The plates that define Cincinnati: what they are, where they came from, and where to eat the canonical version.
Signature dishes
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Cincinnati chili ★ 4.9
Cincinnati chili is a thin Mediterranean-spiced meat sauce poured over spaghetti as a 3-way, or with beans (4-way) and onions (5-way). Cinnamon, allspice and cocoa season the meat.
Where to try it: Camp Washington Chili, Skyline Chili Clifton, Gold Star Chili
Price: $6-12
Invented in 1922 by Macedonian immigrant brothers Tom and John Kiradjieff at the Empress chili parlor on Vine Street, next to the Empress burlesque theater. The Kiradjieffs adapted a Mediterranean meat stew to American spaghetti as a way to stretch budgets. Camp Washington Chili (1940), Skyline Chili (1949) and Gold Star Chili (1965) made it a regional staple. Camp Washington won the James Beard America's Classic award in 2000.
Watch out for: Gluten, Dairy
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Cheese coney ★ 4.7
The Cincinnati cheese coney is a steamed hot dog in a soft bun, topped with Cincinnati chili, diced raw onion, yellow mustard and a thick blanket of shredded mild cheddar.
Where to try it: Skyline Chili Clifton, Camp Washington Chili, Gold Star Chili
Price: $3-5
The coney was born alongside Cincinnati chili at the 1922 Empress chili parlor as a quick, cheap counter dish. By the 1950s it had spread across the Cincinnati area's chili parlors, becoming as essential to the city's food identity as the 3-way. Skyline Chili's coneys are the most familiar regional version; Camp Washington Chili runs the late-night equivalent.
Watch out for: Gluten, Dairy
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Goetta ★ 4.6
Goetta is a Cincinnati-Northern-Kentucky pork-and-pinhead-oats breakfast porridge, sliced into golden pan-fried slabs and served alongside eggs and toast.
Where to try it: Sugar n' Spice, Sleepy Bee Cafe Oakley
Price: $4-9
Goetta arrived with German immigrants from the 1840s onward, especially from northern Germany and the Rhineland-Westphalia area. The pork-and-grain porridge stretched cheap meat into a hearty breakfast. Robert Glier's Meats opened in Covington, Kentucky in 1946 and became the dominant brand. The Glier's Goettafest, held over two weekends in late July and early August in Newport, draws hundreds of thousands.
Watch out for: Gluten
Book food experiences in Cincinnati
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Graeter's French-pot ice cream ★ 4.8
Graeter's French-pot ice cream is small-batch ice cream made in 2.5-gallon copper pots, hand-folded with chocolate chunks. The black raspberry chocolate chip is the canonical flavor.
Where to try it: Graeter's Hyde Park, Findlay Market
Price: $6-12
Louis Charles Graeter opened a small ice cream shop on Court Street in Cincinnati in 1870. He adapted a French-pot process he had learned, freezing ice cream in 2.5-gallon spinning copper pots one batch at a time. His widow Regina took over after his death in 1919 and grew the business. The same family still runs Graeter's today, with the same French-pot process used across all 50-plus locations in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.
Watch out for: Dairy
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LaRosa's square pizza ★ 4.3
LaRosa's pizza is the Cincinnati regional style: square-cut pie with a thin crust and a sweet tomato sauce, finished with a blanket of provolone over Italian sausage or pepperoni.
Where to try it: LaRosa's Pizzeria Boudinot, Dewey's Pizza Oakley
Price: $10-22
Buddy LaRosa opened the first LaRosa's Pizzeria on Boudinot Avenue in Westwood in 1954, using his aunt Dena's secret pizza sauce recipe. The square-cut, sweet-sauced regional style differs from New York thin or Detroit deep, becoming the defining Cincinnati pizza. The chain now has more than 60 locations across the metro and the original Boudinot Avenue store still operates.
Watch out for: Gluten, Dairy
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Montgomery Inn ribs ★ 4.5
Montgomery Inn ribs are loin back pork ribs first par-boiled then grilled, finished with the Montgomery Inn secret-recipe barbecue sauce, sweet and tangy with vinegar bite.
Where to try it: Montgomery Inn Boathouse
Price: $28-42
Ted Gregory opened the original Montgomery Inn on Montgomery Road in 1951. His wife Matula prepared the sauce-glazed loin back ribs that became the venue's signature dish. The Boathouse opened on Riverside Drive in 1989, taking the Cincinnati ribs concept to the Ohio River waterfront. The Gregory family still owns and runs the venue, and the secret sauce is bottled and sold regionally.
Watch out for: Gluten
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Wispy thin pancakes ★ 4.5
Wispy thin pancakes are the Sugar n' Spice signature: paper-thin crepe-like pancakes cooked golden and stacked, served with butter and warm syrup at the Cincinnati diner since 1941.
Where to try it: Sugar n' Spice
Price: $8-12
Sugar n' Spice opened on Reading Road in Paddock Hills in 1941. The wispy thin pancake, somewhere between a French crepe and an American flapjack, became the diner's signature dish from the early years. The exact batter recipe is a closely held family secret. The diner has stayed open under the same family ownership for over 80 years and still serves them golden and stacked alongside eggs and bacon every breakfast.
Watch out for: Gluten, Dairy, Eggs
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Senate duck-fat fries ★ 4.4
Senate duck-fat fries are the OTR gastropub signature: hand-cut fries cooked in duck fat and tossed with fresh rosemary, served alongside craft hot dogs at Daniel Wright's Senate.
Where to try it: Senate
Price: $7-10
Dan and Lana Wright opened Senate in OTR in 2010, helping reset Cincinnati's restaurant tier after the 2003 unrest. The duck-fat fries, tossed with fresh rosemary, became a viral early signature alongside the lobster bisque and craft hot dogs. The original Vine Street room closed during the pandemic and Senate returned to OTR at 1538 Race Street, where the duck-fat fries are still on the menu unchanged.
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Izzy's potato pancake ★ 4.3
Izzy's potato pancake is a Cincinnati deli classic: a giant, golden hand-grated pancake the size of a salad plate, served alongside the reuben sandwich at Izzy's since 1901.
Where to try it: Izzy's
Price: $5-10
Izzy Kadetz opened Izzy's deli on Elm Street in 1901, serving the Cincinnati Jewish community with kosher-style classics. The giant potato pancake became a signature item from early in the deli's history. The Kadetz family ran the deli for four generations. The current ownership still serves the same Reuben and potato pancake at the original Elm Street location.
Watch out for: Gluten, Eggs
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Opera cream torte ★ 4.6
Opera cream torte is a Cincinnati confection: chocolate cake layered with vanilla opera cream filling and enrobed in chocolate glaze, the BonBonerie signature for over 30 years.
Where to try it: BonBonerie
Price: $8-12 per slice
Opera cream is a Cincinnati regional candy: a soft vanilla cream confection coated in chocolate, dating to the early 1900s when Cincinnati's many Italian and German chocolatiers produced small cream candies. BonBonerie's owners Mary Pat Pace and Sharon Butler scaled the candy into a cake: a chocolate cake layered with vanilla opera cream filling and enrobed in dark chocolate, finished with shavings.
Watch out for: Gluten, Dairy, Eggs
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Liege waffle ★ 4.4
Liege waffle is a Belgian street-food specialty popularized in Cincinnati by Taste of Belgium: dense, caramelized waffle with pearl sugar fused into the dough, sold from a counter window.
Where to try it: Taste of Belgium OTR
Price: $6-14
Jean-Francois Flechet, a Belgian native, opened the first Taste of Belgium stall at Findlay Market in 2007, importing Belgian pearl-sugar Liege waffles to Cincinnati. The dough is yeast-leavened (not batter) and the pearl sugar caramelizes on the iron, giving the signature crunch-and-tender texture. Cincinnati now has multiple Taste of Belgium locations, the OTR flagship the largest.
Watch out for: Gluten, Dairy, Eggs
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Beer brats and German fare ★ 4.3
Cincinnati beer brats are Bavarian-style bratwurst simmered in beer and grilled, served at the city's old-line German rooms with sauerkraut, mustard and rye bread.
Where to try it: Rhinegeist Brewery, MadTree Brewing
Price: $10-16
Cincinnati's German heritage came in two waves: post-1830 from Baden, Wurttemberg and Bavaria, and post-1848 political refugees. By 1900, German speakers were the city's largest language group. Beer brats, mettwurst and sauerkraut became staples in OTR taverns and the western German neighborhoods. The Moerlein Lager House on Joe Nuxhall Way carries the German brewing line at the riverfront today.
Watch out for: Gluten
Signature Dishes in Cincinnati, FAQ
What food is Cincinnati known for?
Cincinnati's signature dishes include Cincinnati chili, Cheese coney, Goetta, Graeter's French-pot ice cream, LaRosa's square pizza. See our signature dishes chapter for where to eat each.