The Room
Ben's Chili Bowl opened on U Street in 1958 — Washington's most-historic Black-owned family restaurant and the dining room that survived the 1968 riots when much of U Street did not. Sixty-seven years later Ben's has served Bill Cosby (a regular for decades), Barack Obama (his first lunch as president-elect), Anthony Bourdain, and millions of regulars and tourists.
The dining room is unchanged from the late-1950s renovation: red leather booths, framed photographs of every president since Carter, the original Formica counter.
The Food
The chili half-smoke — a signature half-pork-half-beef sausage on a bun with chili and mustard — is the order on every visit. The chili cheese fries, the chili dogs, the milkshakes handle the menu's wider draws.
Beer and soda programme. Service is counter-and-runner — quick and warm, in the long-running family-restaurant register.
Best Occasion Fit
Solo Dining: The counter at Ben's is one of DC's most-historic solo-dining seats.
Team Dinner: Ben's handles team lunches better than any DC institution.
First Date: Ben's is a casual first-date alternative for the diner who wants the night to register as Washington-historic.