A driver facing an OVI charge crashed into Camp Washington Chili early Tuesday morning, tearing through a wall and forcing the 86-year-old Cincinnati institution to shut its doors for the first time in its history. The crash happened around 3:20 a.m. at the restaurant's longtime home at the corner of Colerain Avenue and Hopple Street, just off Interstate 75. Nobody was injured, but the beloved 24-hour chili parlor now faces days of inspections and repairs before it can reopen.
According to FOX19, the driver had left a nearby business before crashing a vehicle into the Camp Washington Chili building, first striking a van and then driving over a wall separating the neighboring business from the restaurant. Cincinnati police arrested the driver and investigated the crash at the address, which sits at 3005 Colerain Avenue. The station's report notes the driver was charged with OVI, though it remains unclear whether prosecutors will pursue Ohio's enhanced high-tier penalties, which apply when blood alcohol concentration reaches 0.17% or higher.
Owner Points to Nearby After-Hours Bar
Restaurant owner Maria Papakirk believes a nearby after-hours bar on Burlington Street, which opened roughly six months ago, contributed to the incident, per the same account. Papakirk owns Camp Washington Chili and has requested community support as the restaurant works toward reopening. The parlor plans to keep the community informed of its reopening timeline through social media, and the closure is expected to last a few days while the building undergoes necessary inspections and repairs.
Papakirk took over full ownership after the death of her father, longtime patriarch John “Johnny” Johnson, who immigrated from Greece in 1951 and ran the parlor for decades after taking it over in the 1970s. Johnson worked at the restaurant for more than 70 years and kept its secret spice blend until he died at age 90 in October 2025, according to CityBeat. His passing marked the restaurant's transition to its second generation of family ownership less than a year before the crash.
A Cincinnati Culinary Landmark
Camp Washington Chili has operated at the corner of Colerain Avenue and Hopple Street since 1940, though the current building dates only to 2000, after the city demolished the original structure to widen Hopple Street, according to Cincinnati Coney Quest. The family acquired an adjacent lot at the time to keep operating continuously at the same intersection. The restaurant serves Cincinnati-style chili ways and cheese coneys around the clock, and it remains the only restaurant in Cincinnati to hold a James Beard Foundation “America's Classics” award, which it earned in 2000, as reported by WVXU.
The parlor serves more than 1,000 cheese coneys daily, relying on custom-ground beef, soft-cooked thick spaghetti, and Wisconsin cheddar shredded fresh in-house, according to Food Republic. That scale of daily output underscores just how disruptive even a short closure could be for the neighborhood staple. Tuesday's crash marks the first time in the restaurant's 86-year history that an accident of this nature has forced a complete shutdown.
A Community Fixture Just Days Before the Crash
The crash comes only days after Camp Washington Chili served complimentary coneys to celebrate the opening of a new 15,000-square-foot concrete skatepark in the neighborhood, featuring a cheese-coney-shaped ramp honoring the restaurant, as Hoodline previously reported. The park is Cincinnati's first full-scale public concrete skatepark, and the restaurant's involvement reflected its deep ties to the surrounding community. Camp Washington falls under Cincinnati Police District 3's jurisdiction, which expanded to cover 18 West Side neighborhoods after the city dissolved Police District 5 in late 2023.
Crashes Like This Are Common Nationwide
Vehicle crashes into commercial buildings and storefronts happen roughly 100 times a day across the United States, resulting in about 16,000 injuries and 2,600 deaths annually, according to the Storefront Safety Council. Driving under the influence accounts for approximately 15% of those crashes, making it the third leading cause behind operator error and pedal error, per Blockaides. Ohio law treats a first-offense OVI conviction as a first-degree misdemeanor, carrying at least three days in jail or driver intervention, a minimum one-year license suspension, and fines up to $1,075.
It remains unknown whether the driver's blood alcohol concentration will trigger Ohio's high-tier OVI enhancements, which double the mandatory minimum jail sentence to six consecutive days for BAC levels of 0.17% or higher. It's also unclear whether city officials or neighborhood leaders will examine the nearby Burlington Street bar's liquor permit or operating hours in light of Papakirk's comments. For now, Camp Washington Chili's fate rests on the outcome of structural inspections, with the family asking neighbors for patience and support until the coneys are flowing again.
