findlay market chili cook off this sunday

today i received an email from some findlay market fans asking me to come out to the chili cook off this sunday at 1:30 and blog about it. i'm lazy so i don't think i'm going to blog about it again but here is a link to my post about it last year. you should definitely go, it is really fun and you get lots of free delicious (and some not so delicious) chili.

i did not ask their permission but i am pretty sure the findlay market people are going to be cool with me stealing this image

i will be there again this year so here is your opportunity to stalk me, stalkers (you know who you are). feel free to ogle me from afar and/or come up and say hi, but please refrain from touching me or i will cut you. thanks.

pleasant ridge chili

(note: this post was cowritten by me and maggie. her comments are in blue.)

when i was in college at michigan state, we used to go to canada all the time because the legal drinking age there is 19 and it was only about an hour and a half away. back then border crossing was easy (you didn't even need a passport) and as long as you could find a car and some sucker willing to volunteer for DD duty, you were good.

eat here now

we usually went to windsor since it was right across the border but occasionally we would go for a weekend in toronto. when we did, we would always stop at some random little diner to eat poutine. in case you have never had this culinary masterpiece, i will describe it for you. poutine is originally from quebec i think which means it is easier to find the closer you get to quebec (hence why we could get it in toronto but not in windsor). it is just french fries covered in cheese curds and beef gravy. it is damn tasty.

DAMN TASTY! I only had it once when I was in Ottawa back in 2002, but it instantly shot up to my top ten favorite bar foods.

this photo makes me feel super artistic

i remember reading in a polly campbell blurb at some point that poutine could be found in some little town in northern kentucky. however, poutine is for me really just middle of the night post drinking food so i am not going to haul my ass all the way down there to eat it.

well then one day it was revealed to me by some charitable soul (i can't remember who) that pleasant ridge chili served "gravy cheese fries." once i found that out, i had to go there. coincidentally, right around that time i became friends with maggie and ryan who are obsessed with pleasant ridge chili.

i can't really remember what was going on here

Our obsession started back in November after a family friend who grew up in Pleasant Ridge told us about his favorite place for Cincinnati chili. I am addicted to coneys so I had to check it out with Ryan. It was love at first bite. In the past 6 months we've been so many times that we lost count. It is the place we go the most in Cincinnati (it helps that it isn't too expensive).

for months maggie and i talked about going there but it never happened. but then last weekend after a long night of westside bar crawling, the time was right and we made our way to pleasant ridge.

the spread

the first thing you notice about pleasant ridge chili is that it seems as if you have stepped back in time. the restaurant and its employees are straight out of the 60s. then you look around and realize this is maybe one of the most diverse (in every way possible) crowd you have ever seen in cincinnati. then you look at the food people are eating and you think you have died and gone to gravy cheese heaven.

pleasant ridge chili is open mon-sat from 9 am to 4:30 am. yes, 4:30 am. readers, add this place to the short list of late night dining options in cincinnati. we rolled in at around 2:30 and the place was busy. however, the service is fast and friendly even at that hour.

ryan and maggie chow down

now the moment of truth... the food. maggie and i both ordered gravy cheese fries and a cheese coney. ryan was feeling less gluttonous and stuck to a small three way and a coney. the coneys were fine but nothing special.

the cheese fries were amazing. we both got crinkle fries (you could also get thick home fries) and they were completely covered in shredded cheddar cheese and absolutely dripping with gravy. the gravy was good but a little salty. it tasted like kfc gravy which i love so i liked it.

i stuff my face

I think the coneys are special. So special that when I 'forget' my lunch at my job in Norwood, I drive up Montgomery Road, stop at an ATM, order two, drive back and eat them at my desk. I haven't tried Camp Washington or Dixie, but I definitely think these are better than Skyline. The chili has just a hint of cinnamon and the other spices blend together for an overall Delicious taste. I bet that a competitor on Top Chef would have a hard time picking out the subtleties. I love how the waitresses always ask me if I want mustard and onions added to my coney. Also to note about the cheese (used on the gravy cheese fries) is that it is the trademark Cincinnati shredded cheese. I love that stuff and can eat buckets of it. It gets even better when you douse it with gravy.

i could not finish my fries because my belly started to hurt. at that point i just picked off clumps of gravy soaked cheese and crammed them into my mouth. my belly kept hurting so eventually i had to stop.

me attempting to be artistic again

we went home and when i woke up the next morning, i felt great. no hangover. gravy cheese fries are not only delicious but they work miracles. they are not quite as awesome as poutine, but they are damn good and i'll take what i can get.

I think I saw the image of Jesus in my fries. Next time, I'll check for the Virgin Mary.