History
Gold Star Chili was founded in 1965 by four Jordanian brothers in Mount Washington, originally under the name Hamburger Heaven. As the original name suggests, the original vision for their restaurant was primarily hamburgers. However, they also had a chili recipe that they began modifying, soon finding that customers were ordering the chili more than any of the other menu items. As a result, the brothers changed the restaurant name to Gold Star Chili and removed many of the other items from their menu.
In 1993 Tony Pérez, then manager of the Cincinnati Reds and former member of the Big Red Machine, kicked off a promotion campaign for the restaurant. During his baseball years Pérez's nickname was "Big Dog", and since the chain was ready to promote their new foot long cheese coney, Gold Star saw a promotional opportunity, naming it "Big Doggie". For the promotion, the store offered customers 16-inch (410 mm) miniature Louisville Slugger baseball bats for US$1.99, and Pérez did various in-store signing sessions for fans. In the past, Gold Star Chili has also hired other Reds players for promotional campaigns, most notably Pete Rose.
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