Food & Beer Culture

Cincinnati chili is a meat sauce seasoned with Mediterranean spices, served over spaghetti or hot dogs. It has little in common with Texas-style chili. A cool lager or pale ale balances the spice without fighting it. Many Cincinnati restaurants serve it in set tiers, from the plain version up to one loaded with beans, onions, and cheese.

Goetta is a specialty with German roots: a mixture of pork and oats, pan-fried in slices. It works for breakfast with a fried egg, or in the evening alongside a beer. Every summer the region celebrates it at Glier's Goettafest. The dish traces back to the cooking of German immigrants, who stretched meat with grain.

Bockfest takes place on the first full weekend of March in Over-the-Rhine, featuring bock beer from the city's breweries. It's billed as the oldest Bockfest in the world. Bock is a strong lager beer whose name traces back to the town of Einbeck.

In fall comes Oktoberfest Zinzinnati, first celebrated in 1976. It bills itself as the largest Oktoberfest in the US and drew over 800,000 visitors in 2024. The name plays on "Zinzinnati," the old German-inflected spelling of the city.

In Cleveland, people gather at Great Lakes Brewing Company in Ohio City, housed in a former feed store said to have the oldest continuously operating bar in the city. The Moerlein Lager House sits along the Ohio River. Beer is served in 473-milliliter pints, paired with bratwurst or a pretzel.