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Cheap Eats By Gary Singh Flying Pig Pub 78 S. First St., San Jose 408.298.6710 Lunch 11am-2am Tue-Fri, 4pm-2am Sat and Mon THE FLYING PIG Pub in downtown San Jose is the only place west of the Mississippi where seekers can devour authentic Cincinnati chili. It comes in three-way, four-way and five-way versions. What in tarnation is Cincinnati chili? I hear you cry. At Flying Pig, whose proprietors do actually hail from that Ohio metropolis, "three-way" chili consists of tender spaghetti smothered with chili and blanketed with mild cheddar cheese. The price: exactly five bucks. For 25 cents more, you can add either red beans or diced onions to the mixture, hence the "four-way" moniker. A final option is--you guessed it--"five-way chili," in which the entire concoction of chili, spaghetti, cheese, beans and onions clocks in at $5.50. Combine that with a healthy dose of Tabasco sauce and a pint of Gordon Biersch Märzen, and you may need a handful of Altoids to re-enter human society. Awesome! All three combinations come with a souvenir-sized bag of oyster crackers, an ideal starch to accompany the native Cincinnati chow. Flying Pig's menu, however, has evolved slightly from those famous Cincinnati chili parlors where employees sling nothing but chili straight from the vats to your plate. The Pig's fare also includes grilled halibut, Mississippi chicken, excellent salads, quesadillas and what they claim is the best sirloin burger anywhere downtown. Libations include six beers on tap and a modest selection of spirits. Send a letter to the editor about this story . [ Silicon Valley | Metroactive Home | Archives ]