Ohio's Best Hole-In-The-Wall Restaurant Is A Hot Spot For Chili

Travelers have many food choices, from high-end restaurants to familiar fast food. But beloved hole-in-the-wall spots are where you can often best experience an area's food scene. Food Republic did a deep dive into the best hole-in-the-wall restaurants in each U.S. state based on public opinion, awards, and press recognition, and Ohio's pick was Camp Washington Chili, which has been dishing up Cincinnati-style chili for more than eight decades.

Cincinnati's iconic chili — just one of the many types of chili to know – is relatively thin, beef-based, and seasoned with spices like cinnamon and chile powder, and is usually served over spaghetti or hot dogs called Coneys, sometimes with oyster crackers. In local parlance, you eat at chili "parlors" and can order the spaghetti "three-way," piled high with shredded cheddar cheese; "four-way," topped with beans or onions and cheese; or "five-way," with beans, onions, and cheese. Meanwhile, a cheese Coney is a chili dog with cheddar.

Camp Washington makes chili with government-inspected beef ground daily. Originally, lean bull meat was used for its firmness, as some 60 gallons of chili were cooked fresh throughout the day. Sourcing issues forced a switch to regular ground beef, which still has some chew (per Cincinnati Enquirer). The sauce is made with garlic, onions, tomato paste, and a secret spice blend known only to family members of late owner Johnny Johnson, his daughter Maria Papakirk told Eater.com. Workers shred the Wisconsin cheddar every day, and the Coneys are made with meat from a local slaughterhouse. Papakirk also shared that the restaurant uses thicker spaghetti than other parlors to support the toppings, and cooks it a little softer than al dente.

Johnny Johnson immigrated from Greece as a 15-year-old in 1951 and began working at Camp Washington, which his uncle opened in 1940. Johnson, who died in October 2025 at age 90, never left, buying the eatery in 1977 and working there every day until he was 85. He made changes to the chili recipe when he took over, and his palate was apparently on the money. Camp Washington won a James Beard American Regional Classic award in 2000, and has earned lots of praise, including by Bon Appétit and Smithsonian magazines, and shows like Food Network's "Man vs. Food."

Named after its neighborhood, Camp Washington serves its chili in ways beyond the classic spaghetti and hot dog versions. Its 513-way features a popular regional sausage called goetta (an old-school Midwestern food) with chili, onions, beans, and cheese. There's also a Naked Coney Bowl with the hot dog in the chili, chili sandwiches, grilled cheese chili melts, chili cheeseburgers, chili cheese wraps, chili taco salad, chili cheese fries, chili cheese nachos, and even a chili cheese breakfast omelet. While Camp Washington may not have invented Cincinnati chili (that honor goes to brothers Tom and John Kiradjieff from Macedonia, who opened Empress Chili Parlor in 1922), it stands as a testament to the enduring allure of this meaty regional meal.