Skyline Chili

I am not a native of Cincinnati, or of Ohio, so I’m awarding two stars for service, as I was suitably bibbed & crackered up after being seated, but even after living here for a year & a half, I cannot for the life of me fathom the appeal of this stuff.
Perhaps it’s because I was spared the indignity of a mother who consumed this repugnant garbage gravy while I was still in her womb & never developed a taste for it myself, like so many locals?
Perhaps it’s because I grew up a peculiar mix of a Red Sox & Mets fan & never succumbed to the strains of «It’s Skyline Time» when played over the PA system at Great American Ballpark, urging fans to visit the nearest booth for some of this horrifying diarrhea sludge, topped with safety-​cone orange cheese?
I will admit, the first time I heard I could go somewhere & order a three-​way, I was very disappointed in what I was served.
Maybe Ohio & Kentucky are doing the rest of the country a favor? By piling this slop on top of spaghetti, it makes them feel happy that their own brand of $#!^ eating is (mostly) figurative? Granted, this region also gave rise to Paul Ryan, Matt Bevin, John Boehner & so many others, so it’s hardly been setting a spectacular example on the national stage to date. Skyline is not helping
The fact that this is so revered in this area is baffling. I’d recommend visitors craving a taste of the midwest keep driving to Chicago & sample some deep dish pizza. You, & your digestive system, will be much happier.
But if this sort of thing is your bag & you want what goes in one end to look like what comes out the other, the service is quick & generally friendly at this location & they’ll give you a takeaway cup of pop for the road if you ordered a drink.

Have you ever boiled a hot dog and undercooked it so it taste sort of like meat, but also sort of like playdoh? If you have, and then you cover that hotdog in decent Cincinnati Chili (no idea what the difference is from normal chili, but everyone else swears there is a difference), drown it in probably a pound of shredded cheddar cheese and throw it on a semi-​stale bun, then you have homemade skyline chili.
Thankfully each dog was under $ 2 because then I was able to subject myself to 2 of them once I probably applied the very watery, but still spicy hot sauce like substance they leave on the table in what I thought was a ketchup bottle…
Maybe it would have been better on spaghetti (the only other thing they sell), but I doubt it would be, I would have preferred just the chili and the cheese, but I don’t think they sell that. Somehow this place was PACKED and there a ton of them, so maybe I just haven’t acquired the taste, but that’s okay, because I never will.
Also, the service is odd, the waitress was a little off, but nice enough, however we sat in an area where you couldn’t see that you had to pay at the register, and the waitress sort of helicopter parented us twice without telling us she didn’t take our check… eventually we figured it out.

You can’t go wrong with a Cincinnati favorite. Came in at noon on a cold, rainy day and managed to get a table quickly. Quick service (though not necessarily the friendliest) at lunchtime to get you in and out fast. Definitely the spot to go if you work near Court Street and need a quick lunch– I don’t think you can get lunch as quickly anywhere else without ordering takeout!

This place is getting 3 stars just because the staff was great– they were all friendly and patient with me and my group both times that I came here.
I wanted to like this, I really did. It reminded me of one of my childhood favorites here at home. However, the food did not impress me. The chili was not amazing, it was not a life changing experience, and I have definitely had a lot better. However for my appetite the hot dogs were the right size and they give you A TON of cheese, which I could never complain about.

Amazing. Cincinnati-​style chili is a must-​have when you visit. This location is always polite and quick. The menu is simple but tasty. I highly recommend this location.

Yup, that just happened. A visit back to Cincy is never complete without a trip to Skyline. Stopped in for a quick lunch (2 cheese coneys) and felt back at home with the midwestern friendliness of the staff calling me «sweetheart» every time they came to check on me. Ah, home sweet home.

This place is legend!
I am now a fan of Skyline Chili! The unique taste was delicious!
We ordered the fresh cut fries, the coney dogs, and spaghetti. Order the 3 or 4 way! I think I like the dogs the best!
The restaurant is simple and very clean. They have dogs on the griddle, and food in the middle just ready to serve!
I loved our waitress, she loves her job and it shows! She made recommendations, was quick to fill our drinks, and made the visit extra pleasant!
This place was packed for Friday lunch! I wanna go back!
Enjoy!

It’s downtown, so it’s not open late. It’s not the location that serves beer, nor does it serve fries.
So there you go basic skyline! It’s crazy crowded for lunch, but if you go in and go to the right, there’s a rope and a counter top that you can order to go. A lot of times that a quicker alternative, and that guy is ON IT! The staff is friendly and they’re quick, since they know most people have a short lunch. Also this location has some of the best wraps I’ve had of any location!

I visited this place on my first trip to Cincinatti and was a little worried because some of the reviews I’d seen, but on my visit I had literally nothing to complain about. The restaurant was clean, the waitress was nice, and the food was good. I had the vegetarian burrito with the black beans, since I’m not much of a meat eater, but I did try the chili 3 way and it was surprisingly yummy! Their chili tastes WAY different than most chili (probably because of cinnamon and other spices), and this serving wasn’t very meaty – so if you really like ordinary chili, you might not like Skyline’s. However, I usually hate most chili recipes, so to me, this was the best chili I’ve ever had. And I definitely liked the pile of cheese they put on everything!

Had to go visit this place and check it out because they said it’s a «must» if you’re visiting Cincinnati. I was not impressed with the taste at all. I would pick Costco’s hotdog anytime. The chili was watered down, there’s hardly any meat or beans. It was not spicy either. It is way overloaded with cheese but still that didn’t help much with the taste. The service was superb! The crew even gave each of us a small bowl to taste the chili on spaghetti noodles. They gave us freebies for souvenirs and checked on us often and spent a few minutes to chat with us. I would go back just for the service.

Great service! I don’t know what is the big deal about it. If you are a teenager, I can get it if you want chili cheese fries or the 5 way chili. It was slow time time since I visited them around dinner. It should have been a lunch type of meal instead of dinner, but it was getting a little late and beggars were out in force. I also had the coney dog. It was a little small but it was the perfect size since I had medium size chili. Be sure to get a soda to wash down the food or you you will burping chili all night.

I work downtown so I come here for lunch often. Obviously the typical skyline food but they always seem to have a table even when it’s packed. Service is always quick and very friendly. Definitely recommended especially if you have a time limit on lunch!

If you’re looking for Chili Cheese Fries, go to a different location — they don’t have fries at this location… just had to get that out there.
This is my second favorite Skyline so far. The main problem with this skyline (and it seems like this is true of all downtown Skylines) is that it’s not open late. The taste of the chili at this location is pretty consistent with the one at Clifton (the one to which I hold all my standards). The serving staff is very friendly for the most part — there is one of them though, that doesn’t seem to show emotion at all — I wonder about her. And be forewarned — they get pretty busy at lunchtime — duh! It’s located downtown — if you don’t mind waiting, I’d suggesting going around 1 or 1:15 when it’s less crowded — you can still get in and out pretty quickly because they are efficient.

Stopped by this Skyline this past weekend while I was waiting for the bus home. I was a little surprised they closed at 9pm on a Friday night, but it’s better than 8pm (which is what the door said).
The staff was AMAZING! Food is usually pretty consistent with the coney joints, so no news to report. But seriously… everybody that said anything to me was incredible gracious and hospitable.
Skyline’s not my first choice for coneys, but I’d definitely suggest going to this one.

The only thing I can say about this place is that they have the BEST chili I have ever had outside of the home! I got the 3-​Way (noodles topped off with chili and shredded cheese), and they did not disappoint! The food was awesome and the service was even better. So good in fact that my wife and I ended up buying two cans of the chili at the airport to take home with us, and we couldn’t wait to have it, the food was gone within the first 24 hours we were home!

A love poem:
Oh Skyline, with your coneys so bright.
Won’t you fill me for the night.
Chili and dog and all the toppings.
Always makes my heart go stopping.
Your familiar taste, your glowing sign.
Your store so clean, your staff so fine.
I love you so, downtown, there’s no other.
Why can’t you be open late.
Like your Clifton brother.

Hard to differentiate the Skyline locations, but this is a good one. Clean, food’s good, staff is friendly. Not much else to say and I’m certainly not going to explain Cincinnati chili. That’s what Google’s for.
I mainly wanted to make a point that they close at 5pm. This is the closest Skyline to the southern OTR, so it kind of threw me off when I came in for some chili before some beer. I planned on starting early but ended up starting really early.

Came here for a bite of chili since our original plan to grab dinner at Jean Robert’s Table was foiled by it being closed on Sundays. I’m not a huge fan of chili (very unsettling to the GI tract) but believe in being adventurous with food.
We sat at the countertop and ordered a Skyline Cheese Coney to share. We also ordered the 5-​way EXTREME (spicy) regular spaghetti to share. My boyfriend noted that the coney was better here than at the ballpark. I thought it was again, just ok.
The spaghetti with spicy cheese was surprisingly very good. Still turned off by the huge piles of shredded cheddar cheese that sits on top of it but we mixed it in with the spaghetti to melt it a bit.
Our service here was very friendly as well. Glad that we had a Skyline experience!

This is my fav Skyline. I have eaten at all 3 of them in downtown Cincinnati and this location is the best.
The food is hot, the staff is friendly, funny and very attentive. They know how to serve a «juicy» 5 way.
I work on 4^th Street, believe me, it is worth the walk.

This was Skyline’s first franchise and is well run, clean and orderly — versus the corporate store 3 blocks south. The waitresses are friendly & attentive and the food is great…