Here's the deal - the cheeseburger is the quintessential American food. A couple of years back, after reading a review in the Wall Street Journal about the best burgers in the country, only to find that three of the top five were in my own back yard, I decided that I needed to see for myself. With the help of George Motz's "Hamburger America", several lists, recommendations from friends and asking everyone about burgers from "their" town, this is the result...

If you're curious about my thoughts on foods other than burgers, check out my other blog Eat to Live? Or Live to Eat?

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Ben's Chili Bowl, Washington, DC (March 2011)

March was a great burger month.   I headed up to DC on business for three nights and managed to squeeze in three burger joints.  The first was Ben's Chili Bowl on U Street.  We took a cab up from where we were staying, giving the cabbie the address.  We wandered around for quite a bit, with him looking for the address.  When we finally got there, he said, "Why didn't you just say you wanted to go to Ben's?"  Who knew??

  
We went inside and found a spot at the counter.  Opened in 1958, the menu hasn't changed much, although the hours have expanded considerably.  The crowd was mixed, business people, folks from the neighborhood, politicos and a few tourists.   



 
We ordered burgers and fries (and a chili dog for me).   Like we've seen at a couple of spots in the past few years, the fries and drinks arrived first.  Check out the stack of chili dogs on the waitress' left arm!  Really tasty burger and a really good chili dog.  In retrospect, I should have ordered the Chili Smoke...


Side Note:  Sitting at the counter, we could see a 8 x 10 computer printed sign down behind the counter with five words on it, "The Obama Family" and "Bill Cosby".  Couldn't figure that one out.   As we checked out, you could read the entire sign:


Nobody eats free here, 
except for
The OBAMA FAMILY
and
BILL COSBY

Hilarious!

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