Well, of course homemade chili can be good. Homemade ANYTHING can be good. The trick is to find good chili where you're not the chef.
For a chain, Hard Times Cafe is pretty good, if you happen to visit the Washington 'burbs. I've never been to Cincinnati, so I cannot comment on the likes of Skyline.
One of my favorite chili recipes came from <a href=http://www.waider.ie/misc/recipes.pdf>Garnish With Beak</a>, the talk.bizarre cookbook. Mark-Jason Dominus's "Chiladelphia" uses real peppers instead of salt-heavy chili powder, can be easily modified, and is part of a cookbook that includes a recipe for a RICHH sandwich. How can you go wrong?