St. Louis, MOChili

St. Louis Magazine's chili column counts Frank Romano of The Parkmoor among the local cooks known for a bowl, and the chili has taken the Webster-Kirkwood Chilifest title in 2021, 2023 and 2024. Romano tells the magazine the recipe was built to work two ways, on the chili dog and on its own by the bowl, with dried pinto beans brined overnight so they hold, and dark chili powder for depth. Order the bowl first, then come back for the chili dog and the onion rings.

When the Cupp family took over the former Super's Bungalow space, St. Louis Magazine says longtime regulars of the old bar were not sure how the room would mesh with a barbecue crowd, and that blending the two brought out brisket in chili. Pitmaster Alex Cupp chops brisket, crispy burnt ends included, into a pot thick with beans, onions, chiles and spices. The magazine describes a bowl rich enough to eat with a fork. Order it with a side of fries, which is the pairing the guide recommends.

The bowl at this Ellendale diner is a posole rojo, and St. Louis Magazine counts it as chili, running it in the chili roundup as chili done southwestern style. Owner Jonathan Jones builds it on a house pork stock made with pig's feet from Wenneman's Meats, simmered for hours and cooked down twice until it turns thick and gelatinous. Dried New Mexican red chiles carry the color and the heat, with braised pork shoulder and hominy through the bowl and cilantro and a lime wedge on top. Order tortillas alongside, as the guide says to.

St. Louis Magazine's chili column puts Andy Karandzieff among the local cooks known for a bowl, and he tells the magazine that Crown Candy Kitchen has run on Edmonds chili for more than 70 years. The Old North counter plays it straight, he says: cheese and onion on the bowl and nothing else, unless Sherri is making a chili cheese dip that day. Order it that way, cheese and onion, the way the counter has served it for seven decades.

John Parker Jr. tells St. Louis Magazine that his father wrote this chili recipe decades ago, and that the meat is what carries it, since the pot is built on the same blend the Shaw pub uses for its burgers. The magazine's chili column groups O'Connell's with the local kitchens known for a bowl. Order the chili at the bar, and the burger the blend was meant for if you have room, because both start from the same meat.