Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Formica-topped counter and stools, of
course) continue to throw that delectable
beef or veggie chili onto just about any-
thing—hot dogs, hamburgers, french
fries—heck, they'll even serve it to you for
breakfast if you want. Brightly lit into the
wee hours (they don't close until 2am
most nights, 4am Fri-Sat), it's a well-loved
anchor of this traditionally African-Ameri-
can neighborhood—though the clientele
is much more racially mixed these days, as
white hipsters have made it a late-night
haven.
Three blocks north, the
Florida Ave-
nue Grill
offers a more extensive soul-
food menu, from fried pork chops and
country ham with red-eye gravy (made
from ham drippings and coffee) to collard
greens, glazed yams, mac-and-cheese—
there's even chitterlings and pigs' feet, for
those who are so inclined. Breakfast is the
big attraction here, drawing lines out the
door for creamy grits and gravy, thin hot-
cakes, delicious scrapple, or deep-flavored
corned beef hash. This funky corner diner
has been around since 1944, and its walls
are hung with photos of the movers and
shakers who've wedged into its cramped
booths or hunkered down at the long pink
Formica counter over the years. Service is
down-home friendly (though also down-
home pokey at times). If you find pools of
grease on your plate—and you will—just
sop them up with a flaky buttermilk biscuit
or hunk of sweet cornbread, and wash it
down with your third glass of sweet tea.
Named an American classic by the James Beard
Foundation, Ben's Chili Bowl has been a hub in
Washington, D.C.'s U Street Corridor for decades.
Bill Cosby hung out at
Ben's Chili Bowl
in the early 1960s when he was an aspiring
comedian, playing at one of the nearby
clubs that earned U Street the nickname
“Black Broadway.” In 1985, when
The
Cosby Show
hit number one in the TV rat-
ings, where did Cos stage his press confer-
ence? At Ben's. Named an America's
Classics restaurant by the James Beard
Foundation, Ben's is still run by the Ali fam-
ily. Their celebrated chili half-smokes—
spicy chili ladled onto a snappy smoked
sausage that's half pork, half beef—
haven't changed much since they first
opened the joint in 1958, in a former pool
hall next to the Lincoln Theater. The neigh-
borhood around it has endured riots,
urban renewal, and the building of a sub-
way line, but the cheerfully efficient folks
behind the counter at Ben's (the original
Ben's Chili Bowl,
1213 U St. (
&
202/
667-0909;
www.benschilibowl.com).
Flor-
ida Avenue Grill,
1200 Florida Ave. (
&
202/
265-1586
).
(
Reagan National (3 miles/5km); Dulles
International (26 miles/41km); Baltimore-
Washington International (35 miles/56km).
L
$$
Four Points by Sheraton,
1201
K St. NW (
&
202/289-7600;
www.four
points.com/washingtondcdowntown). $$
Georgetown Suites,
1111 30th St. NW
(
&
202/298-1600;
www.georgetown
suites.com).
