In 1913, a Lithuanian immigrant named John Isaac opened a diner in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Chili John’s signature dish was chili architecturally similar to Cincinnati chili, including spaghetti noodles as the bottom layer, but with the addition of pepper-spiked oil to provide whatever level of heat requested by the customer. By the mid-twentieth century, Chili John’s style of chili was widespread throughout Wisconsin and beyond and known by its home city’s name: Green Bay chili.
It has been claimed that Mr. Isaac was responsible for the invention of oyster crackers, the spoon-size hexagonal saltines that always are served as a companion to Green Bay chili because they are good for balancing the hot oil. The story is that he convinced manufacturers of large, old-fashioned store crackers to downsize so he could have a garnish for his chili. However, research indicates that oyster crackers have been around since the mid-nineteenth century, long before Green Bay chili was a gleam in John Isaac’s eye.