Joe Rogers' Original Recipe Chili Parlor

Handsdown BEST chili i've had in my life.  

I got the "firebrand" which is the hottest chilli & the one that gets your name on the wall if you finish the entire bowl.  It's not THE hottest I've ever had..but pretty damn spicey.....

Cannot wait until i go back!

My family came into town for the day and my dad picked the Chili Den for lunch. It sounded like a unique dining experience and we all enjoy chili.
Overall, this was very boring chili. We all ordered our chili medium spicy. Much to our disappointment, although the chili was hot the spice gave no extra flavor. It was spicy just to be spicy, not to add anything to the taste. Apparently (We didn't find this out until after we had gotten our bowls) you can ask for light or no oil. I would definitely suggest this. my bowl of ground meat and beans was basking in a disgusting amount of oil. This only made the chili taste slimy.
Now, I understand maybe this way of making chili is just their "style" but I will not be going back.

I recently moved from San Diego, CA back to the midwest.  Having my priorities clearly in order, I began searching for chili parlors.  Why I didn't know about Joe Rogers' while a student at Millikin in nearby Decatur, IL 25 years ago is a mystery.  I'm certainly thrilled to know about it now!  The chili is in the midwestern school (beans and meat) and is available in a variety of spice levels.  I went for the schtick and ordered a bowl of the Firebrand to have my name put on the wall.  The Firebrand is spicey, however, it's not "too" spicey.  The challenge in finishing stems chiefly from the Firebrand being essentially a bowl of spicey sloppy joe filling!  Eating a bowl of finely ground, spicey, meat sauce is tough as it is so filling.  My fiance ordered the mild/hot and his was much "spicier" in my opinion.

Overall, I love the chili and we plan to visit as often as possible.  When we do, we will be sure to bring cash as The Den doesn't accept credit/debit cards.