Ben's Chili Bowl visit

I've lived in the DC metro area for nearly 30 years, and had yet to visit this particular "monument" - until Saturday, that is. My daughter and I visited Ben's Chili Bowl for lunch on a Saturday; fortunately, we got there -before- the lunch rush (and let me tell you, there was a -huge- crowd as we left). My daughter had a chili cheeseburger, chili cheese fries and a large soda (which she was able to get free refills on, btw!); I had a jumbo all-beef hotdog with cheese, mustard and onions to which I added coleslaw from the container I had ordered on the side. I'll be up front here - I don't really like chili on a hotdog, which is why I ordered it without, but I did taste my daughter's fries and even had a bite of the burger, and it was delicious (if a bit spicy for me! *laughs*). Oh yes, I also had a medium coke.

My jumbo all-beef hotdog was slathered in cheese; you could see the mustard beneath it, and then topped with minced onion. I think the server was disappointed that I didn't want the chili, though! The cole slaw was delicious, and I heaped it on top of the dog before taking the first bite. Oh boy, that was near heaven!! My daughter's chili cheeseburger had chili both on top and beneath it (!), and her order of chili cheese fries was very generous. Also I can confirm that Ben's fries are some of the best I've ever had - fresh and crispy and delicious! I wanted to get another jumbo all-beef to go, but as I noted earlier, the line had gotten quite long just as we were leaving (the Saturday noon rush, I guess), but my daughter brought the rest of her fries home and we ate them in the afternoon. *laughs*

The U Street corridor is really a nice place to visit - there are plenty of sites to see and many ethnic restaurants to visit as well. After we left Ben's, we went to Cake Love, a bakery on U just above 15th, where I got several "made from scratch" cupcakes which served as my dessert, although not until we got home an hour or so later! Ben's, btw, is right next door to the historic Lincoln Theatre, which has been completely renovated. We didn't go inside though.

I also had a good experience at Ben"s. I love chile on my dogs so it was really good. As a Civil War buff, I had ti visit the African American Soldiers Civil War memorial, a site I found extremely moving.

Whenever I get downtown DC I make a point of stopping at Ben's, they have great food.

MikeS.

My brother and I were at Ben's this past Friday night (13th). While I was placing my order, my brother says he saw the french fry guy drip grease from the deep dryer on to the half-smokes and hot dogs. Maybe that's why some people like them so much and why some, like me, prefer the street vendor variety (at about 1/3 the cost). Who knows. Anyway, the half-smoke I got was burnt on the outside but the overabundance of chili drowned out the taste. My brother got fries but didn't finish them. I tried one - OK but nothing to write home about. Sorry, but there's just no way they're worth over $4 a piece.

The last sentence of my reply wasn't clear. I meant the half-smokes are not worth the over $4 that Ben's charges.

jmshumakersr you are correct. The value per $ is not there. I basically stopped going to ben's.