Food History of Cincinnati

Key eras

1788 to 1830, the frontier river city

Cincinnati was founded in 1788 as Losantiville, renamed Cincinnati in 1790, and grew quickly as the first major US city west of the Alleghenies. By 1820 it processed so many hogs that visitors called the city Porkopolis, and the meat-packing trade laid the foundations for a pork-heavy regional cuisine that still produces goetta, mettwurst and ribs.

1830 to 1880, the German wave and brewing capital

Two waves of German immigration arrived through the 1830s to 1850s and after the 1848 revolutions. By 1900 German speakers were the largest language group, and Over-the-Rhine became the densest German tenement district outside Milwaukee. The 1880s saw 35-plus active breweries including Christian Moerlein (founded 1853), John Hauck and Bellevue.

1855 to today, Findlay Market

Findlay Market opened in 1855 on land donated by James Findlay's estate and has run continuously since, making it the oldest continuously operated public market in Ohio. The 1902 iron and brick market house still anchors the OTR food district, with year-round vendors and a weekend Outdoor Farmers Market from spring through fall.

1870 to today, Graeter's French-pot ice cream

Louis Charles Graeter opened a small ice cream shop on Court Street in 1870 and adapted a French-pot process: small batches in 2.5-gallon copper pots, hand-folded with chocolate chunks. The black raspberry chocolate chip is the canonical flavor and Graeter's still uses the same process today across more than 50 scoop shops.

1922 to today, the Cincinnati chili era

Macedonian immigrant brothers Tom and John Kiradjieff opened the Empress chili parlor on Vine Street in 1922, next to the Empress burlesque theater. Their thin Mediterranean-spiced meat sauce with cinnamon, allspice and cocoa was served over spaghetti to stretch budgets. Camp Washington Chili followed in 1940, Skyline in 1949 and Gold Star in 1965, defining the regional staple.

1919 to 1970, Prohibition and the slow decline

Prohibition shut nearly every Cincinnati brewery in 1919 and most never reopened. OTR's population fell from over 45,000 in 1900 to under 10,000 by 1970 as industry left and the German population assimilated. The Empress chili parlor closed in 1953, and many original German rooms shuttered or moved west across the city.

2003 to today, the OTR revival

The 2003 Cincinnati civil unrest accelerated abandonment in OTR. 3CDC, a public-private nonprofit, led redevelopment from 2004 on. Senate opened in 2010, followed by Sotto, Salazar, Abigail Street, Bakersfield and Pepp and Dolores. Rhinegeist took over an 1895 Moerlein bottling plant in 2013 and Mellotone Beer Project opened inside the 1850 St. Paul's German church on Race Street in 2024 (the longtime Taft's Ale House space, vacated late 2023).

Immigrant influences

• German: Brewing capital between 1880 and Prohibition, plus goetta, mettwurst, beer brats and a long beer-garden tradition. Oktoberfest Zinzinnati still draws hundreds of thousands every September.
• Macedonian and Greek: The Kiradjieff brothers invented Cincinnati chili at the Empress in 1922, fusing Mediterranean spices with American spaghetti. Macedonian families opened many early Cincinnati coney counters.
• Italian: Strong post-1880 Italian arrival, with families like the LaRosas opening pizzerias from 1954 onward. The regional Cincinnati sweet-sauce square pizza style differs from New York or Detroit and is dominated by LaRosa's.
• Eastern European Jewish: Cincinnati's Jewish community founded Izzy's deli in 1901 (reuben and potato pancakes), Hebrew Union College in 1875, and seeded the kosher-style delicatessen tradition that ran through the 20th century.
• Appalachian: The 20th-century Appalachian migration from Eastern Kentucky and West Virginia, especially post-WWII, shaped Cincinnati's barbecue and country-food traditions and the regional appetite for goetta hash and country ham.

Signature innovations

• Cincinnati chili (Empress, 1922): Mediterranean-spiced meat sauce over spaghetti
• Goetta: pork-and-pinhead-oats breakfast porridge from German immigration
• The cheese coney: Cincinnati chili over hot dog with onions, mustard, cheddar
• Graeter's French-pot ice cream: 2.5-gallon copper pots, hand-folded chocolate chunks
• LaRosa's square sweet-sauce pizza: regional Cincinnati pizza style since 1954
• Montgomery Inn ribs: loin back ribs with the Ribs King secret sauce