A day late, but here's hoping that all of you had a lovely Presidents' Day Weekend!
To celebrate, I thought that I'd share Ben's Chili Bowl. It's a D.C. staple, and President Obama gets to eat for free there. Pretty cool perk! (Although he apparently didn't take them up on it?)
When my friend and I went, Ben's Chili Bowl was not super crowded. We were able to order and find seats pretty quickly.
I ordered the chili half-smoke, touted as both Bill Cosby's and Obama's favorite. Oh, and to be clear - I had everything on it, including mustard and grilled onions. I also asked for a side of fries (which were okay and definitely not a significant point in coming to this institution).
Anyway, the dog came, piping hot. You get to see them put it all together, if you sit at the counter, and this dog did not disappoint. The chili was all-meat, but it was much lighter than I expected, probably because the meat was all ground meat. There was definitely a smokiness to it, which the regular dog (which my friend ordered) didn't have. Basically, a pretty flavorful dog.
But it's hard for me to love it when I know of Jerry's Woodfired Dogs, my hometown favorite, which still wins the best dog competition in my book.
Go to Ben's for the ambiance, the character, the chili, though! I'm not bashing that at all. It's just not my #1 favorite.
Ben's Chili Bowl (4/5)
1213 U St NW
Washington, DC 20009
(202) 667-0909
In other news, I am trying to perfect a chili recipe. My last batch was vegetarian, but so insanely spicy. Definitely still needs some more work before I allow for public consumption!
Thanks for the nice comment on my blog! I was surprised anyone would read my big long post and even more surprised that someone would even recognize how everything stacked up in the right way. It's just nice to remind ourselves that sometimes it just works out. I've waited years and years for it to "just work out," but it looks like it's my turn. :)
ReplyDelete(Fun blog, by the way! Now I want fries!)
um yum!
ReplyDelete