Chili: Beyond the Lone Star State

In the late 1800s chili’s popularity also began spreading to other parts of the United States, as visitors to Texas carried back home their newfound taste for this regional dish and as Texans themselves transported chili recipes with them throughout the country. At the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893 thousands of people sampled Texas chili at the San Antonio Chili Stand. By the 1920s “chili parlors” or “chili joints”—which originated in Texas—were opening across America. Typically small, inexpensive, hole-in-the-wall diners located in industrial districts and working-class neighborhoods, these chili parlors not only served cheap bowls of chili but also became gathering places for men from various parts of the community, as the eating of chili expanded across social, economic, and ethnic lines. Although the number of chili parlors declined in the United States during World War II, more chili parlors began to open again in the 1950s, only to be eventually replaced by the inexpensive hamburger chains that were also being built around the country. One of the most famous purveyors of chili was Chasen’s restaurant in Beverly Hills, founded in 1936, a classic California dining emporium that served chili to movie stars and film studio executives for almost six decades until it closed in 1995.