By OWEN MORRIS
As the weather cools and people start adding more layers, either through clothing or eating, certain foods start reappearing in diets.
Pumpkin is probably most associated with fall, which makes sense. It matures in the fall and is useful as a decoration as well as a menu item. Though it doesn't have a bloom date, chili also starts to reappear on menus this time of year.
That is if it ever disappears at all. A small number of fast-food chains and other drive-through restaurants serve it year-round. This chili can't compete with the quality and service at a local, sit-down establishment but if you're on the go, your options are limited.
The most famous chain chili is Wendy's. "For us, chili is a year-round dish but it does do better in winter months," company spokesman Bob Bertini told me. "It's a real point differentiation between us and our competitors."
Wendy's chili is one of the company's original four menu items (along with a single, fries and a frosty). It cost 55 cents in 1969. Bertini says Wendy's owner Dave Thomas originally put it on the menu as a convenience as much as anything else. "It uses lots of pieces of hamburger. Same ground beef as the hamburgers and it provided a way in which you could use up extra ground beef."
In fact, Wendy's chili has become the source of a scholarly MBA paper. But Wendy's isn't the only fast-food chain that serves chili. Steak n' Shake, which has has three Kansas City area locations, serves a chili that has developed an almost cult-like following -- especially in cities where there are many locations, such as St. Louis.
No one from Steak n' Shake returned my calls, so I dialed the best Steak n' Shake authority I know: my aunt in St. Louis. "I was just picking up some dinner there last night," she told me. "You know, chili is one of those foods I don't normally order. It tastes so different everywhere you go, but Steak n' Shake's chili tastes the same every time. I know what I'm getting and I like it."
In Kansas City, Steak n' Shake faces competition from Winstead's, whose menu advertises its chili as seasonal. But when I called to ask what exactly constitutes seasonal, the waiter acted surprised. "We always have chili. It's not seasonal anymore. We serve it all the time because of chili dogs."
Finally, in Kansas City, Kansas, the original Fritz's Railroad Restaurant (not the one in Crown Center) does have a drive-through and is known to serve a pretty mean chili. Eat inside and experience the railroad cars. After all, where else will the chili drive to you?
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Didn't know there was a Steak and Shake around here. I guess its because I order pizza in everynight. Glad to hear their chili is good. Larry will have to check it out. THanks, Larry Clockwant
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
There are actually 6 Steak 'n Shakes in KC and additional locations in Topeka and Lawrence.
No love for Truman-era, KC chain Dixon's Chili Parlor, but mentions of Fritz's and Winstead's? WTF!
I ate at Steak & Shake last year. We saw that the menu states it as "Chili 5-way" which we could only guess pertains to the number of different things to put in it. The combos there come with 2 sides, so we have the plan of ordering the Chili-7-way, which is the 5-way with a side of chili and of beans.
I will only go and order it on the day it hits 7 degrees or lower as a high.
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