Month: April 2019

This one was a winner. The “short rib” chili had tons of flavor and took me a few bites to figure things out. There were big hunks of meat which was great, not too many beans and an excellent sauce. There was a little heat but not too much. The focus was definitely on that savory part of it. There was a nice subtle tomato based flavor with a great mix of spices. It was tough to pin down exactly which spices there were as nothing stood out and dominated the spectrum. I’d just say it has a smooth personality. Overall this was excellent and something I would order every time I went back, at least for lunch. Manny’s is a top notch steakhouse so you have to get a nice cut of meat for dinner. Value was a tad questionable as it was close to $10 for a big cup. The add-ons were nice, not too much cheese, a little sour cream, little chunks of tomato and what I believe were scallions. They also had a bag of Fritos which I never opened. Two big thumbs up for this!

Overall taste 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶 8.5/10

Spice Level 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶6/10

Heat Level 🌶🌶🌶🌶4/10

IT Factor 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶8/10

Value 🌶🌶🌶3/10

Hello!

At first glance I was concerned with the mountain of cheese. I dug into just the chili for a few bites first before mixing in cheese. (no sour cream provided). the cheese actually melted down nice and wasn’t really present.

So, right of the bat I was pleasantly surprised but the initial spice kick and heat level, which was nice to finally experience. After half the cup I was almost to the point of needing to blow my nose a little. Finally someone puts a little zip in their chili!

This was a hearty mix of mostly meat and not too many beans, some raw onion and what I believed were some jalapenos. It wasn’t too thick where you couldn’t dunk a little bread in there but it was close.

I was really impressed with this chili, the flavor, amount in the “cup”, heat level, meat ratio, spices. Looking at the menu I believe the cup was around $5 and the “bowl” was only like a dollar more, so I guess next time just get the bowl for not much more $$? I’ll definitely order again!

Overall taste 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶7/10

Spice Level 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶6/10

Heat Level 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶6/10

IT Factor 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶6/10

Value 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶6/10

Been off for a while so glad to be back. Have to say I’ve probably had this chili at Champps around 30 times. It has changed over time, a little for the worse. It used to have a lot more cheese and came out piping hot with the cheese melted under the broiler.

The chili this time was a hair on the bland side, no real hint of any spice standing out. There used to be a little hint of almost a cinnamon type flavor which gave it a real nice flavor profile. The overall consistency of meat/bean/sauce is excellent and a great value for $5.00, just wanted something more in lines of flavor. Maybe this was just an off batch so of course I’ll try again.

Overall taste 🌶🌶🌶🌶4/10

Spice Level 🌶🌶2/10

Heat Level 🌶1/10

IT Factor 🌶🌶🌶3/10

Value 🌶🌶🌶🌶4/10

Well…I went into this hearing the chili wasn’t great and that is what I felt too after eating it. It comes stock with cheese and raw onions and the onions were the highlight! First off the plastic spoon was absolutely terrible. Imagine cutting a small ball in half and that was about the shape. You couldn’t get your top lip to contort enough to scoop out so you kind of had to pour it in your mouth. I was just plain messy with that and the melted cheese strings. I was trying to come up with the flavor profile and it was akin to canned chili/burnt chili powder/bad beans. I assume it is made in some central area and shipped to restaurants? Maybe it was burned on the warming table? Either way it really lacked flavor, zip and any real chili qualities. Take the base of what you got and throw in a handful of paprika, ancho chili powder or jalapenos or something to amp it up

Overall taste 🌶🌶2/10

Spice Level 🌶🌶2/10

Heat Level 🌶1/10

IT Factor 🌶🌶2/10

Value 🌶🌶🌶🌶4/10

Wow…this was good chili. “Brisket chili” as they say was just off the charts with flavor. It actually had a nice kick to it as well which I haven’t got in a while. Came stock with sour cream, cheese and cornbread croutons. The brisket was kind of like a pulled meat consistency, not cut into cubes like competition chili. Overall though this covered all the bases…great sauce, excellent chili flavor and other spices, heat, and a hint of tomato flavor. Just had a bowl and no cups as far as I could tell so this could easily have a been a full meal. They have a lot of great stuff on the menu but I’d definitely go back just for the chili.

Overall taste 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶9/10

Spice level 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶8/10

Heat level 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶6/10

IT Factor 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶8/10

Value 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶6/10