“their tavern chili” memories

RRP

This probably should have been a weekend thread, but here goes anyway.

Back in 1962-66 I went to college in Warrensburg, MO. At that time there was a bar which served the best chili I have ever eaten and in spite of what I make now and enjoy that memory of bygone chili lingers! Before you say it must have been Texas Red or such it was simple...but just greasy beef laddled on chili beans in a shallow dish. All I recall was it was called “their tavern chili”!

I doubt I will ever know their recipe, but I wonder if others here have favorite chili memories.

WeberWho

It's not necessarily chili but you mention "greasy beef" and "laddled beans". That reminded me of my mom's calico beans she makes. I'll take a bowl of my mom's calico beans before any steak, brisket, ribs put in front of me. Comfort food at its best!

Mickey

Texas Chili Parlor in Austin

WeberWho

My last chili cook cost me $260 in repairs to my friends parents glass stove top. That one sticks out.....

Botch

I loved my Mom's chili, until the AF moved me around.  I don't remember having a "favorite" chili until I had Skyline (Cincinnati-style) chili.  Then a bunch of TDYs to Austin and DFW , I had a new bunch of favorites.  Then, in Albuquerque, I gorged on "chile", with an "e", a whole different thing.  Loved it all, both red and green.  
 
I'm happy to be at a place where I love ALL chili/chile, just gimme a bowl!
 
But, just once, I'd love to have one more bowl of my Mom's chili.  

SGH

@RRP

Ron I have a very similar memory. But it’s of hamburgers, not chili. The little town I grew up in had a place everyone called Miss Deenys. The actual name of the place was Swendsons. However Miss Deeny ran it for over 50 years and everyone called it “Miss Deenys”. 

With that said, the place was where you bought auto inspection stickers, shot pool while listening to the jukebox, drank beer and bought hamburgers. The place was a real dump. It was dark, dirty and dilapidated. And it smelled like piss and sour beer. 

The only cooked food that was served there was hamburgers and cheeseburgers cooked on an absolutely filthy cast iron griddle in the back. The mere sight of it would make you sick. 

However the burgers were phenomenal. I have never had one that had that very unique taste that those burgers had. No matter rather you was eating them there or taking them to go they was always served wrapped in wax paper with a toothpick stuck through the middle to hold the wax paper together and then placed in a very small brown sandwich bag. Didn’t matter if you ordered 1 or 100 they was served this way. 

To this day anyone over 50 from this area still talks about those famous “Deeny Burgers”. I have always wondered was it a combination of the filth, crud, wax paper, toothpick and brown bag that made the burgers so unique. Whatever it was they was great and it’s one of my fondest memories of my little hometown. I would pay 100 bucks to have one more Deeny Burger served with a bag of hot Tom’s chips and a Barq’s root beer in the bottle with ice slivers in it. The good ole days my friend. Gone but not forgotten. 

fishlessman

we had chili on the hotdog joints, dont remember there being chili at taverns. there was also wendys

RRP

fishlessman said:

we had chili on the hotdog joints, dont remember there being chili at taverns. there was also wendys

Wendys??? That was tongue in cheek wasn't it, fish?

fishlessman

RRP said:

fishlessman said:

we had chili on the hotdog joints, dont remember there being chili at taverns. there was also wendys

Wendys??? That was tongue in cheek wasn't it, fish?

new england is not the mexican capital of the world, i still go to wendys for the chili

dstearn

Mickey said:

Texas Chili Parlor in Austin

I was there 5 years ago when my lovely wife took me on a surprise trip for my 60th. Our first night in Austin I saw the sign for it from our hotel room. Had some brisket chili for dinner that night, no beans. Great chili.

Later that week we were the 2nd in line at Franklins.

Legume

So many of the “best … I’ve had” from years ago wouldn’t measure up today, even if the same exact, unchanged product existed today.  I suspect the same is true for most people as our tastes have evolved and the original environment can’t really be recreated.  I can go to the same dive bar I went to in college, I can even sit there and get hammered, but I can’t be the same carefree kid again that only cares about that greasy double chili cheese tommyburger with peppers in front of me at 2:30 AM.

And the chili cheese fries too.

six_egg

My memories of chili were on a sandwich called the suicided. It was a huge pork tender lion pounded out battered and dry fried about 12" across. Then they put two ladles of chili. It had jalapenos cheese and tomatoes. It was a mess to eat but OMG it was amazing. The one thing I miss about the Midwest.

RRP

six_egg said:

My memories of chili were on a sandwich called the suicided. It was a huge pork tender lion pounded out battered and dry fried about 12" across. Then they put two ladles of chili. It had jalapenos cheese and tomatoes. It was a mess to eat but OMG it was amazing. The one thing I miss about the Midwest.

Not sure where you lived in the Midwest, but any 12” or larger pounded out pork tenderloin seems to have originated here or near here in Peoria, IL.

One local family owned restaurant offers a “pizza like” meal using a fried pounded out pork tenderloin as the base and then adds the cheeses etc on from there.

JohnInCarolina

RRP said:

six_egg said:

My memories of chili were on a sandwich called the suicided. It was a huge pork tender lion pounded out battered and dry fried about 12" across. Then they put two ladles of chili. It had jalapenos cheese and tomatoes. It was a mess to eat but OMG it was amazing. The one thing I miss about the Midwest.

Not sure where you lived in the Midwest, but any 12” or larger pounded out pork tenderloin seems to have originated here or near here in Peoria, IL.

One local family owned restaurant offers a “pizza like” meal using a fried pounded out pork tenderloin as the base and then adds the cheeses etc on from there.

Have you tried that pizza like thing, Ron?  That sounds pretty different to me.  

RRP

JohnInCarolina said:

RRP said:

six_egg said:

My memories of chili were on a sandwich called the suicided. It was a huge pork tender lion pounded out battered and dry fried about 12" across. Then they put two ladles of chili. It had jalapenos cheese and tomatoes. It was a mess to eat but OMG it was amazing. The one thing I miss about the Midwest.

Not sure where you lived in the Midwest, but any 12” or larger pounded out pork tenderloin seems to have originated here or near here in Peoria, IL.

One local family owned restaurant offers a “pizza like” meal using a fried pounded out pork tenderloin as the base and then adds the cheeses etc on from there.

Have you tried that pizza like thing, Ron?  That sounds pretty different to me.  

Actually, John, no I never have, nor up until 2 weeks ago I never even knew that "pizza" even existed. Here in Peoria for some reason, and many claim this is where those plate size tenderloins originated...In 54 years living in or near Peoria I have only eaten, or tied to, and left 2/3 of one when I paid my bill, left and never returned! If you ever saw one of these thin plate size things served with only a normal hamburger bun I don't get the appeal. Yes...maybe I should go try that ""pizza"!

PeteSliver

There must be enough people in Peoria that love that 12” meat to keep it around!

RRP

PeteSliver said:

There must be enough people in Peoria that love that 12” meat to keep it around!

Oh, I agree...no argument from me, I just don't happen to be in that plate size tenderloin camp.

RyanStl

WeberWho said:

My last chili cook cost me $260 in repairs to my friends parents glass stove top. That one sticks out.....

Omg, I vaguely remember you talking about this. That's the same range that came with new house. How did you crack again, so I can avoid.

nolaegghead

I think it was a cast iron pot.

@WeberWho ?

nolaegghead

found:

What pans should not be used on a glass top stove?

What pans should not be used on a glass-top stove? In order to avoid damaging your glass-top stove, you should avoid pots and pans made from glass, stoneware, traditional ceramic, and cast iron that has not been crafted to be compatible with glass-top stoves.

JohnInCarolina

RRP said:

PeteSliver said:

There must be enough people in Peoria that love that 12” meat to keep it around!

Oh, I agree...no argument from me, I just don't happen to be in that plate size tenderloin camp.

What does Pat think?  Has your wife expressed any interest in sampling the 12" of meat that has gotten a lot of love around Peoria?  

fishlessman

RRP said:

six_egg said:

My memories of chili were on a sandwich called the suicided. It was a huge pork tender lion pounded out battered and dry fried about 12" across. Then they put two ladles of chili. It had jalapenos cheese and tomatoes. It was a mess to eat but OMG it was amazing. The one thing I miss about the Midwest.

Not sure where you lived in the Midwest, but any 12” or larger pounded out pork tenderloin seems to have originated here or near here in Peoria, IL.

One local family owned restaurant offers a “pizza like” meal using a fried pounded out pork tenderloin as the base and then adds the cheeses etc on from there.

my favorite veal sub was from a local place that used flattened pork tenderloin that was flattened so thin that it was hard to find the actual pork after the fry. from a time you could actually make a veal sub with pork

six_egg

fishlessman said:

RRP said:

six_egg said:

My memories of chili were on a sandwich called the suicided. It was a huge pork tender lion pounded out battered and dry fried about 12" across. Then they put two ladles of chili. It had jalapenos cheese and tomatoes. It was a mess to eat but OMG it was amazing. The one thing I miss about the Midwest.

Not sure where you lived in the Midwest, but any 12” or larger pounded out pork tenderloin seems to have originated here or near here in Peoria, IL.

One local family owned restaurant offers a “pizza like” meal using a fried pounded out pork tenderloin as the base and then adds the cheeses etc on from there.

my favorite veal sub was from a local place that used flattened pork tenderloin that was flattened so thin that it was hard to find the actual pork after the fry. from a time you could actually make a veal sub with pork

I think it actually originated in Indiana. I am not 100%. I had mine in Iowa. I do know it is a Midwest thing for sure. I would love to try the pizza sounds awesome.   

saluki2007

PeteSliver said:

There must be enough people in Peoria that love that 12” meat to keep it around!

Business is good right now. However, I’m not sure where the pizza name came from. I call it angel wings. 

fishlessman

six_egg said:

fishlessman said:

RRP said:

six_egg said:

My memories of chili were on a sandwich called the suicided. It was a huge pork tender lion pounded out battered and dry fried about 12" across. Then they put two ladles of chili. It had jalapenos cheese and tomatoes. It was a mess to eat but OMG it was amazing. The one thing I miss about the Midwest.

Not sure where you lived in the Midwest, but any 12” or larger pounded out pork tenderloin seems to have originated here or near here in Peoria, IL.

One local family owned restaurant offers a “pizza like” meal using a fried pounded out pork tenderloin as the base and then adds the cheeses etc on from there.

my favorite veal sub was from a local place that used flattened pork tenderloin that was flattened so thin that it was hard to find the actual pork after the fry. from a time you could actually make a veal sub with pork

I think it actually originated in Indiana. I am not 100%. I had mine in Iowa. I do know it is a Midwest thing for sure. I would love to try the pizza sounds awesome.   

ours was a full italian take from an area known as mingah valley. about a 99 percent sicilian population. breaded fried pork, sauce, provo. i would say 100 percent italians but would be dead  if i included the boots. those guys still dont like each other

six_egg

fishlessman said:

six_egg said:

fishlessman said:

RRP said:

six_egg said:

My memories of chili were on a sandwich called the suicided. It was a huge pork tender lion pounded out battered and dry fried about 12" across. Then they put two ladles of chili. It had jalapenos cheese and tomatoes. It was a mess to eat but OMG it was amazing. The one thing I miss about the Midwest.

Not sure where you lived in the Midwest, but any 12” or larger pounded out pork tenderloin seems to have originated here or near here in Peoria, IL.

One local family owned restaurant offers a “pizza like” meal using a fried pounded out pork tenderloin as the base and then adds the cheeses etc on from there.

my favorite veal sub was from a local place that used flattened pork tenderloin that was flattened so thin that it was hard to find the actual pork after the fry. from a time you could actually make a veal sub with pork

I think it actually originated in Indiana. I am not 100%. I had mine in Iowa. I do know it is a Midwest thing for sure. I would love to try the pizza sounds awesome.   

ours was a full italian take from an area known as mingah valley. about a 99 percent sicilian population. breaded fried pork, sauce, provo. i would say 100 percent italians but would be dead  if i included the boots. those guys still dont like each other

I love food and the history behind a staple. They are great stories and just good fun. It really keeps me creative and dug deep with home made stuff. 

fishlessman

this was the place, if you couldnt afford the "veal" they sold sauce only subs

fishlessman

@rrp  this is where you got your chili, place would be lined up down the street. lots of bruised shins on that hydrant

https://dinerhotline.wordpress.com/2011/01/04/lawtons-famous-frankfurters-1929-2010/

fishlessman

lunch   screwed at the drive-thru, they didnt put in the delicious chili sauce even though i asked for extra

GregW

fishlessman said:

lunch   screwed at the drive-thru, they didnt put in the delicious chili sauce even though i asked for extra

I don't know what's in the Wendy's chili sauce, but it is excellent, so good in fact, that if they don't have any, I won't order the chili.

nolaegghead

Embalming fluid, probably.  Delish