When word began circulating around the office that a new chili parlor had opened in Ludlow, Kentucky, I was curious to say the least. Starling Chili seemed to come out of nowhere. I first found out about it through The Enquirer's Stephen Wilder, who saw it mentioned in a Facebook post. But the fact that Starling's sign states that it's been around since 1929 left me with a lot of questions.
Which is why, along with The Enquirer's Rasputin Todd and Haadiza Ogwude, I went to check it out. Starling, located in a former barbecue restaurant, actually opened earlier this summer. And while there are cheese coneys on the menu ($5.89 for two), there's no sign of a 3-way or a 4-way. There are no oyster crackers, either.
But the chili is definitely Cincinnati style, with its familiar notes of nutmeg, cinnamon and clove. When I asked owner Thaer Daoud about the "original flavor since 1929" claim on the restaurant's sign, he said the recipe for the chili, which is distributed by Performance Food Service, dates back to 1929, not Starling Chili itself.
I reached out to the food service's owner, Performance Food Group, to ask about the recipe's origins, but they did not get back to me yet. Seeing as 1929 is the year Dixie Chili opened, also in Kentucky, I wondered if it was just that, but Daoud said it is not Dixie's recipe.
Either way, the chili is good. Meaty, with a mild, familiar flavor. We also liked that they use Nathan's Famous hot dogs, since the all-beef franks have a meatier flavor than traditional chili parlor dogs. "This is the first cheese coney I've had where I can taste the hot dog," Raspy said. All I cared about was that the coney was squishy and that the cheese was properly melted. In other words, it ate like a cheese coney. We also liked the Chick-fil-A-style waffle fries.
Starling serves a very good cheeseburger ($5.89), which, Daoud said, is modeled after California's famous In-N-Out Burger and comes topped with American cheese, pickles, diced onions, lettuce, tomato and what tasted like fry sauce. Daoud also brought out his Crunchrito ($4.89), which seemed like a supersized version of Skyline's beloved Chilito, stuffed with chili, sour cream, and gooey melted cheddar, though this one also had chipotle sauce and Fritos inside. Addictive, and a good value, too.
If the Daoud name sounds familiar, it's because the family also owns Gold Star Chili, as well as Frankie's Sips & Savories, Downtown. Thaer Daoud told me that Starling has nothing to do with any of the other Daoud restaurants. "I am doing my own thing," he said.
478 Elm St., Ludlow, Ky., 859-279-3822. 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday-Saturday. Closed Sunday.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: There's a mysterious new chili parlor in town. We checked it out