Years ago, a food writer friend of mine from New York visited me in Cincinnati. She was attending a festival downtown, so I took her to the Skyline Chili on East Fourth Street. When she walked inside and saw dozens customers in business attire cutting up their 3-ways and sucking down cheese coneys, she said, “I had no idea this was a lunch thing. I always thought you ate this stuff when you were drunk.”
In Cincinnati, our chili is a way of life. And cheese coneys are one of our favorite ways to enjoy it. They’re something we long for as a workday lunch, a late-night snack or even a side dish when we order a classic 4-way of spaghetti, chili, cheese and onions (at least that’s what I do).
Outsiders might be taken aback by the amount of shredded neon cheddar cheese that tops them. But in Cincinnati, the more cheese, the better.
The coney itself is not unique to the Queen City. While they were named after the chili dogs once served by Greek and Macedonian immigrants at New York’s Coney Island, they are mostly popular in the Midwest, where many of those immigrants ended up.
These days, you can find different versions of the coney in Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota and, of course, Ohio. But only the Cincinnati coney comes with that heap of cheddar and, more notably, our legendary cinnamon-spiked chili.
Why the cheese coney is as American as it gets
Hot dogs are truly the all-American food. They were “invented” in the U.S. after German sausages were served in buns. They’re a staple of baseball games — the all-American pastime. But even more, hot dogs are American because of their adaptability, reflecting the ingenuity and diversity that gives our country such a rich culinary tapestry.
And in the pantheon of hot dogs, the cheese coney is Greater Cincinnati’s greatest contribution. Invented by immigrants. Beloved at Reds games and affordable enough for everyone, they’re as American as they come.
What is a cheese coney?
In its most basic form, the Cincinnati cheese coney is a hot dog topped with Cincinnati-style chili and a mound of finely shredded cheddar cheese on a bun. You can also add the standard yellow mustard and onions, or depending which parlor you choose, raw garlic or fried jalapenos.
While the cheese coney is similar to a standard chili dog found in other parts of the country, it’s the Cincinnati chili that truly sets it apart. So says Farideh Sadeghin, author of the fantastic (and very fun) new cookbook “The Hot Dog Cookbook: 50 Recipes for the World’s Best Food.” She believes Cincinnati chili is superior to more popular Texas-style chili as a hot dog topper.
“What a lot of people don’t understand about traditional hot dog chili is that, compared to a more classic Texas-style chili, it’s a bit thinner and more finely ground and spiced differently,” Sadeghin told The Enquirer. “That’s especially true with chili from Cincinnati. Macedonian and Greek immigrants added all sorts of warm spices to it, such as cinnamon, allspice, and cloves, the combination of which results in something savory-sweet and perfect on a salty hot dog.”
Where did the cheese coney come from?
According to local food historian Dann Woellert, the Cincinnati coney was born soon after brothers Athanas “Tom” Kiradjieff and Ivan “John” Kiradjieff — who were from Macedonia — opened the Empress Chili Parlor next door to a burlesque theater in 1922. The Kiradjieffs topped their coneys with an Americanized version of saltsa kima, a Greek meat stew that they mixed with spaghetti or ladled on top of hot dogs, which they called Coney Islands.
The cheese topping came later, supposedly when a customer asked if the brothers could top his plate of spaghetti and chili with cheddar cheese. Apparently that customer, whose name is forever lost to history, was on to something. The Kiradjieffs put it on the menu, calling the spaghetti, chili and cheese combo a “three-way” to make it easier to shout out orders to the cooks. And they started topping their coneys with cheese, too.
3 places to grab a great cheese coney in Cincinnati
While local chains Skyline Chili and Gold Star are the most popular places for cheese coneys, there are dozens of neighborhood parlors throughout Greater Cincinnati worth checking out. Each has its own unique personality. And while their chili tastes similar to one another, you can bet there’s a secret ingredient or two for each one.
Price Hill Chili
Opened in 1961, this neighborhood parlor is known for its fierce allegiance to nearby Elder High School. It’s a place students and parents gather to toast the school’s football victories or wallow in its defeats. Be sure to order your cheese coney with some their Greek seasoning-dusted fries. You can up the Cincinnati factor of your coney by replacing the hot dog with a classic mett, a spicy Cincinnati sausage, from Queen City Sausage. Details: 4920 Glenway Ave., West Price Hill, 513-471-9507, pricehillchili.com.
P&S Family Diner
This classic diner, located inside an unassuming strip mall, was started by the Stojevski and Pavloski families, two couples who immigrated to Cincinnati from Macedonia. The Stojevskis’ daughter, Melissa, runs the show. Aside from chili, P&S offers a menu of smoky ham and bean soup, loaded grits, double-decker sandwiches and omelets stuffed with goetta (another Cincinnati staple) and pepper jack cheese. But their 3-ways and cheese coneys are where it’s at. Details: 3512 Springdale Road, Colerain Township, 513-741-4423, psfamilydiner.com.
Camp Washington Chili
You know this parlor is iconic the second you walk in the door. Hundreds of articles from local and national publications adorn the walls. And then there’s that James Beard Award hanging on the wall. In fact, Camp Washington Chili is the only local restaurant that’s earned one. The chili here is beefier and chewier than other versions. For decades, Camp Washington was owned by Johnny Johnson, who started working at the parlor in 1951. Johnson died in 2025, but his daughter, Maria Papakirk, keeps her father’s legacy alive. Details: 3005 Colerain Ave., Camp Washington, 513-541-0061, campwashingtonchili.com.
Jennifer Borresen contributed the interactive graphic to this story. She is a graphic journalist at USA TODAY, specializing in explanatory graphics and illustrations in various fields, including politics, science, weather and entertainment.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: America didn’t ask for the cheese coney. Cincinnati made it anyway
Reporting by Keith Pandolfi and Jennifer Borresen, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Keith Pandolfi and Jennifer Borresen, Cincinnati Enquirer | USA TODAY Network
