Gold Star Chili

Infobox company
company_
company_name = Gold Star Chili
parent =
company_type = Private
company_slogan = Get Lost in the Taste
foundation = 1965 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USAflagicon|USA
location = 650 Lunken Park Drive, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45226-1800
key_people = John F. Sullivan, CEO; Daoud brothers, Founders
industry = Food service
num_employees =
revenue =
operating_income =
net_income =
products = Cincinnati chili
homepage = [http://www.goldstarchili.com/ goldstarchili.com]

Gold Star Chili is a restaurant chain based in Cincinnati, Ohio that sells Cincinnati chili, established in 1965 by four brothers from Jordan in the neighborhood of Mt. Washington. It is also the "Official Chili" of the Cincinnati Bengals. [cite web| last =| first =| authorlink =| coauthors =| title =Taste of Cincinnati | work =| publisher =Cincinnati Bengals| date =2007-07-13| url =http://www.bengals.com/news/news.asp?story_id=6122| format =| doi =| accessdate =2007-08-25 ]

History

Gold Star Chili was founded in 1965 by four Jordanian brothers in Mount Washington, originally under the name "Hamburger Heaven" (which predates Gold Star Chili). As the original name suggests, the original vision for their restaurant was primarily hamburgers. However, they also had a chili recipe that they began tweaking with, soon finding that customers were ordering the chili more than any of the other menu items. So the brothers changed the restaurant name to Gold Star Chili, removing many of the other menu items from their list of offerings.

In 1993 Tony Pérez, then manager of the Cincinnati Reds and former member of the Big Red Machine, kicked off a promotion campaign for the restaurant. During his baseball years Perez's nickname was "Big Dog", and since the chain was ready to promote their new foot long cheese coney, Gold Star naturally saw a promotional opportunity (naming it "Big Doggie"). For the promotion the store offered customers convert|16|in|mm|sing=on miniature Louisville Slugger baseball bats for $1.99 USD, and Perez did various in-store signing sessions for fans. In the past, Gold Star Chili has also hired other Reds players for promotional campaigns, most notably Pete Rose. [cite web| last =Walkup| first =Carolyn| authorlink =| coauthors =| title =Gold Star Chili says 'so long' to the 'Big Doggie.' - promotional campaign for chili hot dogs| work =| publisher =Nation's Restaurant News| date =1993-08-09| url =http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3190/is_n31_v27/ai_14134101| format =| doi =| accessdate =2007-08-25 ]

Today

The famous chili is produced at the chain's commissary, starting with large vats of suet which are melted down. Added to this are dried white onions, which cook for approximately thirty minutes. The next ingredients are ground beef and their "secret" concoction of spices, which cook for another hour or more. Finally, tomato sauce and water are added, which are boiled for three hours into a concentrate. After a cooling period, the product is then packed and shipped to one of their restaurants.cite web| last =Lumis| first =Susan Herrmann| authorlink =| coauthors =| title =Fare of the Country: A City's Romance With a Bowl of Chili | work =| publisher =New York Times| date =1989-04-16| url =http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE2DE113DF935A25757C0A96F948260&sec=travel&spon=&pagewanted=2| format =| doi =| accessdate =2007-08-25 ]

According to an interview with Bashir Daoud (a grandson of one of the founders) by Neal Conan of National Public Radio on August 22, 2005, there are one-hundred and five restaurants owned by the chain. The chain's commissary produces nearly twenty-thousand pounds of food product for the restaurants per day.cite web| last =| first =| authorlink =Neal Conan| coauthors =| title =Listener Letters and Hello Cincinnati| work =| publisher =National Public Radio| date =2005-08-22| url =http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4810218| format =| doi =| accessdate =2007-08-24 ]

In addition to Gold Star Chili franchises located in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana,cite web| last =| first =| authorlink =| coauthors =| title =Locations| work =| publisher =Gold Star Chili| date =| url =http://www.goldstarchili.com/locations/locations.asp| format =| doi =| accessdate =2007-08-24 ] their products can also be found at Chili House restaurantscite web| last =| first =| authorlink =| coauthors =| title =About Us| work =| publisher =Chili House| date =| url =http://www.chilihouse.com/aboutus.htm| format =| doi =| accessdate =2007-08-24 ] in Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Russia, and Syria.cite web| last =| first =| authorlink =| coauthors =| title =Our Branches| work =| publisher =Chili House| date =| url =http://www.chilihouse.com/ourbranches.htm| format =| doi =| accessdate =2007-08-24 ]

References

ee also

* Skyline Chili
* Camp Washington Chili
* Dixie Chili and Deli

External links

* [http://www.goldstarchili.com/ Gold Star Chili]
* [http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/1997/05/12/daily13.html?jst=s_rs_hl Cincinnati Business Courier: Gold Star opens in Qatar]