The cuisine of the American Midwest draws its culinary roots most significantly from the cuisines of Central, Northern and Eastern Europe, and Indigenous cuisine of the Americas, and is influenced by regionally and locally grown foodstuffs and cultural diversity.
Cheese fries or cheesy chips is a dish consisting of French fries covered in cheese, with the possible addition of various other toppings. Cheese fries are generally served as a lunch or dinner dish. They can be found in fast-food locations, diners, and grills mainly in English speaking countries.
Cincinnati chili is a Mediterranean-spiced meat sauce used as a topping for spaghetti or hot dogs ("coneys"); both dishes were developed by immigrant restaurateurs in the 1920s. Its name evokes comparison to chili con carne, but the two are dissimilar in consistency, flavor, and serving method; Cincinnati chili more closely resembles Greek pasta sauces and spiced-meat hot dog topping sauces seen in other parts of the United States.
Skyline Chili is a chain of Cincinnati-style chili restaurants based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1949 by Greek immigrant Nicholas Lambrinides, Skyline Chili is named for the view of Cincinnati's skyline that Lambrinides could see from the first restaurant, opened in the section of town now known as Price Hill. It is also the "official chili" of many local professional sports teams and venues, including the Cincinnati Bengals, Cincinnati Reds, Cincinnati Cyclones, Columbus Blue Jackets and the Kings Island theme park, and also sponsors the Crosstown Shootout, an annual men's college basketball rivalry game between the city's two NCAA Division I teams, Cincinnati and Xavier.
LaRosa's Pizzeria is a chain of pizzerias serving neighborhoods throughout Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. It was founded in 1954 by Donald "Buddy" LaRosa, along with partners Richard "Muzzie" Minella, Mike Soldano and Frank "Head" Serraino. Originally called Papa Gino's, LaRosa later bought out his partners, and changed the name to LaRosa's.
A Coney Island hot dog, Coney dog, or Coney is a hot dog in a bun topped with a savory meat sauce and sometimes other toppings. It is often offered as part of a menu of classic American diner dishes and often at Coney Island restaurants. It is largely a phenomenon related to immigration from Greece and the region of Macedonia to the United States in the early 20th century.
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, immigrants from Jordan. Gold Star Chili was the "Official Chili" of the Cincinnati Bengals until April 19, 2023.
The Oktoberfest is a two-week festival held each year in Munich, Germany during late September and early October. It is attended by six million people each year and has inspired numerous similar events using the name Oktoberfest in Germany and around the world, many of which were founded by German immigrants or their descendants.
Jungle Jim's International Market, formerly Jungle Jim's Farmer's Market, is a large specialty supermarket in Fairfield, Ohio, with a satellite location in Union Township, Clermont County, both near Cincinnati. The main location is roughly 200,000 square feet, and has been described as a theme park of food. Jungle Jim's offers one of the largest wine selections in the United States, live seafood tanks, and an in-store cooking school. Each week, the store is visited by about 82,000 shoppers, whom founder "Jungle" Jim Bonaminio calls "foodies". Many of the specialty foods in international departments are difficult to find elsewhere in the Greater Cincinnati area, and customers have been known to drive from other cities for the store's wide variety of food. Jungle Jim’s is also known for its use of animatronics as well as other displays.
The Maisonette (1949-2005) was North America's most-highly-rated restaurant before it closed.
Cincinnati is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Ohio, United States. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line with Kentucky. The population of Cincinnati was 309,317 in 2020, making it the third-most populous city in Ohio after Columbus and Cleveland and 64th in the United States. The city is the economic and cultural hub of the Cincinnati metropolitan area, Ohio's most populous metro area and the nation's 30th-largest with over 2.265 million residents.
The cuisine of Michigan is part of the broader regional cuisine of the Midwestern United States. It is reflective of the diverse food history of settlement and immigration in the state, and draws its culinary roots most significantly from the cuisines of Central, Northern and Eastern Europe, and Native North America.
Taste of Cincinnati is the longest running culinary arts festival in the United States. Starting in 1979, the festival has been held annually on Memorial Day weekend in Downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. More than 40 fine restaurants are featured at the festival, and "Best of Taste" awards are given out each year. In addition to food, the festival highlights local musical talent. The four stages for performances feature country, rock, pop, and jazz music. Approximately 500,000 people attend Taste of Cincinnati each year, making it one of the nation's largest street festivals.
Pizza arrived in the United States in the early 20th century along with waves of Italian immigrants who settled primarily in the larger cities of the Northeast, such as New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Baltimore. After American soldiers stationed in Italy returned from World War II, pizza and pizzerias rapidly grew in popularity.
The culture of Columbus, Ohio, is particularly known for museums, performing arts, sporting events, seasonal fairs and festivals, and architecture of various styles from Greek Revival to modern architecture.
Jean-Robert de Cavel was a French-American chef active primarily in Cincinnati. He was chef de cuisine at The Maisonette from 1993 to 2002, executive chef at Jean-Robert at Pigall's from 2002 to 2009, and later operated Jean-Robert's Table, Le Bar a Boeuf, and French Crust Cafe. He and his wife founded the de Cavel Family SIDS Foundation, which runs Eat.Play.Give: Friends and Family SIDS Brunch, a culinary event that is the country's largest SIDS fundraiser.
The Gourmet Room or Gourmet Restaurant (1948–1992) was a fine-dining restaurant and iconic modernist space in Cincinnati, Ohio, which received five-star Mobil ratings in the 1970s and was at the time one of the few restaurants in the country so rated. It won multiple dining awards from Holiday.
