Where should you celebrateNational Chili Day? Officials with fast-food chain Wienerschnitzel, one of the world's largest chili purveyors,have a few ideas.
A study by the company shows that residents of cities across the countrylove this classic comfort food as much or more than their Lone Star State counterparts.
An internal analysis conducted byWienerschnitzel in honor ofNational Chili Day on Feb. 22 named the top 10 chili cities in the United States. Residents in the top cities eat more chili per person than residents of other cities, have access to more restaurants known for their chili and are more likely to enter or attend a chili cook-off.
Among the top cities was San Antonio, Texas, the city credited with first popularizing chili in the 1890s.
According to Wienerschnitzel, the top 10 chili cities are:
- Los Angeles
- Dallas
- Phoenix
- Houston
- San Francisco/Oakland
- Chicago
- Baton Rouge, Louisiana
- Springfield, Missouri
- Cincinnati
- San Antonio
“Despite being the official dish of Texas, chili has grown to become America’s dish,” said Doug Koegeboehn, chief marketing officer for Wienerschnitzel. “At Wienerschnitzel, we’ve known that for years. In fact, we’d like to think that there are really only two types of people in the world: chili lovers and those who still haven’t tasted really great chili yet.”
