Joe Roger's Chili Parlor (closed)

When Joe Rogers was a young man, he ate a bowl of chili at a friend’s house and decided, “that was a great bowl of chili”.  However wanting to achieve perfection he experimented with many ingredients before achieving what he considered the perfect chili recipe.  Wanting to share his perfection, Joe Rogers opened Joe Rogers’ Original Recipe “The Den” Chili Parlor on December 31, 1945.  The original chili parlor at 1125 South Grand Avenue seating consisted of eleven stools at the counter.

Despite the limited seating, Joe Rogers’ quickly became a Springfield favorite for chili made your way.  Local lore holds that “customers would stand four deep just to get a bowl of Joe Rogers’ chili”.  Opened to 3am in the early days many a local will recall their favorite story of after a night on the town ending up at Joe Rogers’ eating a bowl of Firebrand.

The flavor filled taste and the spicy Firebrand have made Joe Rogers’ chili known worldwide.  However, to locals, the magic is being able to order chili your way. Since the meat and beans are cooked separately, and the spice is cooked into the meat, customers can specialize their chili to suit their taste.

Whether you like it mild, a touch of hot, medium hot, hot, firebrand,  regular meat or extra meat, regular beans or no beans at all, regular oil, light oil or for those who really like their oil (extra oil)  your bowl of chili is not prepared until it is ordered.

Joe Rogers’ Chili Parlor, moved to the current location of 820 South Ninth Street, in 1997, and seating is now plentiful. Joe Rogers’ chili ownership changed in 2008, after being in the Rogers family for 63 years, Joe then daughter Marianne, passed the torch to Ric and Rose Hamilton.  The Hamilton’s continue to keep true to the Joe Rogers’ chili original recipe and the chili made your way formula.  Though the Chili Parlor no longer stays open till 3am, for those who dare, a bowl of Firebrand will still get your name on the wall.

As seen on Man Vs. Food!