Orlando’s first Skyline Chili has Cincinnatians lining up
When Daniel Hunsucker opened the Orlando metro’s first-ever Skyline Chili franchise back on Nov. 8, there was a lot of excitement. Ohio transplants and folks from the greater Cincinnati area flocked to Winter Garden to get a taste of home. Lines were out the door for a week.
Hunsucker, 32, ate Skyline five times a week as a high schooler growing up in the Cincinnati suburb of Blue Ash.
“I’m super passionate, and I love the brand,” he tells me. “When you’re a Skyline regular, it’s not like you’re there a couple of times a month. It’s more like you’re there two, three, four times a week.”
Recent experience seems to support this.
“I’ve seen probably 50 different guests who have been here seven times already. It’s that crave-worthy.”
Cincinnatians love their chili. They’ve been loving it since the 1920s, in fact, when a trio of brothers, Greek immigrants, did their own take on something Americans already loved, but with a spin that satisfied the cravings of their countrymen, adding familiar spices like cinnamon, clove, nutmeg.
Also, Cincinnatians don’t care if you don’t love their chili.
Many people don’t.
A 2013 Deadspin article that eviscerated 50 states’ worth of cherished regional foods saved Cincinnati chili as a best-for-last finale, giving what the writer called “abominable garbage gravy” the most real estate of the piece.
“We’ve grown up eating it, but we don’t feel like we need to defend it,” says John Lyons, 74, a Cincinnati native who’s lived in Orlando for 28 years. “If someone doesn’t like it, that’s okay. It is a unique taste, and it gets a lot of unnecessary criticism — but we love it.”
On trips home, Lyons would always hit Skyline or Gold Star Chili.
“I’m addicted,” he says. “Living there, I’d go twice a week. Once for lunch, then for dinner.’
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In Cincinnati, there’s a chili parlor (that’s what they’re called) on every corner, but locally, not so much. Hunsucker’s outpost is a boon for fans who come in droves for chili-slathered, steamed-bun coneys.
“The hot dog flavor is very mild,” Hunsucker notes. “It lets the chili shine.”
Not that you can see much of it. Another hallmark of the Skyline brand is the mountain of finely shredded mild cheddar that comes in 40-pound blocks that staffers chop down and feed into a grater that makes short work of it. Guests can get their coneys without cheese or add onions or beans or both. There are many ways to do it.
In fact, there are also many “ways.”
Fans and those familiar know the ways. It’s the word used to identify that plate of spaghetti that’s got chili and cheese and sometimes more on top of it.
“A three-way is a bed of spaghetti with chili poured over top and freshly shredded cheese on top of that,” Hunsucker explains. “You can make it a four-way or five-way by adding onions or onions and beans.”
Another nuance: For those in the know, the spaghetti is eaten by cutting. Watching a noob twirling a four-way for Ohio natives, I’ve surmised, is something like watching someone eat a New York slice with a knife and fork.
“It’s probably 80/20,” says Hunsucker, who’s not the food police (he’s just happy you’re here), but the methodology is more about proper ingredient-to-bite ratios than ceremony.
“The plate comes in layers,” he explains. “To make sure you get all those layers — especially if you throw beans and onions on — you cut into it like a pie. The spaghetti is soft enough that you don’t even need a knife. When you twirl, you can pull out those layers and might only get spaghetti. You might not be getting your beans or your onions or your cheese.”
There’s also the oyster cracker element. If or how one chooses to employ them is a personal choice. Some eat them like appetizers while waiting for their food, often showering them with Skyline hot sauce (think Tabasco, with just a little more oomph). Others scatter them over the top of their coneys or ways. Some save the crackers for the end, mashing them into the juice left at the bottom of the plate with a fork before eating.
“Unique” is a word both he and Hunsucker use to describe its flavor.
“It’s definitely not the chili I’m used to, but it’s good,” Disney cast member Melisa Johnson told me as she and several co-workers finished their lunches. She had it for the first time three weeks earlier.
“We heard from coworkers that Skyline Chili was a thing, so we came to try it.”
They brought a few more newbies this time. All had cleaned their plates. Johnson and another had theirs over a potato.
“It was really big!” her friend told me.
“We’d seen it on the internet one time,” another said. “We were like, ‘if they’re piling that much cheese on it, we’re trying it!'”
Hunsucker greets folks at the door much of the time, often asking if they are newcomers or perhaps from Ohio. Those in the latter camp are also greeted by a wall of Bengals-emblazoned boxes, each stuffed with a 1.5-pound bag of hometown favorite, Grippo’s chips. You can also grab them in single servings. The BBQ is the most flavor-packed I’ve ever tasted. I can see why they’re popular.
At least four customers walked out with the giant box during my time in the restaurant, though it was too early to see many takers on the pints of Graeter’s Ice Cream Hunsucker also has for sale.
I heard about this regional favorite, a creamy, French Pot-style ice cream, from Orlando Sentinel managing editor Roger Simmons upon return from his recent sports-driven jaunt to Cincy. New fans, he and his wife found the ice cream locally at Fresh Market, but Hunsucker believes his is the only restaurant that carries it.
“I thought it would be a nice thing to have for the natives, and it’s been hard to keep in the shop,” he says.
Hunsucker’s been in food service since his teens and served as a food and beverage manager for Disney for five years before heading down the path to Skyline ownership, a dedicated journey roughly four years from inception to application to opening day. It’s meant a lot to a man who’s still a regular at the same Skyline he frequented in high school.
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“Anna’s been my server for 20-plus years, for as long as I’ve been going there. And she knows what’s going on in my life. I told her when I applied for this and when I got accepted into it. Eli is a production worker there, and it’s the same with him. You build that sense of community. It’s what drives people in multiple times a week. They become a part of your family.”
Speaking of, Hunsucker and his wife will be welcoming their first baby very soon, a girl. There’s a Skyline onesie hanging amid the other merch that’s available. He can’t wait to put her in one, he tells me.
Lyons says he’s very happy to have Skyline in Orlando.
“We were there on opening day, day four and last Saturday,” he tells me, noting that they waited in line each time. “We’ll be regulars.
He noted that he spoke to Hunsucker several times and was impressed by his commitment to service.
“I think he will be successful for a long time.”
Skyline Chili: Located at the Flaming Crossing Town Center, 2231 Western Way in Winter Garden; 407-347-4222; skylinechili.com
Find me on Facebook, TikTok, Twitter or Instagram @amydroo or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com, For more foodie fun, join the Let’s Eat, Orlando Facebook group.
