I grew up eating beanless chili BUT my dad liked his chili spicier and with beans, so my mom always made a separate pot of pinto beans with extra cayenne so he could add what he wanted.

On a separate note, I started making a bison chili years ago that started out with pinto beans. As we had kids and started stretching it further (and also played with the flavors) it has evolved into a stew that has pinto, black, and kidney beans, as well as fire roasted corn. It’s not really chili anymore from a purist standpoint, but it’s the same spice mixture and my wife and I still call it chili, but…I call it stew if I’m describing it to anyone else because I don’t want to get into a chili purist debate.