Camp Washington Chili Keeps Cincinnati Diner Traditions on the Table

A mound of finely shredded cheese over spaghetti and chili is a very Cincinnati way to begin a meal, and Camp Washington Chili has been serving that regional ritual since 1940. The longtime diner puts Cincinnati-style chili at the center of the menu, but the meal can quickly expand into coneys, breakfast plates, sandwiches, Greek-inspired dishes, pie and a shake.

The setting has its own staying power. Neon lights brighten a room furnished with retro tables and chairs, while photographs, articles and memorabilia cover the walls. It is a diner with enough visual history to occupy you while deciding between a three-way and a patty melt.

Camp Washington Chili is often treated as a dedicated stop for the city’s signature dish, yet it works just as comfortably as a full meal destination. A person who comes in for chili can leave having found a favorite burger, gyro, breakfast sandwich or slice of coconut pie.

Cincinnati-style chili is not simply a bowl of standard chili with a regional label. Here, it comes with a rich, bold character, a coarse beef texture and a noticeable but pleasant bit of heat. The flavor is mild enough to keep eating but has more presence than a plain diner gravy.

The classic three-way sends the chili over spaghetti and finishes it with shredded cheese. It is an orderly-looking pile for about two seconds, then a fork gets involved and the whole thing becomes the pleasantly messy business it is meant to be.

Four-ways add beans, while five-ways build further on the formula. Those combinations are useful for anyone who wants to understand how Cincinnati diners turn a plate of spaghetti into something entirely its own.

A chili bowl is the simpler route, letting the chili stand on its own without spaghetti. It is a good choice for someone curious about the seasoning and texture, or for a table that intends to sample several different diner staples.

Cheese coneys are another essential order here: hot dogs topped in the Cincinnati style with chili and cheese. Classic chili dogs are also on hand, including all-beef dogs, making this an easy place to move from a fork-and-spaghetti meal to something eaten in a bun.

The spicy all-beef hot dog has earned particular notice. It is a small departure from the basic coney, but one that gives a familiar diner order a little more snap.

Chili also pairs naturally with other items around the menu. A patty melt with a side of chili makes a satisfyingly unfussy lunch: griddled sandwich on one side, a bowl of the house specialty on the other.

Camp Washington Chili also connects two Cincinnati food traditions on a variation known as the 513-way, which has included goetta. The regional pork-and-oat sausage gives the chili-and-spaghetti format another savory layer and makes the plate especially local in spirit.

Goetta can inspire strong preferences around town, down to the producer. The version noted here has used Queen City Sausage rather than Glier’s, a distinction that regular goetta eaters are likely to notice. As with any specialized menu variation, it is worth checking the current menu if that particular preparation is the reason for the trip.

The diner menu reaches well beyond its best-known plates. Burgers, hot dogs and double-decker sandwiches give the room the broad, accommodating range of an old-school American diner, where one person can order chili and another can pursue a serious sandwich.

The cheeseburger has a fresh, flavorful reputation, while the double-decker lineup has included a ham-and-turkey sandwich on white bread. A triple-decker has also appeared among the offerings, for days when two layers of bread seem unnecessarily restrained.

Breakfast is another reason to come by. Scrambled eggs with toast provide a straightforward morning plate, and the breakfast and sandwich portions tend toward generous. Camp Washington can be a chili destination at noon and a practical breakfast stop at another hour without changing its identity at all.

Among the broader menu, the gyro is a particularly worthwhile surprise. Along with Greek salad, it gives the diner a Greek-inspired lane that can be easy to overlook when the chili combinations are taking up most of the attention.

That variety matters when a group is ordering. One person can work through a five-way, another can choose a burger or double-decker, and someone else can take the gyro route. It makes the table more interesting than a room where everyone is expected to order the same regional specialty.

Coconut pie is one of the menu’s praised finishers, a classic diner dessert that suits the surroundings better than anything overly elaborate would. It is the sort of choice that makes sense after a savory, cheese-topped plate and a long look at the memorabilia.

Chocolate shakes offer the colder alternative. A shake alongside a burger or chili dog has the simple satisfaction of a diner order that does not need explaining.

The dining room’s vintage character is not a theme pasted over a new restaurant. Camp Washington Chili has been around since 1940, and its walls are filled with historical photographs, newspaper and magazine pieces, and other reminders of its long public life.

Neon, 1950s-style tables and chairs, and the dense wall displays keep the room lively without making it feel fussy. Despite the old-school look, the space is bright, clean and well maintained.

Booths and counter seating give diners two familiar ways to settle in. A booth suits a lingering meal with several dishes in the middle of the table; the counter has the directness that a chili-and-coffee stop sometimes calls for.

A free parking lot is available, though space can be tighter during busy periods. The diner can draw a wait after a rush, so the pace may vary depending on when you arrive.

Camp Washington Chili has commonly kept an around-the-clock schedule six days a week, with Sunday set aside for family time. Hours can change, so confirm the current schedule before making a late-night or early-morning trip.

If conversation turns to Cincinnati chili while you are there, the restaurant’s long history gives the subject plenty of room to run. Then again, a coconut pie and a chocolate shake may be enough to settle the table down for a while.