Empress Chili

I ate empress chili parlor in the late 50s in Cincinnati at the original pallor! . Back then they had waiters that took your order and brought it to you. That is long gone, but the taste of the chili and cheese coney are the same. The facility is much cleaner and more modern than the original chili parlor I really enjoyed my meal there.One other thing, the coneys was $.25 each they're over $2.50 now but still worth it I will return!

Lifelong Cincinnati guy, and Empress was my favorite back in the day that every neighborhood had an independent chili parlor and the chains weren't yet dominate. Empress was the original Cincy chili and locations once dotted the city, though Alexandria is now a unicorn, the last of its kind.I made the trek from Cincinnati to have it one last time recently. It had been decades since I'd had it, so I can't say for sure whether the recipe has changed or my recollection is faulty, but it didn't taste the same, in particular the spices, which were noticeably more restrained. I believe Camp Washington Chili bought the chain some years ago, and the influence was apparent. It's good and the staff was friendly, but it's not the Empress I remember.

I thought the cheese coney was great. The chili by itself was runny, lacked salt and additional sweetness. By the way I love chili with cinnamon and make it myself at home. I also add maple syrup to sweeten a little more. The 3 way my wife and son loved. I wasn't crazy about the runny chili by itself but that does not mean I did not like it. I just thought it lacked certain ingredients to make it spectacular, but that's just my palette talking.

Still my favorite chili in Cincinnati. Wish there was more than 1 location. On top of everything, it's Cincinnati Chili Week. Great deals!

I love this place. Super good chili and very good services. It's got a retro style and I like it.

This is one of my favorite chili joints around. It feels and taste more authentic than the other top chains around. So I like it, but when I'm up this way with my children they always ask for Empress vs the others.

I have recently developed a curiosity for Cincinnati chili. I figured, why not start with the originator. To my surprise, I had to drive 30 minutes from the city over to Kentucky to experience the original Cincinnati chili. That's a shame but the location was nice. They still have their dining room closed so I had to order from their app and eat it in my truck. It's pretty cool they have their own app. I ordered a 5 way and a coney. Everything was good. I sort of expected more flavor but what I had was tasty. I would love it if these types of places would offer an all beef dog as an upgrade. I would gladly pay for it. This was the start of my Cincinnati chili journey so I have many more places to visit. I'm not sure when I would make it back here as it is way off the beaten path of my usual travels. If I owned the originator of Cincinnati chili, I would do my damnedest to have a presence downtown.

Empress has continued to be one of my long-standing go to of the Cincinnati style chili parlours. This one flies under the radar as there isn't many Empress locations left (this is actually the only one that I know of. Please tell me if there are others.) In any case they have all of the basics like Coney's, Ways, as well as deli sandwiches. They also have some unique menu items such as Chili pizzas as I've raved about in the past and the "Spa-goney" which I got this time. It comes with chili, cheese, (and onions if you prefer. I left them off mine.) It's just like a coney only instead of the hot dog thry put spaghetti on there. It's very messy but very delicious and is definitely worth checking out. I also got 3 Cheese Coney's with Extra mustard and no onions. They have above average tasting chili here as well as what I'd call the best shredded cheddar cheese of any chili parlour (or anywhere else for that matter.) The service was satisfactory and the restaurant was clean so with the delicious food this was a great dining experience at Empress once again.

Always the best service and the Chili is awesome. The 5 ways and Coney are just as great.

Have to get the chili cheese pizza and the chicken salad here!! A nice, small business that always has great customer service