Skyline Chili

This is by far my favorite location to get my skyline fix. I lived in Texas for the past nine years but grew up dining on skyline in Cincinnati as a child. Most of the employees here recognize me by now because I’m here so often. The service is always wonderful and everyone is extremely friendly. I’ve only had one mistake since visiting this place in the last 6 months and they quickly fixed it. If you’re craving some skyline, this is the best location to go!

Stopped by here with family while I was in Dayton and honestly, it was a little underwhelming after all the hype that I got from native Ohioans.
The 5 Pillars:
Food: When you sit down, they give you soup-​crackers to snack on, which is a little strange seeing as people don’t usually order any soup, but it’s something to munch on I guess. I ordered the 4-​Way, which is basically chili that comes with onions and beans, which you can taste barely any of because there is just wayyyyy too much cheese. And to be honest, it’s not even good quality cheese. It’s the kind of cheese that you get at the grocery store that is pre-​shredded and in the plastic containers. At least get your own cheese and grind it. But it would not have helped the bland flavor profile of the chili. But bottom line is that it was way too much cheese. I would recommend using half of the cheese they give you, because you’ll just feel sick after eating it.
Service: The service was fine. The wait-​staff is very friendly and is willing to help you out with accommodations for child-​seating and suggestions from the menu. They are good about refilling water and making sure that everything is going well. Overall good service.
Ambiance: When you walk in, it looks and feels like a higher end fast-​food joint if there is such a thing. Mostly it’s booths around the edges of the room as well as in the middle, where they placed partitions. There are tables for 4 where you can sit if you don’t like booths. It was pretty quiet in there, and they have TV’s that have the local baseball games going or ESPN. This place is good if you like a more quiet setting for fast food.
Dine-​in: The dining area is very spacious and the service is pretty good. It’s probably better to sit down because it’s pretty hard to eat spaghetti in the car.
Carry-​out: They have a drive-​thru which seems underutilized to be honest.
Overall: Like I said before, a little underwhelming. Way too much cheese, and cheap ingredients makes for a mediocre experience. Maybe if I actually take a trip to Cincinnati and get an authentic one, the chili might have more flavor, and I might change my mind.

Every time I order a pint of chili to go I get a half filled container! I wish they would give you what you pay for, so irritating!

I love Skyline. I go to this location often. The dining area is always clean. The staff is always friendly. The food is always good. I’ve never had a bad experience here.

Food was ok. Coney was soggy by the time I got it. Drive through took forever! Green noodles for St. Patrick day was fun!

Dakota served us for dinner tonight. Dining room looked in good shape. I love the 3-​ways (chili, spaghetti, and cheese), and the cheese coneys! The staff was very inviting and friendly! Keep up the good work!

If you like Cincinnati chili, this place is the best place to get it. Everytime I go there they have the best service I’ve ever had at a fast or fast casual place. You can tell they put a lot of effort into hiring high quality people.

This is one of the best skyline chili in the Dayton. We used to go there every Wednesday for kids night when my kid was a kid. We still go there a lot but we moved a little further away and has another one closer. Although the one closer to us is not as good as this one. Plus there is one waitress there named Danielle she is the best ever. If you ever go there ask for Danielle.

My fabulous little wife Diane and I recently discovered what a treat it can be going to a humble chili shop — namely Skyline Chili, on Wilmington Pike near Dorothy Lane. It’s close to us and while we are pretty picky in our diet (details below) we found their baked potato and Greek salads were fantastic.
But what honestly amazed us was the level of personal service. You do NOT get a chance to wish your drink was refilled, baby, they are THERE with it. And the manager will stop by at least once to confirm all is well at your table. Everyone seems to actually be happy to work there.
Go figure. Weird, eh? And delightful, we think.
(DIET ISSUE: It’s hard for for us to eat, kids. No beef, no pork, no wheat. Worth the effort, though.)

My first time at Skyline was fun. Tried a cheese coney and chili cheese fries. My husbands favorite (and only choice) is the 3 way. The oyster crackers and hot sauce are a nice touch. Since it was my first time there, our sweet server Diana presented me with a gift bag with some goodies (mint, crackers, hot sauce, bib). This is an example of a place with basic food taking it to the next level with good service.

This was my first experience with Skyline Chili and I have to say for a chain, they do a pretty good job with their specialty. Of course this was a Dayton branch of the famous Cincinnati chili house and from the exterior it looks like any fast food joint. On the inside, it looks like any other fast food joint as well. You order your food at the counter and you wait for the order. Cincinnati style chili is more soupier than Texas style chili, but that’s not to say it lacks the consistency of chili, in fact quite the opposite. It’s hearty enough that it’s filling, but not so hearty that it winds up sitting like a brick. The specialty of the house is the chili spaghetti. Think of it as spaghetti and meat sauce expect with more spices. The chili dogs are the White Castle version of what chili dogs should be. They are small and easy to eat, although topped with a heaping amount of chili and shredded cheese. In fact, if I were to surmise, it could have been vienna sausages that we all had as kids somewhere buried deep within the bun. I will note that the spaghetti was a tad over cooked so if you like your chili al dente, this might not be for you. Otherwise, it was a good experience… something that most likely won’t be repeated, but you never know.

best service and food in Dayton! Really good price and quality for fast food. I only wish they had these places nation wide!

If you’ve only had this Skyline, you’ve not had Skyline. Chili shortage on the coneys, poor service. Head closer to Cincy for the real thing. Even Lebanon is better. It’s still better than Gold Star.

This Skyline used to blow hard. The staff used to be a bunch of lazy no good for nothin teenagers who couldn’t sling a hot dog if their life depended on it. Now, as it seems, it’s full of very attractive and jovial waitresses that I’m sure are over 18.
The service was surprising. I know, it’s fast food, but they were fast, happy, and I started asking for stuff just to see if it’d come fast and it did every time. They were fairly busy too. I tipped well, don’t worry, I’m not a total douche bag.
The food:
If you’ve never had Skyline chili then, depending on where you’re from, it might either be amazing or dog shit. It’s semi soupy non-​spicey chili with a chilish flavor. They have sauce you can add to cpie it up. I’ve had better chili but it ain’t bad. But, a coney with just cheese and onions is something I crave often so I stop in.
Steer clear of the oyster crackers. They will turn your mouth into a desert in seconds flat.

Is it chili or is it something else? Chili aficionados claim that it’s sacrilege to even call this chili, I think it’s one of those places that you either have a taste for or you don’t, there’s no in between with Skyline and I happen to love it! This particular Skyline is always very clean and the staff very friendly and prompt, I like that you can sit anywhere you want but they still offer waiter service. I also enjoy the little bowl of oyster crackers they bring even before they take your order, they’re great with a little drop of hot sauce on each one, nice appetizer prior to getting the real stuff! Once our order was taken our food arrived within probably 3 minutes, I know there’s not a lot of individual prep required but getting my food fast and hot is a outstanding! There’s just no other flavor like that yummy chili, mounds of fluffy cheese, onions, spaghetti (or coney dog), it’s all good here! I’m giving it five stars because they have fantastic service, they’re fast, clean, and the food they offer is outstanding for the niche they serve. This is a regional chain that does things the right way.

I love the Chili-​n-​Cheese Coneys! You know it’s good if Sarah Jessica Parker has it shipped monthly to NYC;-)

Finally I’ve tried it! Who knew that Ohio had famous chili dogs?
For those fellow non-​Ohioans, a «coney» is what they call a chili dog with cheese (cheddar, i think) piled high on top.
The coney was surprisingly good! For fast food, Skyline seems to be one of the best options, taste and quality wise.
There’s not much to say about our drive-​thru service: The person was nice and our coneys were ready quickly, but it was just your typical drive-​thru.
I’ll be back to Skyline for more!

This is the Skyline that I frequent. It’s always my favorite when they have the habanero cheese that I can add to my usual 3 or 5 way and loaded coney. It’s not for everyone, but the food is always fast and delicious, plus you get unlimited oyster crackers, so there’s no downside. Unfortunately the furthest north Sklyine is in Lima, so if you’re going to be farther north than that, be sure to stock up on the cans!

Skyline Chili is one of those «must eats» in life. I had no clue what I was getting into, but while at a training in OH got up in the mix of some intense cheese piled spaghetti and chili action. I probably ate there a half a dozen times in the 5 weeks I was in Dayton… and I loved every bite of it!