Growing up next to the family that launched a Cincinnati culinary icon turned out to be a lifetime passion for Joe Poulos.
Poulos worked at Skyline Chili in 1949 when the Lambrinides clan first served their Cincinnati-style chili at their original restaurant on Glenway Avenue in East Price Hill.
Years later after serving in the U.S. Navy and returning to Cincinnati, those ties paid off for Poulos.
In late 1958, he bought Skyline’s second location at Fifth and Main streets from the Lambrinides family, making him Skyline’s first franchisee.
Skyline Chili Inc., now with 135 restaurants in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Florida, this year will celebrate Poulos’ 50th anniversary in that role.
Joe moved his restaurant to 1007 Vine St. in 1962 with the demolition of the building at Fifth and Main streets, now site of the John Weld Peck Federal Building.
“The Feds ran me out,” Poulos, donning a red Skyline shirt and sporting a big grin, joked last week in an interview.
He moved the restaurant in 2000 to its current location at 1001 Vine St.
Photo: Jeff Swinger | The Enquirer.
