Ben's Chili Bowl Attracts the Fancy Set and Guys from the Neighborhood

Posted by Susanna at 11:22 AM, Jan 12, 2009 (Comments)

Category: Food & Drink

Ben's Chili Bowl

President-elect Barack Obama's Friday visit to Ben's Chili Bowl was covered in The Washington Post and media nationwide.

BEN'S Chili Bowl, a longtime neighborhood institution in the middle of the U Street neighborhood, got a presidential visit on Friday, when President-elect Barack Obama and Washington, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty visited the place and posed for pictures before having lunch.

BEN'S HAS been at its location on U Street so long that it has seen the neighborhood go up and then down and then way down and then back up again. The food is simple, with the quintessentially D.C. half-smoke hot dog with chili as the centerpiece on the menu.

WHAT USED TO BE a black neighborhood hangout now has white women in fur coats and Louis Vuitton bags waiting in line to get a chili half-smoke to go while their fancy cars wait at the curb. Founded and owned by Ben and Virginia Ali, the restaurant is celebrating its 50th anniversary. They even have a book out with lots of pictures of the many famous and not-so-famous people who have stop by the famous eatery. Among the famous, comedian Bill Cosby is perhaps best known as a longtime patron of Ben's.

FOR MORE information, visit www.benschilibowl.com. 1213 U Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. (202) 667-0909.

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