Ben's Chili Bowl — Restaurant in Washington

There’s something to be said for historic eateries. The beautiful mural on the wall outside, the many photos of famous people dining in with the half smokes and cups of chili smiling with the owners, and the clearly heavy traffic in and out of the door. Pretty easy to see why Ben’s Chili Bowl is such a famous spot to grab a bite in the DC area.

Ben’s Chili Bowl sits on “H St NW” in DC if you look at the actual road name, but they have added signs all around the area that tell you that you’re on “Ben’s Chili Bowl Way”. The old school look and feel of this place was right up my alley and we came fresh from the Zoo and hungry! We decided to order the famous half smoke with chili, onions, and mustard as well as a cup of chili and the fried chicken sandwich. We altered the chicken sandwich to more reflect the style of Popeye’s or Chick Fil-A with just mayo and pickles. Figured it would give us a better gauge in the Chicken Wars.

The ambiance here is great. The employees were all jumping around and very friendly. The lady who owns the business was there and we got to chat for a moment, she was very nice. All around you are photos of people who have dined here, signed jerseys of pro athletes, and other nostalgia celebrating the history of the business.

Starting off with the half smoke, this is a killer dog. It’s not even really a dog so much as a sandwich I guess. The feeling was a mix between a smoked sausage and a fried hot dog. It offered an excellent snap and a truly different but delicious flavor. The addition of the mustard and onion is a must for me if you’ve followed any of our other reviews/videos…but how about that chili.

This chili was fantastic. Very smooth consistency and just enough bite that it added to the sandwich without overwhelming it. I love spicy and this level of kick was just enough that it made this a really welcomed accompaniment to the half smoke. The chili cup on it’s own was fantastic as well. We were dipping crackers and chips into it and the crunch and saltiness added to the chili was very enjoyable.

The chicken sandwich was quite good as well. It was a few chicken tenders that they used but they were high quality tenders with very good flavor and no stringy, sinewy type connective tissue parts at all. The flavor of the chicken with the mayo and pickles immediately made this a sandwich I’d put against a Chick Fil-A style establishment.

The Super (Chili) Bowl! So happy that we took the advice of a few of our followers (as well as my girlfriend’s brother) and stopped in here. Everything was fantastic, the service was high quality, and the prices were reasonable. Looking forward to stopping back in next time we’re in the area. Ben’s Chili Bowl in Washington, DC – Didn’t Suck!

Please check out our video for Ben’s Chili...

It was the summer of 2009, the summer into my freshman year of highschool, and I had gone on a school trip to Washington DC, and out of the many fun places we had gone to eat, one of the locations we had attended was this very Ben's Chili Bowl, a place I was excited to try because Chili was on everything. We entered, and I believe I ordered a chili cheese burger, and devoured the whole thing, and I remember it being fairly good actually, but then again, I was a naive kid. We went to some museum I forget the name afterwards and I could feel my stomach gurgling and couldn't wait to leave and get back to the hotel. Eventually we did, and while everyone was getting snacks from the vending machine and bee-lined it to the bathroom in our assigned hotel room. And in turn had one of the worst experiences of my life as I had created one the worst smells this earth has ever had the displeasure of witnessed. Eventually the other guys had come up and I decided to take a shower, and after me was the "smelly" kid of our school, and after we had showered the smell from the bathroom had started to emanate into the bed area of the room, where everyone was forced to witness what had been created, all the kids believed the smell was from the one kid, but sadly no, it wasn't. The chaperone had been called and she called the manager trying to get us a new room but all we were offered were new blankets. We had to live in this room the next 3 days as the smell had eventually gone away, but to this day everyone believes it was the other kid that had caused this and not me, a memory that still pops into my mind today... so yes decent food, but be warned, you...

Visiting DC with a couple of friends. Ben's chilli bowl was advertised to us as a common favorite amongst locals. With standards held higher than a soprano on helium, we eagerly tried "The original half smoke". It was pretty solid. But I'm more of a "bang for your buck" kind of guy. I'd recommend ONLY getting the half smoke(sittting at 6.99 before tax) because everything else of the menu is quite highly priced. The chilli fries r just as good as any other chilli fries, not worth your money. If I had to do it over again, I would only get the hot dog. I feel like I would be doing a disservice to Ben's half smoked hotdog if I did not elaborate on it. Great combination of ingredients. The dog has mustard on the base of the dog, which absolutely carried the haul of tangy flavor. The onions were perfectly utilized and chopped evenly throughout the dog. The chilli is undeniably amazing and adds a nice consistency to every bite. The chilli was very smooth with a healthy amount of meats and spices. The hotdog was smoked perfectly creating that nice SNAP with every bite into the adventurous dish. I think the best aspect of the restaurant is the atmosphere. While there weren't many people, the old timey decorations on the wall of the history of Ben and his wife was quite eye catching. This definitely beats out the usual restaurant look. This restaurant is very friendly and playful. The establishment is unapologetic about holding this label. Their panda mascot completely and wholeheartedly embraces this style and culture. The picture below shows my friend Ben next to...