By: Cardboard White Sux (@SoxCardboard)

If you are headed down to Cincinnati for this weekend’s matchup with the Reds, I implore you to try one of the staples of Great American Ballpark and Cincinnati at large: Skyline Chili. 

I am, admittedly, biased. I grew up around Skyline. It is at the absolute top of my comfort food list. Nothing eases my tensions more than a 3-way at Skyline Chili (4-way if I am feeling frisky). On days when nothing seems to be going right, a few Cheese Coneys from Skyline can turn my day around. 

Preparing to experience Skyline for the first time requires you to rid yourself of all other food you have tried.

Skyline was created and perfected by Greek immigrants to Cincinnati in the early-to-mid 20th century and has little resemblance to traditional chili. Their iteration has brown sugar in it and has a runny consistency that is a little too similar to the “Hershey squirts.”

It is not chili in the sense that you are used to. It is not spaghetti in the sense you are used to. Even their Coney dogs seem to fall outside the purview of a traditional Coney. To compare this fine Ohio River Valley delicacy to anything else is an exercise in futility. 

All of this being said, I beg you to go in with an open mind. Order a 3-way or a Coney with a blank slate. Do not try to compare and contrast it with any other food you have eaten. Embrace the weirdness, embrace the mess, and chow down.