Gold Star Chili

Gold Star Chili
Private
Industry Food service
Founded 1965 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Founder Four Daoud brothers (Fahhad, Fahid, Basheer, Bishara)
Headquarters 650 Lunken Park Drive,
Cincinnati, Ohio, 45226-1800
Area served
 Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana
Key people
 Roger David, CEO
[1]
Products Cincinnati chili
Website goldstarchili.com

Gold Star Chili is a restaurant chain based in Cincinnati, Ohio, that sells Cincinnati chili. The original restaurant was established in the Cincinnati neighborhood of Mt. Washington in 1965 by four Daoud brothers from Jordan. Gold Star Chili is the "Official Chili" of the Cincinnati Bengals.[2]

History

Gold Star Chili was founded in 1965[3] by four Daoud brothers Fahhad, Fahid, Basheer, and Bishara Daoud in Mount Washington, originally under the name Hamburger Heaven.[4] As the original name suggests, the original vision for their restaurant was primarily hamburgers. However, they also had a chili recipe that they began modifying, soon finding that customers were ordering the chili more than any of the other menu items. As a result, the brothers changed the restaurant name to Gold Star Chili and removed many of the other items from their menu.[4] The brothers, some of whom eventually changed their family name to David, continued to run the restaurant as it grew into a chain until retiring in 1990.[1] For the next quarter-century, the Daoud/David family brought in CEOs with outside experience.[1]

In 1993 Tony Pérez, then manager of the Cincinnati Reds and former member of the Big Red Machine, kicked off a promotion campaign for the restaurant. During his baseball years Pérez's nickname was "Big Dog", and since the chain was ready to promote their new foot long cheese coney, Gold Star saw a promotional opportunity, naming it "Big Doggie". For the promotion, the store offered customers 16-inch (410 mm) miniature Louisville Slugger baseball bats for US$1.99, and Pérez did various in-store signing sessions for fans. In the past, Gold Star Chili has also hired other Reds players for promotional campaigns, most notably Pete Rose.[5]

In May 2015, the founding family returned to the company's top management when one of the founders' sons, Roger David, became CEO upon the retirement of Mike Rohrkemper. The younger David spent 10 years working in Gold Star's marketing department after college, and then served as a marketing executive at two other firms. Next, he spent 10 years as CEO of another Cincinnati-based restaurant chain, Buffalo Wings & Rings, before returning to Gold Star.[1]

Today

Gold Star Chili restaurant, Covington, Kentucky

The famous chili is produced at the chain's commissary, starting with large vats of suet which are melted down. Added to this are dried white onions, which cook for approximately thirty minutes. The next ingredients are ground beef and their "secret" concoction of pepperonis, which cook for another hour or more. Finally, tomato sauce and water are added, which are boiled for three hours into a concentrate. After a cooling period, the product is then packed and shipped to Ellenbee Leggett to be distributed to the Gold Star restaurants.[6]

According to an interview with Basheer Daoud (a son of one of the founders) by Neal Conan of National Public Radio in 2005, the chain's commissary produces nearly 20,000 pounds (9,100 kg) of food product for the restaurants per day.[4]

Gold Star Chili restaurants, both company-owned and franchised, are located in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana—a total of 85 as of October 2016.[7] Additionally, a relative of the Daoud family founded Chili House restaurants that serve a similar product[8] in Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Syria.[8]

Gold Star Chili for the past several years has been a major sponsor of the Cincinnati Bengals.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Campbell, Polly (February 26, 2015). "Gold Star Chili turns 50, welcomes family as CEO". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Taste of Cincinnati". Cincinnati Bengals. 2007-07-13. Retrieved 2007-08-25.
  3. ↑ Cincinnati chili stakes its claim Cincinnati Enquirer; Sep. 10, 2004
  4. 1 2 3 "Listener Letters and Hello Cincinnati". National Public Radio. 2005-08-22. Retrieved 2007-08-24.
  5. ↑ Walkup, Carolyn (1993-08-09). "Gold Star Chili says 'so long' to the 'Big Doggie.' - promotional campaign for chili hot dogs". Nation's Restaurant News. Retrieved 2007-08-25.
  6. ↑ Lumis, Susan Herrmann (1989-04-16). "Fare of the Country: A City's Romance With a Bowl of Chili". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-08-25.
  7. ↑ "Locations". Gold Star Chili. Retrieved 2016-10-23.
  8. 1 2 "About Us". Chili House. Retrieved 2007-08-24.

External links

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