendly, family oriented, and you know the moment you walk in that “regulars” are marked by generations, not years in attendance.