Description: Cincinnati is known for its chili and we found Pleasant Ridge Chili rated as one of the top ten Chili parlors in Cincinnati. We were all happy that Pleasant Ridge Chili is the one we ended up at. We actually ate here twice – something I never do in a city I’m visiting. From the front, the restaurant doesn’t look like much, but when you walk inside you find a small, clean diner.
When you look at the chili section of the menu, you will probably be quite confused unless you are familiar with "Cincinnati-style" chili. Chili comes in 3-way, 4-way or 5-way variety. The nice waitress was very kind explaining the differences to us. A 3-way is the basic option. This comes on a plate with spaghetti noodles bottom, topped with a layer of chili and then a layer of cheese. The chili is just meat and sauce, no beans. This may be helpful to know for people who don’t like beans, but want to try some famous Cincinnati chili. The rest is easy. Add onions for a 4-way, and onions and beans for a 5-way.
There are also options for chili dogs. A Coney is what they call a hot dog with chili, mustard, cheese and onions. The kids absolutely loved these but I think they could be better if they used a beef hotdog. One more thing we had to try was the french fries with cheese and gravy. Imagine a big plate of fries smothered with gravy and topped with a pile of freshly shredded cheddar cheese. Mmmmmm.
Prices are reasonable too. The first night the four of us ate dinner for $18 and the second night we ate for $25 because we loaded up on extras and stuffed ourselves on the wonderful indulgences.
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