These 20 Restaurants Serve the Best Chili in America

Chili is one of America's more controversial culinary topics: With beans, or without? Vegetarian or con carne? Texas, New Mexico, Cincinnati, or Coney-style? Is it a standalone food, or a condiment topping other food?

“Chili” is not a single foodstuff, but an entire subcategory of hearty, highly seasoned stews derived from the original Mexican chili con carne (literally “chili with meat”), which generally comprised beef flavored with chile peppers or chili powder, plus optional additions of onions and peppers, beans and tomatoes. But really, any food flavored with the right chilies — “chile” peppers, spelled with an “e” — can qualify as a “chili” dish — spelled with an “i.”

Here, in no particular order, are 20 examples of restaurants serving some of the best chili dishes in the U.S.

Burbank, California (formerly Green Bay, Wisconsin) 

For over a century after its founding in 1913, Chili John's served their signature chili to the people of Green Bay, Wisconsin. In 1946, the owner's son moved to Burbank, California, and opened a second restaurant there. Unfortunately, the original Green Bay location went out of business in 2020, though the Burbank location continues to sell the original beef chili, and chicken and vegetarian varieties too.

Milwaukee 

Milwaukee's Real Chili has used the same secret spice recipe since its founding at Marquette University in 1931. Though best known for its beef chili (served over noodles and beans), Real Chili also offers a vegetarian option with the same choice of mild, medium, or hot flavor.

Washington, D.C. 

Named after founder Ben Ali, this DC landmark is one of the most famous black-owned businesses in the nation's capital (and one of the most iconic bucket-list restaurants in the country), and has been serving up chili-topped hot dogs (also know as half-smokes) and burgers since 1958.  During the 1963 March on Washington, Ben's Chili Bowl donated food to help keep the marchers fed, and in 2004 Ben's won the prestigious James Beard Award celebrating American culinary excellence.

Atlanta 

A lot of southeastern chili culture is actually an offshoot of the South's better-known barbecue culture, which explains why many of the best Southern chili options are actually found at barbecue joints. The “brisket chili” from Atlanta's Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q has delighted chili fans (and won local best-chili contests) since the restaurant's founding in 2007.

New York

The old ale house is old indeed, at least by American standards. It first opened in 1854 and has been in business ever since (it’s also considered by many, including us, to be one of the best pubs in the country). McSorley's chili is mostly beef with a few added chickpeas and kidney beans, in a beefy tomato base.

Santa Fe, New Mexico 

New Mexico calls itself the “Chile Capital of the World,” with hundreds of different chilies grown there, including the green, mild, and iconic “Hatch peppers,” named for the state's Hatch Valley region where they are grown. Green chilies feature in several menu items in Santa Fe's iconic El Farol restaurant, which has been in business since 1835, making it the oldest restaurant in the state.

Want to make your own chili? Try these delicious regional chili recipes.

Blue Ash, Ohio 

Serving chili “Cincinnati style” usually means using the spicy sauce as a topping for spaghetti noodles. There are dozens of chili parlors throughout greater Cincinnati, and in that hyper-competitive chili market, one of the most popular places is Blue Ash Chili, founded in 1969 in Blue Ash, Ohio.

Most Cincinnati chili is served on a scale of two to five. You can order chili “two-way” (spiced beef on top of spaghetti), “three-way” (plus cheddar), “four-way” (add onions or beans), or “five-way” (add onions and beans). Blue Ash adds another option: a “six-way” includes fried jalapeno tops.

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Cincinnati

Founded in 1940, Camp Washington has served chili-topped spaghetti to Cincinnati residents since before World War II. Its secret chili recipe helped it win a prestigious James Beard award as an American culinary classic.

Nashville 

Nashville's restaurant scene had scads of chili parlors when Frank Varallo first opened for business in 1907. Over a century later, Varallo's is the last chili parlor still operating in the city, and the oldest surviving restaurant in Tennessee. Varallo's chili is actually a bean soup with added beef. It's sold by the pint or quart, or served over French fries, spaghetti, or corn chips.

Springfield, Illinois 

Dew's Chilli Parlor (spelled British-style with a double L) has been a Springfield institution since 1909. It offers meat chilli dishes with or without beans, served alone or as a topping on nachos, fries, hot dogs, and more.

Springfield, Illinois 

Longtime Springfield residents still call this establishment Joe Rogers' Chili Parlor, after the man who founded it in 1945, though the name recently changed to “The Chili Parlor.” Unlike most chili restaurants, The Chili Parlor's servings are individually made to order for each customer. Visitors can choose from different chili intensities — mild, medium, medium-hot, hot, and firebrand — and have the chili alone or topping a wide array of burgers, dogs, and other foods.

Multiple locations

For people craving Cincinnati-style chili who can't actually get to the Midwest, Steak ‘n Shake's “Chili 5-way,” a spaghetti dish topped with chili, beef, Cheddar, and Jack cheeses, and diced onions, is the closest available fast-chain option. (It’s also one of the best places to grab a Smash burger.)

Tulsa, Oklahoma  

Ike's Chili has served Cincinnati-style to Tulsans since 1908, making it the oldest surviving restaurant in Tulsa. A surviving menu from 1913 offers a bowl for 15 cents.  Will Rogers used to be a fan of Ike's Chili, and today, Ike's still returns the favor by being a frequent supporter of the Will Rogers Memorial Museum.

Grapevine, Texas

Most things are bigger in Texas, but not the list of ingredients for “proper” Texas-style chili, according to fans. Purists insist that true “Texas red” chili consists only of beef and a flavorful sauce, which includes a hefty dose of chilies. And in all the Lone Star state, perhaps the most famous “Texas red” can be found at Tolbert's Chili Parlor in Grapevine. Frank Tolbert co-founded the Terlingua Championship Chili Cook-Off in 1967, and in 1976 opened his first restaurant in Dallas, before moving to the current location in 2006.

If you can't get to Grapevine, Tolbert's recipe for Texas Red is here.

Austin, Texas

Movie fans might recognize the Texas Chili Parlor from Quentin Tarantino's 2007 film Death Proof. The restaurant sells many chili varieties, including sausage, beans, pork, and even vegan options, but longtime fans swear by the Original XX all-beef chili.

Houston

This iconic Houston eatery serves chili con carne year-round, but is especially renowned for its venison chili, in season.

Related: 27 Restaurants for Wild Game Across America

Multiple Locations

Now, here us out: Wendy's has sold the same chili recipe since 1969, to use up beef left over from making hamburgers. Of all fast-food chain chili options available in America today, Wendy's is arguably the closest available to Texas-style chili (despite adding beans to the beef).

Related: The 8 Items on Wendy's Value Menu, Ranked

Detroit 

Although they’re found nearly half a continent away, Detroit’s chili-topped “Coney or “Coney Island” dogs are a nod to Brooklyn, New York's famous Coney Island amusement park. Historians suggest that the “Coney” name was brought west by Greek and Macedonian immigrants who passed through New York and either tried or heard of the region’s popular hot dogs, which many believe got their start in Coney Island. Motor City’s American Coney Island has been selling chili-topped hot dogs (also referred to as “coneys”) to Detroiters since 1917.

Detroit 

Literally right next door to American Coney Island sits its arch-rival Lafayette Coney Island. The two chili joints have operated side by side ever since the original founders of American Coney Island, brothers Bill and Gust Kero, had a falling out back in 1923. Which offers the best Coney dog? Devout Detroit chili aficionados have disagreed on this for decades.

Multiple locations  

Of all the fast-food chain chili options available in America today, the best Coney-style chili dog is probably at A&W.  The A&W chain was founded in 1923, making it one of the oldest restaurant chains in America.

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