Mad River Bar and Grille
Chili: Chili at Mad River Bar and Grille
Ingredients: Mad River's chili is filled with plenty of beef, peppers, tomatoes and spices, including garlic and chili powder, as well as a healthy pour of red wine. It's served with grated cheddar cheese and sour cream.
Damage: $5.95 bowl (And if you want the crab dip that's also pictured here, that costs an additional $8.95.)
Skinny: The generosity of the Mad River crew made me suspicious. Were they trying to throw me off my main objective by dangling crab dip in front of me? Don't worry. I'm a relentless, pit bull of a journalist, and I jumped face first into that chili and didn't let go until I had the scoop, albeit a tortilla chip scoop ... with chili on it ... but a scoop nonetheless. The skinny: Mad River has excellent chili. It's so thick you'll break off your festive, multi-colored tortilla somewhere deep inside, and end up chipless, running your fingers along the inside of the bowl as if it were the residue of some chocolate chip cookie dough.--Mark Gross
