The Weirich family of Cincinnati digs in to a meal at Camp Washington, while Denny Ortlieb and a friend chow down at Empress Chili.
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“It’s so much more fun than being stuck in an office and dealing with other people’s problems all day long,” she says. “I grew up around the business, and during high school, I was a cashier and would make orders.”
No slowing down Camp Washington is open 24 hours through the week, closing only on Sundays — “for a break,” Papakirk says. “Honestly, I think we’d go insane. It’s the one day my cellphone is quiet and I can sleep.” The current Camp Washington building is a modern, art deco affair that stands a couple hundred feet from where the original site opened in 1940. A city road project forced the move about 20 years ago, and while people still wax nostalgic about the “old” Camp Washington, they happily patronize the new one. In Cincinnati, it’s not about the building, location, or decor. It’s about the chili. Camp Washington’s No. 1 seller is the cheese coney. “For sure, all the way. We sell over a thousand a day,” Papakirk says. “With onions. Because that’s the way.” William Newton, a business analyst, actor, and frequent customer, stands at the counter waiting for his lunch order: some cheese coneys and a pint of chili with beans. “I’ve been eating here since the old building, when I was a kid,” he says. “My stepfather used to take me here when I was little because I always chose Camp Washington for lunch. So now here I am working just a block away. It’s like a dream come true.”
Cincinnati chili cheat sheet • Two-way: spaghetti topped with chili • Three-way: spaghetti topped with chili and cheese • Four-way: spaghetti topped with chili, onion, or beans, and cheese • Five-way: spaghetti topped with chili, onions, beans, and cheese • Don’t forget the little bowl of oyster crackers on the side! • Coney: bun, hot dog, chili, onions, and mustard • Cheese coney: bun, hot dog, chili, onions, mustard, and cheese • Chili sandwich: bun, chili, mustard, and onions • Chili cheese sandwich: bun, chili, mustard, onions, and cheese
JAMES PROFFITT is a freelance writer from Marblehead who refuses to share his own recipe for Cincinnati-style chili.
FEBRUARY 2020 • OHIO COOPERATIVE LIVING 35