Gold Star Chili facts for kids
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Gold Star Chili in Withamsville, Ohio
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| Private | |
| Industry | Food service |
| Founded | 1965 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA |
| Founder | Four Daoud brothers (Fahhad, Fahid, Basheer, Bishara) |
| Headquarters | 650 Lunken Park Drive, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45226-1800 |
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Area served
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Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana |
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Key people
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Roger David, CEO |
| Products | Cincinnati chili |
Gold Star Chili is a restaurant chain that started in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is famous for selling Cincinnati chili, a special kind of chili. The first Gold Star restaurant opened in 1965 in the Mt. Washington area of Cincinnati. It was started by four brothers, Fahhad, Fahid, Basheer, and Bishara Daoud, who had moved to the United States from Jordan. For many years, Gold Star Chili was the "Official Chili" of the Cincinnati Bengals football team.
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The Story of Gold Star Chili
Gold Star Chili began in 1965. The four Daoud brothers, who came from a village in Jordan in 1957, opened their first restaurant. They first called it Hamburger Heaven.
From Hamburgers to Chili Fame
At first, the brothers planned to sell mostly hamburgers. But they also had a special chili recipe. They kept making changes to this recipe. Soon, customers started ordering the chili much more than anything else on the menu. Because of this, the brothers decided to change the restaurant's name to Gold Star Chili. They also removed many other items from their menu to focus on chili.
Some of the brothers later changed their family name to David. They continued to run the growing restaurant chain until they retired in 1990. After they retired, the Daoud/David family brought in other leaders to manage the company.
Baseball Stars and Big Doggies
In 1993, Tony Pérez, a famous former player and manager for the Cincinnati Reds baseball team, helped promote Gold Star Chili. Tony Pérez was known as "Big Dog" during his baseball career. Gold Star Chili wanted to promote their new long cheese coney (a hot dog with chili and cheese). So, they called it the "Big Doggie."
As part of the promotion, customers could buy small Louisville Slugger baseball bats for $1.99. Tony Pérez also visited stores to sign autographs for fans. Gold Star Chili has worked with other Reds players for promotions in the past, including Pete Rose.
Family Returns to Lead
In May 2015, the founding family took charge of the company again. Roger David, one of the founder's sons, became the new CEO. He had worked in Gold Star's marketing department for 10 years after college. Before returning to Gold Star, he was the CEO of another restaurant chain called Buffalo Wings & Rings.
In October 2017, Gold Star Chili bought another Cincinnati restaurant chain called Tom and Chee. This restaurant is known for its grilled cheese sandwiches and was featured on the TV show Shark Tank.
For many years, Gold Star Chili was a main sponsor of the Cincinnati Bengals football team. However, on April 19, 2023, the company announced that their sponsorship deal with the Bengals had ended.
One of the founder's granddaughters, Jules Daoud, was on a TV show called Summer House on the Bravo channel.
Gold Star's Special Chili
The famous Gold Star chili is made at the company's main kitchen, called a commissary. It uses the Daoud brothers' secret mix of spices. We don't know the exact amounts of each spice. However, the recipe likely includes common Greek spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves. It also has a balance of sweet spices (like coriander and cardamom), spicy ones (like garlic and chili powder), and herby ingredients (like oregano). Most Cincinnati chili recipes also use lean ground beef, sweet onions, tomato sauce, and water.
In 2005, Basheer Daoud, a son of one of the founders, said in an interview that the commissary makes about 20,000 pounds (about 9,070 kg) of chili product every day for the restaurants.
Where to Find Gold Star
Gold Star Chili restaurants are located in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. As of October 2016, there were 85 locations.
Also, a relative of the Daoud family started Chili House restaurants in other countries. These restaurants serve a similar chili product in Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Syria.
