Gold Star Chili is bringing back its most frequently requested, limited-time-only menu offerings as part of the company’s 50th anniversary commemoration. For its first promotion of the year, Gold Star Chili is reintroducing some hearty, Cincinnati-style comfort food, Chili Mac & Cheese, just in time for the cold winter months.
“It was 2008 when we last offered Chili Mac & Cheese as a menu item,” says Charlie Howard, vice president of marketing and brand development for Gold Star Chili. “Since then, every winter, we get hundreds of requests via e-mail, phone, and social media to bring it back.”
Gold Star Chili Mac & Cheese is served in a large bowl, featuring a generous portion of pasta in a rich, creamy cheese sauce. It’s then smothered in Gold Star’s famous Cincinnati-style chili and topped with shredded Mild Cheddar cheese. Chili Mac & Cheese is returning to the Gold Star menu at a time when variations on “gourmet mac & cheese have become a hot, national restaurant trend. Gold Star’s version is the “most-Cincinnati” way to enjoy a macaroni and cheese dish, and they are the only Cincinnati chili restaurant to offer it.
As a matter of company policy, if Gold Star Chili brings back a menu item for a limited-time promotion, it has to come back even better than before. The recipe for Gold Star’s new Chili Mac & Cheese was developed internally by the company’s corporate chef and features higher quality pasta and a richer, creamier cheese sauce.
Gold Star’s Chili Mac & Cheese promotion will run through February 15. It will be promoted with an aggressive advertising campaign featuring television, radio, billboards, social media, e-mail, and direct mail.