![IMG_0801](https://www.alleewillis.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/IMG_0801.jpg)
It’s rare I have a weekday that’s not stuffed with work, a mish-mash of songwriting, blogging, curating, working on my next live Super Ball Bounce Back show, etc., etc., etc. But last Friday was one such day and I spent most of it at one of my favorite still-standing places in Burbank, Chili John’s. This is such a serious chili pad I even took the Wienermobile there a few weeks ago:
![IMG_5857](https://www.alleewillis.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/IMG_5857.jpg)
Chili John’s started in 1900 and is still going strong in Green Bay, Wis.
![IMG_0796](https://www.alleewillis.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/IMG_0796.jpg)
Chili John’s Burbank, the only offspring, was erected in 1946. All they serve are dishes topped with SERIOUS chili.
![IMG_7757](https://www.alleewillis.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/IMG_7757.jpg)
The prices are a little different than back in the ’60’s:
![IMG_7766](https://www.alleewillis.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/IMG_77661.jpg)
As usual, Mark Blackwell documented my culinary experience:
![chili-johns_7774](https://www.alleewillis.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chili-johns_7774.jpg)
I spent a lot of time documenting the decor:
![chili johns_0684](https://www.alleewillis.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chili-johns_0684.jpg)
The entire restaurant is a U-shaped array of formica and bright orange vinyl:
![chili-johns_0764](https://www.alleewillis.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chili-johns_0764.jpg)
Even the light switches go way back:
![IMG_0777](https://www.alleewillis.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/IMG_0777.jpg)
In the center of the counter there are vats of different strength chili:
![IMG_7762](https://www.alleewillis.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/IMG_77621.jpg)
The neon clock over the entrance to the kitchen is classic:
![IMG_0793](https://www.alleewillis.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/IMG_0793.jpg)
LOVE the fake flower pots and the ‘Chili John’s’ that rim the walls as they meet the ceiling all the way around the restaurant:
![chili-johns_0790](https://www.alleewillis.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chili-johns_0790.jpg)
But nothing kills me more than the wall mural that runs along the entire east side of the restaurant:
![IMG_0785](https://www.alleewillis.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/IMG_0785.jpg)
As photogenic as the decor is, I spent most of my time photographing the food:
![IMG_0687](https://www.alleewillis.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/IMG_0687.jpg)
And what food it is! The chili dogs, with varying-degrees-of -spiciness-chili are INSANE…::
![IMG_7758](https://www.alleewillis.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/IMG_7758.jpg)
…as are the Sloppy Johns:
![chili-johns_7770](https://www.alleewillis.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chili-johns_7770.jpg)
The chopped onions add a crispiness to make for a cornucopia of textural wonderness.
![chili-johns_7772](https://www.alleewillis.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chili-johns_7772.jpg)
You can get a glimpse of other dishes here. All the foodstuffs are definitely a two-fisted job:
![IMG_0696](https://www.alleewillis.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/IMG_0696.jpg)
Mark and I started with the excessively wonderful and creamy lemon pie, pictured below but solo-photo-of-which I forgot to take, and then dove backwards into the main course. As you can see, the take home cartons were already poised to be loaded:
![IMG_0740](https://www.alleewillis.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/IMG_0740.jpg)
Here I am in the kitchen to check out how the secret seasonings are brewed:
![IMG_0709](https://www.alleewillis.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/IMG_0709.jpg)
Owner Alec Loguercio pours the fixin’s into a giant grinder:
![IMG_0703](https://www.alleewillis.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/IMG_0703.jpg)
![IMG_0706](https://www.alleewillis.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/IMG_0706.jpg)
Then it’s all tossed into a pot that’s so big it’s stirred with an oar:
![IMG_0725](https://www.alleewillis.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/IMG_0725.jpg)
![IMG_0724](https://www.alleewillis.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/IMG_0724.jpg)
Chili John’s is a family run joint. Alec…,
![IMG_0704](https://www.alleewillis.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/IMG_0704.jpg)
…and his mom, Debbie,…
![IMG_0739](https://www.alleewillis.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/IMG_0739.jpg)
…who was there the day we pulled up in the Wienermobile.:
![IMG_0106](https://www.alleewillis.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/IMG_0106.jpg)
Sue Mell, family friend, also pitches in:
![chili-johns_0774](https://www.alleewillis.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chili-johns_0774.jpg)
It’s no secret that I love hot dogs. I don’t care what’s in them (though Chili John’s offers a choice of beef, chicken or vegetarian dogs). They’re health food for the soul.
![IMG_0698](https://www.alleewillis.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/IMG_0698.jpg)
Put that hot dog under a bed of homemade chili and then put that chili dog in a setting like Chili John’s with a seriously friendly staff and the smell of simmering garlic tickling your membranes and you’ve got one happy chilin’ Allee Willis!
![IMG_5851](https://www.alleewillis.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/IMG_5851.jpg)
Christine Logan
Debbie at Chili John’s gave me your link. Thought you’d enjoy mine http://www.ChiLLi.ChiLi.com
My folks Mickey & Edna LaMere used to own Chili John’s and before that dad’s uncle Ernie and Myrtle. If you’ve been going there for a long time you may have known them, heck , you may have run into me!
The site’s only 3 days old but I’ve got a ton of history up there.
Christine Logan
Allee
How great to hear! I love Chili John’s so much. How great to have grown up constantly going there. I would’ve been in heaven. I first went in 1981.
Can you check the link you posted? I can’t get it to work.