Cinners

In the old Ares Club space on Talman, just south of Lawrence: a whiteboard sign proclaiming "Coming soon, Cinners!"

Apparently going to be a restaurant/bar featuring Cincinnatti Chili 3-Ways. Saw ongoing interior work (and a lonely pool table) when I poked my head in last week.

whiskeybent wrote:a restaurant/bar featuring Cincinnatti Chili 3-Ways.

Interesting. I've never seen this work outside of Cincy...

Mhays wrote:

whiskeybent wrote:a restaurant/bar featuring Cincinnatti Chili 3-Ways.

Interesting. I've never seen this work outside of Cincy...

Skyline has been slinging its version in Indiana, Kentucky, Florida and Michigan for some time now. I think the first one in Indianapolis opened 15 or more years ago.

With the exception of a couple of chili parlors in Dayton, most of the Skyline franchised locations outside the Cincinnati area have been absolutely miserable. In order to survive other markets, the franchises expand their menu beyond Cincinnati chili and the places have been pretty bad in my experience. They also entered the St. Louis market and survived for anout six months.

The closest thing to Cincinnati chili in this general area that I have tasted is Real Chili in Milwaukee. It is not exactly the same but the taste is pretty close. And the decor reminds me of the Cincinnati chili parlors of the 50's.

For those of us in Lincoln Square who are on Cinner's watch -

They now have a website.

Chili & cocktails, anyone? I have my fingers crossed for the coneys.

Cinners, a chili parlor/cocktail lounge, is set to open in Lincoln Square this week.

Looks like they'll be serving coney dogs; 3-, 4- and 5-way chili; and the unfortunately named chili muff -- cheese-bedecked, chili-stuffed muffins.
Drinks include the Over the Rhine with rum, gin, Midori, sweet and sour mix, Sprite, and grenadine.

http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/fbh/624178419.html

www.cinners.net
4757 N. Talman
773.654.1624

Cinners has been talked about on this thread since May '07, and it seems that they have been on-again/off-again as far as construction and all that. I, for one, would happily lend my guinea pig skills for a pre-opening taste test, since I do love 5-way chili AND a dry martini...not necessarily in that order

I grew up in Cincinnati (at one point lived in Over-the-Rhine) and I am very, very afraid...

fleurdesel wrote:Cinners, a chili parlor/cocktail lounge, is set to open in Lincoln Square this week.

Looks like they'll be serving coney dogs; 3-, 4- and 5-way chili; and the unfortunately named chili muff -- cheese-bedecked, chili-stuffed muffins.
Drinks include the Over the Rhine with rum, gin, Midori, sweet and sour mix, Sprite, and grenadine.

http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/fbh/624178419.html

www.cinners.net
4757 N. Talman
773.654.1624

I received an email from Cinners this morning saying that they open at 4pm on Friday the 4th. To quote Tony: "Let the 3-ways begin...come and get it!"

Been away for a week..anyone know if Cinners finally opened? Any good?

ParkLaBrea wrote:Been away for a week..anyone know if Cinners finally opened? Any good?

We went on opening night. Well...they had a lot of problems on opening night (including computers being down - but they still didn't seem very prepared) and I guess misjudged how popular it was going to be. That being said, this restaurant had been slated to open for months and I was surprised that the owner's friends (they admitted) were basically acting as the waitstaff opening night: no one knew anything about the menu, it was hard to get served/get drinks/get the check, our order came out wrong, there was no one doing cleanup, etc etc.

On to the food. We had a cinci chili dip appetizer - the chips were stale. I had 2 cheese coneys and the buns were stale (my husband said the same about his). My husband was pretty disappointed that the chili wasn't as "Cincinnati" as he had hoped (another diner we questioned when we sat down said the same). It's really kinda like regular chili with some cinnamon and other spices added. I guess I'd give it a few months to get up and running and iron the kinks out before going back. It was a pretty disappointing opening I'm sorry to report (I'm sorry that was so negative! I think we had really high hopes and it just didn't live up).

Got around to trying the (finally opened) Cinners last night. Have to say that we were pleasantly surprised, especially considering the less than enthusiastic initial responses elsewhere. Is it spot-on authentic Cincy Chilli (in the vein of Camp Washington, Gold Star, Skyline, etc.)...not quite...but it's a pretty darn good facscimile (and certainly worlds better than the only other attempt I'm aware of in Chicago, Chili Mac's).

First off, was very impressed with the room itself....very nice, artistic touches at the bar and throughout..deep reds, interesting art...and NO TVs! A nice, mellow place for a cocktail, and would go back reguarly even if the food did not live up. Fortunately, the 5-way chili was very nice....just the right balance of sweet and spice that I crave when I lust for this style. Texture wasn't quite right (not bad, just not quite that silky...perhaps greasy...feel on the palette...but perhaps that's a good thing to some). Plus, would like to see the cheese grated more finely as they do at the original places. But again, extremely happy to have them in the neighborhood, and will be doing a ton of carry outs as well on cold winter days.

Cinners
4757 N. Talman

How does Cinners compare to Skyline in terms of taste?

Well, it is quite similar......they've obviously done their homework (and know what they are trying to achieve, as I believe they are Cincinnati natives). Again, the only real striking difference it's not quite as "brothy" (if that's a word)...and there is SOMETHING minor missing in terms of seasoning that others may be able to put their finger on better than I. But on the whole, much better I could have hoped....[/list]

There's a good write-up on Cinners by LTHer Mike Sula in this week's Reader.

I wasn't really going to post about my less-than-satisfying Cinners experience, but then I saw my bank statement and I had forgotten that I gave them $32, and I really should have gotten a lot more for that. So I'm passing on the warning.

I live very close to Cinners, so I was really psyched to have a new bar in the 'hood and maybe someplace to get a bite to eat late nights. The wife and I stopped by the night they opened and (correctly) got the idea that we might not eat at all that night. Based on reports from a couple friends, their opening night was just dismal. But we swore we'd give it a shot sometime.

Last week, we did. And while I want to give it one more shot, we weren't blown away by any stretch of the imagination. We each ordered a 7oz. bottle of Little Kings, just for the novelty of it. They were $2.75. Paying $2.75 for a tiny 7oz. bottle of cheap beer is criminal. But we did it anyways. But man, did I feel stupid. And as I've read/heard somewhere else, not having any Great Lakes Brewery beer on the menu is just as criminal.

We each got a coney - wife got the Coney (No Cheese) and I got the Phoney Coney. The chili on the coneys was really good - I liked it very much and it certainly isn't like a regular bowl o' red. The spices were interesting, and it wasn't greasy at all, which I had expected it would be. It doesn't compare at all to Detroit or Flint style coneys, but I knew that going in. Which is fine with me. However, the buns were dry, unsteamed, and slightly stale tasting. The hot dog was lifeless.

We also got the Cinful Fries, which at $6.95 I was expecting a gargantuan pile of steaming hot fries, fresh from the frier and loaded with chili. What we got was a meager portion of fries with a couple dollops of chili. Again, I like the chili. I really do. I'm not going to write 'em off until I try a 5-way.

But here's the thing that drove me nuts. The waitress brings out the coneys first and says "Fries will be right up, they take a little longer because we make 'em here ourself." Fine. Great. But I would bet far more than a shiny nickel that the fries we were given were microwaved. Uck. Horrible horrible horrible. The rest of the bill was rounded out by my $8 cocktail, some Mudslide-like concoction that was okay.

The other thing that turns me off about this place is that every time I wander by (I go to HarvesTime a lot), I get the feeling that this place is on what I like to call the "Friends and Family" plan, ie: everyone at the bar is well known to the owner/proprietor. There were about ten people at the bar while I was there, all of whom looked very buddy-buddy with the guy. This is just a hunch, but a strong one. Maybe I'm reading too much into things. I dunno. But I wonder how long that kind of support can last before it dries up. We'll see.

whiskeybent wrote:And as I've read/heard somewhere else, not having any Great Lakes Brewery beer on the menu is just as criminal.

Huh? Cincinnati is a long way from Lake Erie. Great Lakes is based in Cleveland.

germuska wrote:

whiskeybent wrote:And as I've read/heard somewhere else, not having any Great Lakes Brewery beer on the menu is just as criminal.

Huh? Cincinnati is a long way from Lake Erie. Great Lakes is based in Cleveland.

Yeah. It would make a lot more sense for them to have Barrel House Brewery beers (in addition to the Little King's).

Best,
Michael

Bah, it's all Ohio to me.

I shall accept your correction. But I still wish I had someplace two blocks from me that served Great Lakes.

Did anyone else read the lashing this place got in Time Out Chicago?

"If you ignore taste, eschew appearance and focus solely on smell, then Cinners, a Cincinnati-style chili lounge in Lincoln Square, appears to have nailed Cincinnati chili.......as chili in general, this stuff is bland and unappealing. And as Cincinnati chili, it’s an abomination."

wow.

I thought the Time Out slam was way off.....it is hardly an "abomination"...and actually quite a good rendition..

That being said, I must echo the previous poster's observation about the owner....he does seem to favor his "buds" over the other paying customers. It's not overly egregious, but we've all noticed both of the 2 times we've been. And (though I hesitate to get personal) he just seems a bit overly, uh, fratty-smarmy. That is, the dweeb that's just a little too impressed with himself for some reason (perhaps he was a big fish in very VERY small Cincinnatti pond, and thinks his "cooler than thou" schtick plays in Chicago)...I dunno.....perhaps we're all being overly sensiitve....but actually, this fact will make us think twice about going again (plus, it's REALLY pricey for Chilli)..

ParkLaBrea wrote:That being said, I must echo the previous poster's observation about the owner....he does seem to favor his "buds" over the other paying customers. It's not overly egregious, but we've all noticed both of the 2 times we've been. And (though I hesitate to get personal) he just seems a bit overly, uh, fratty-smarmy.

I'm glad you caught that vibe as well - now at least I know I'm not the only one feeling that way. And, to refer back to your original post:

First off, was very impressed with the room itself....very nice, artistic touches at the bar and throughout..deep reds, interesting art...and NO TVs!

Not any more! TVs have arrived and I believe they're showing all the Reds games they possibly can. They'll probably show the Browns games this winter as well. (Yes, that's some self-depricating Cincinnati/Cleveland confusion humor. Ha-ha.)

More appropriate beers from Cincinnati would be Hudepohl, Burger, and Christian Moerlein. Most of my frinds stopped drinking Little Kings around age 22.

I have to say I had a mixed experience at Cinners.

While the waitress was friendly and the room cool, the chili did not live up to my expectation. Actually what was there was really flavorful but what I received was basically a plate of chili flavored noodles covered in cheese. There was not even a half cup of chili mixed into the plate (maybe just a quarter cup). I was dissappointed because with that flavor, man would it have been good.

Is this place worth going to at this point? I'm really curious and could really go for some chili tonight, but these reviews are really scaring me off. Is it worth a shot?

JLenart wrote:I have to say I had a mixed experience at Cinners.

While the waitress was friendly and the room cool, the chili did not live up to my expectation. Actually what was there was really flavorful but what I received was basically a plate of chili flavored noodles covered in cheese. There was not even a half cup of chili mixed into the plate (maybe just a quarter cup). I was dissappointed because with that flavor, man would it have been good.

While it does seem that the texture is all wrong here, (the hallmark of Cincinnati chili, IMHO; the spicing is important but the thin saucy texture is crucial) I've seen this in parlors in Cincinnati - the chili is really treated as more of a condiment and a sauce than as a meat course. While I can see that this may be disappointing, it could be considered authentic.

Any updates on performance/food at this place? Thank you!

Windows papered over with signs saying some cheese steaks place is opening soon. The web site is still up with a notice saying last night was September 15.