What is Cincinnati style chili?

Cincinnati chili (or Cincinnati-style chili) is a Mediterranean-spiced meat sauce used as a topping for spaghetti or hot dogs ("coneys"); both dishes were developed by immigrant restaurateurs in the 1920s. In 2013, Smithsonian named one local chili parlor one of the "20 Most Iconic Food Destinations in America". Its name evokes comparison to chili con carne, but the two are dissimilar in consistency, flavor, and serving method; Cincinnati chili more closely resembles Greek pasta sauces and spiced-meat hot dog topping sauces seen in other parts of the United States.

Ingredients include ground beef, water or stock, tomato paste, spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, clove, cumin, chili powder, bay leaf, and in some home recipes unsweetened dark chocolate in a soupy consistency. Customary toppings include cheddar cheese, onions, and beans; specific combinations of toppings are known as "ways". The most popular order is a "three-way", which adds shredded cheese to the chili-topped spaghetti (a "two-way"), while a "four-way" or "five-way" adds onions and/or beans before topping with the cheese. Ways are often served with oyster crackers and a mild hot sauce. Cincinnati chili is almost never served or eaten by the bowl.

While served in many local restaurants, it is most often associated with the over 250 independent and chain "chili parlors" (restaurants specializing in Cincinnati chili) found throughout greater Cincinnati with franchise locations throughout Ohio and in Kentucky, Indiana, Florida, and the Middle East. The dish is the Cincinnati area's best-known regional food.

Cincinnati chili is a cinnamon and nutmeg flavored meat sauce with a soupy consistency, that is served over plain spaghetti noodles with optional toppings of shredded cheddar, diced white onion, and/or kidney beans, and a side of oyster crackers.   It is also served on top of mini hotdogs known as "coneys."  The way to order like a native is to describe your order as a "three-way," "four-way," or "five-way" the number reflecting the additional toppings desired.  For example, "four-way bean" is a platter of spaghetti with meat sauce, cheese and kidney beans, whereas a "three-way" is spaghetti, meat sauce and cheese only.  A 'five way" is everything - spaghetti, meat sauce, cheese, beans, and diced onion.