How to eat it
Even among those who agree that chili and cinnamon rolls work in concert, there’s still contention over how exactly they should be consumed. “It’s a very divisive topic whether you eat them separately, like one after the other, or if you dip,” says Perrett. “That’s a conversation that you can have for a very long time with someone.” There are even those who like the chili served over the cinnamon roll, a hardcore approach.
“I love that everyone has their own ritual — it’s something we have in common but enjoy in our own unique ways,” says Heriford. “I’ve been known to dip, though I’m more of an alternator. But I have to end with a bite of cinnamon roll.”
Though Schneider thought the combination was a little out there when he first came to Kansas to work at Carriage Crossing, he gave it a chance — after all, he grew up with lunch ladies who paired chili with peanut butter sandwiches in St. Louis, and his staff think he’s “crazy” when he has it for lunch. He’s since “learned to embrace the chili and cinnamon roll combo,” even enjoying it occasionally himself. “I guess I am now a true Kansan.”