r/cincyeats • u/strcrssd • 22d ago
Cincinnati Glier's produces a million pounds of goetta a year. 99% of it never leaves Greater Cincinnati. I'm cataloging dishes like this — what am I missing?
I've been surveying hyper-local American dishes — stuff that's common knowledge in one city and a blank stare everywhere else. Not single-restaurant specialties — things that are on menus all over town but don't exist 200 miles away.
Chicago turned up 20+ entries I didn't expect. Cincinnati has goetta and I know I'm short. The 513-Way at Camp Washington is exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for — two locked-in foods fused together, available at multiple spots, doesn't exist anywhere else. What else fits? The test: you tried to order it or explain it outside the 275 loop and got a blank stare.
Edit: preferred locations/favorite locations at which to order as well please!
Edit 2: Here's what I've got from today. I'll re-scan periodically over the next few days and Here's a more formal take on methodology
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u/Bugatti252 22d ago
Here's another one with some interesting sausage options. Metts (Mettwurst), a smoky pork sausage, and White Brats (Weisswurst), which are staples of the local German-influenced meat culture.
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u/strcrssd 22d ago edited 22d ago
Thanks, I'll research these. Appreciate your suggestions.
Edit:
Researched. boilface is right that products labeled "Weisswurst" here track the German recipe, but the catch is that the everyday Cincinnati brat is itself a pork-only Weisswurst descendant (parboil, fine emulsion, no smoke). Avril-Bleh's Len Bleh told Dann Woellert directly: "weisswurst is the grandfather to our Cincinnati brat." Woellert separately places Cincinnati's brat "more similar to the Bavarian weisswurst than to what anyone else in America associates with a bratwurst." Going in alongside the existing metts entry. Thanks again.
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u/boilface 22d ago
Mettwurst in Cincinnati is a distinct sausage but Weisswurst here follows the typical German recipe as far as I know
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u/strcrssd 22d ago
Right that Cincinnati products labeled "Weisswurst" follow the standard recipe. The wrinkle: the everyday Cincinnati brat is itself a Weisswurst descendant (pork-only parboil, hot-dog-fine grind, white-gray when cooked). Avril-Bleh's Len Bleh told Dann Woellert: "weisswurst is the grandfather to our Cincinnati brat." Woellert: "more similar to the Bavarian weisswurst than to what anyone else in America associates with a bratwurst." Local artifact is the brat, not the Weisswurst. Going in. Thanks for the catch.
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u/Chuck331 22d ago
Love white brats, mustard and sauerkraut for me.
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u/Bugatti252 21d ago
Honestly not a huge fan unless they are sliced with a large selection of condiments.
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u/lolimjustsaying 22d ago
Grippo’s
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u/Bearcarnikki 22d ago
Cottage Ham in cincy
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u/_Elduder 22d ago
This for sure. Not sure if city chicken is or not
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u/strcrssd 22d ago
Yes on city chicken. It's actually a documented Great Lakes / Polish-and-Italian-immigrant dish that runs from Pittsburgh and Cleveland through Detroit and Buffalo, and Cincinnati is in the spread: La Normandie had baked city chicken "en brochette" on the 1933 lunch menu, and Eckerlin Meats at Findlay Market still carries it. u/Bearcarnikki confirming downthread is exactly the local-eater signal. Going in next iteration as a Cincinnati extension to the existing Great Lakes entry.
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u/troy_abedintheam 22d ago
Lock turtle soup used to be on a lot of menus. I don't know if that's specific to Cincinnati though.
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u/strcrssd 22d ago
It's specific. Atlas Obscura calls Cincinnati "one place in the country where the love of mock turtle soup never went away." The Cincinnati version (ground beef, ketchup, vinegar, chopped egg, no calf head) is structurally different from the British original and from Minster's actual-turtle tradition. Worthmore's been the canonical can since 1918. Going in next iteration.
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u/phelpsaw 22d ago
Cheese Crowns at any good Cincinnati bakery!
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u/strcrssd 22d ago
Confirmed. Cheese crown is Cincinnati-locked, traces to Gordon Nash at Priscilla Bakery in St. Bernard, mid-1960s, then propagated via the Retail Bakers Association show-and-sell network across Servatii, Busken, Wyoming Pastries, Regina. Zero hits in Dayton/Columbus/Louisville/Indianapolis. Graeter's tribute ice cream is the cultural-lock signal Strict-Canary nailed. Going in. Thanks.
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u/prettyodd713 22d ago
Steak hoagies. I had no idea they weren't sold everywhere
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u/strcrssd 22d ago
Confirmed it's its own thing. Ground beef patty, mozzarella, pizza sauce or mushroom gravy, broiled, pickle. Pizza-shop dish, not a Philly cheesesteak. The kicker: Domino's and Papa John's only put steak hoagie on the menu in Cincinnati ZIP codes. Going in. Thanks.
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u/AStoutBreakfast 22d ago
I love regional food like this and was unaware that steak hoagies made in a specific way was a Cincinnati thing. If I wanted to try one what are some good restaurants to check out?
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u/strcrssd 22d ago edited 22d ago
My research, I don't have firsthand knowledge:
LaRosa's (chopped steak with provolone, multi-location since 1954) is the default starter. Pasquale's (1958 original, "oregano blast" brown sauce) is closer to canonical. Richards Pizza in Hamilton has the published authenticity letter. Capri (the 1949 progenitor) and Snappy Tomato (NKY) round out the spread. JTM Provisions sells a frozen kit if you can't get to a counter.
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u/ghostnthegraveyard 22d ago
I never really eat LaRosa's pizzs anymore, but once or twice a year I get a craving for their steak hoagie and fries.
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u/strcrssd 22d ago
Note: I know I'm missing a few already, like the aforementioned 513-way and chili, and I'll get those in the next iteration. Those are the two I do know about. What else?
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u/VenomousValdez 22d ago
Mock Turtle soup, steak hoggies, metts and brats are different here than elsewhere. Then there's all the candy that was invented in the region like Opera cremes, french chews, candy corn, candy canes, chocolate cherry cordials, marshmallow cones, airheads....
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u/strcrssd 22d ago
Mock turtle, steak hoagies, opera creams, and brats all confirmed Cincinnati-locked, going in next iteration. Brats specifically because the Cincinnati brat is structurally a pork-only Weisswurst descendant (parboil, fine grind, white-gray) which boilface partly nailed below. French chews and candy corn are Cincinnati-invented but distributed nationally now (Doscher's at Kroger, Goelitz mass-marketed candy corn coast to coast), staying out as brand-not-dish. Big help, thanks.
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u/lifeofspirits 22d ago
Do other areas have fish logs?
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u/strcrssd 22d ago edited 22d ago
They don't. Term and dish are basically Cincinnati-only (from my research). Old Timber Inn (Northside, closed 2022) was the origin, Lake Nina's still serving full/half/minnow. Northside even has tribute Fish Log cider and Fish Log gelato now. That's how locked-in it is. Going in. Thanks.
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u/magicaldarwin 22d ago
Nectar Soda, a sundae flavoring similar to tutti frutti. Only found at Graeters, Aglameisis, and some places in New Orleans.
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u/Spiritual-Ad8062 19d ago
Skyline chili. Or gold star chili. That form of “chili”.
It reaches Louisville, and that’s about it.
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u/TaterTotJim 18d ago
The “mush” belt should be studied: goetta, scrapple, liver mush, what else is out there? What is the origin or were each an independent creation?
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u/Bugatti252 18d ago
I belive they all came out of the depression where people wanted to stretch food so they took protein and mix it with grains and bam more food.
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u/TaterTotJim 18d ago
I like your theory and would believe it. What is odd to me is that Michigan and the more northern rustbelt doesn’t have this type of food. It is more closely aligned to Appalachia region. I can’t think of similar dishes in N Ohio, NY, IL, WI, MI - maybe that is peak sausage country?
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u/JimmyJam84 22d ago
I can account for 100 lbs per year