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    Restaurant Review: JC’s Just Chili

    The Grandview area used to be the sort of place where you could find little mom n’pop eateries. Maybe not on the main drag, but just off the avenue, on the side streets in the neighborhood.

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    It still is.

    It might be harder to find the places, blinded by the Winking Lizard and Starbucks signs, but there are still spots for little start-up operations. And JC’s Just Chili is one of those operations.

    It’s got a novel angle: just chili. Moreover, it debuted this spring and spring doesn’t really seem like the season to launch an operation devoted to a winter time comfort food. Chili cookouts in Ohio are popular, but there’s a reason none are scheduled between June and August: the food falls out of favor.

    JC’s isn’t just devoted to chili, it devotes itself to chili-to-go. All its wares are sold chilled and refrigerated in microwave-safe containers. Unless you like cold chili, you’ll need to heat it yourself. In a carry-out culture, that’s not such a bad thing. The take-out trend in dining has been dominant for about five years.

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    The house makes four types of chili. It’s good stuff, you can see why they’re proud enough to give the chili business a whirl. The Beef Chili ($6.75) was the favorite. It’s build on a classic foundation of tender chunks of meat (eye of round), beans, tomatoes (organic) — with accents from green and jalapeño peppers. It all stews in a sauce that tastes nothing like package-mix stuff. It’s savory with a hint of honey sweetness and maybe something on the lines of cinnamon.

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    The White Chicken Chili ($6.50) is built on diced chicken and beans in chicken stock. Thanks to garlic, poblano pepper and lime, it captures the distinct southwestern accent associated with chili.

    Outside the land of meat, the Vegan Chili ($6.50 – pictured up top) holds its own with the more classic stews. Like any meatless chili, it has tomatoes and beans. It also uses faux soy protein (a ringer for ground beef). The soy crumbles add an appealingly traditional touch to the vegan version.

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    The fourth offering isn’t chili proper; it’s Coney Sauce ($6.75), and it’s good For summer purists, who refuse to ingest soup in the summer. It’s about perfect: super-finely ground beef that holds together by the grace of its briny sauce. In a world where coney sauce can seem like mystery meat, this place also labels the ingredients on everything — no mysteries in the coney or chili, just quality ingredients.

    There are some baked goods on the side. The Corn Bread ($2) is sort of binge-worthy: big triangles, speckled with peppers, heavy and sweet and spicy all at once. The brownies and cookies ($2) are worth a whirl too. The traditional brownie has a nice sugary frosted top, but it might be beaten out by its butterscotch cousin: dusted in powdered sugar, it has the signature sweet crispy baked lid that makes brownies in any hue likable.

    You can find JC’s Just Chili at 1617 West 5th Avenue in the Fifth by Northwest neighborhood. It’s on the first floor of an older brick brick building and open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 11am until 7pm.

    For more information, visit www.jcsjustchili.com.

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    Miriam Bowers Abbott
    Miriam Bowers Abbotthttps://columbusunderground.com
    Miriam Bowers Abbott is a freelancer contributor to Columbus Underground who reviews restaurants, writes food-centric featurettes and occasionally pens other community journalism pieces.
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