Skyline Chili, Dayton Ohio

While on travel to Dayton for business, one of my colleagues who grew up around here suggested we go to Skyline Chili for dinner.  Not knowing what to expect, and not really registering that a chili place probably only served chili,  I said sure why not.

Can I just say, YUM!  I love this kind of place. The kind of those places that specializes in one thing, and does it really well.  And bonus, because of that, the food came out quick… in like 3 minutes after we ordered!

When we got there it was fairly crowded, but we were seated immediately.  The server, Catherine, was really nice. And peppy… but really just kind and funny!

There were only a few choices on the menu. Their specialty (chili) came in a variety of options which included sizes (small, medium, large), and combinations of toppings including beans or onions. Then there were these things called comeys which are small hot dogs, also smothered in chili and cheese.

At this point I still didn’t really know what to expect. I saw one picture that looked like chili over spaghetti and thought, hmm that’s interesting… But when I ordered I just thought I was getting a bowl of chili. But, no!

A few minutes later our orders arrived and the first thing I notice is a huge tower of shredded cheese on top of a big plate/bowl thing of chili. There was no way I was eating all that cheese so I slid it some of it over to another plate, but as I dug my fork into the chili I hit piles of spaghetti underneath!  Woah, what a cool idea!  I eat chili at home all the time and never even thought of putting it on pasta. We always eat our chili with cornbread.

I dug in and took the first bite and I have to say, hands down that was the best chili I ever had. I have to figure out this entire recipe, but it had cinnamon undertones, and nutmeg or something slightly smokey? I’m not sure but it was amazing. But, not spicey at all… But, they had a homemade hot sauce on the table that added a great kick. I ended up just enjoying most of my dinner without the hot sauce because I didn’t want to mask the flavor.

I tried a comey as well. It was a small hot dog on a bun, with tons of cheese and chili. Melted in my mouth. The waitress said they steamed the buns. Oh my what a great dinner treat!