Ben's Chili Bowl, Washington DC

So, in a couple of weeks me and the mister will be in DC for a couple of weeks. He's attending a job fair for Law School professors while I finish a paper on §1201 (a)(2) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act...aka the anti-trafficing provision. We decided to stay longer to: visit museums, and to take the train to NYC (something I've never done!).

Anyway, while random 'googling' I stumbled on Ben's Chili.

Anyone know anything about this place?

Thanks in advance...
Steve

Ben's Chili Bowl
1213 U Street, N.W.
Washington D.C. 20009
202-667-0909

delk wrote:Anyway, while random 'googling' I stumbled on Ben's Chili.

Anyone know anything about this place?

Do we ever!?

Keep scrolling...there's some great pics and discussion in there

note to self...
search is your best friend


thanks, hopefully I will get some good pics!

When you go to Ben's (which is excellent) make sure that you stop at Cakelove right near by on U Street. This is part of my post on Ben's and Cakelove.

On my way to Ben's I walked by Cakelove and, as I had not reached Ben's, I was a bit hungry. The chocolate cupcake was rich, but the buttercream orange frosting was heart-stoppingly remarkable. So was the lemon rolled cake with hazelnut filling. Cakelove is African-American owned, and there are some African-American elements, but to say that Cakelove is an African-American bakery is like saying that Bonbom is a Mexican-American bakery, both true and false. It is not to be missed. Their product list proclaims "Nothing is fat free" - and no truer words were ever spoken.

Cakelove
1506 U Street, NW
Washington, DC 20009
202-588-7100
www.cakelove.com

The cakelove guy is getting a series on (gasp) The Food Network. Is he the next Gale Gand? Will his store and baked goods suffer the fate of celebrity chefdom? Stay tuned to find out...and get to Cakelove soon before it turns into the latest hot concept.

I wonder if fame has changed the quality at cakelove? I was in DC this weekend and stopped in, and what I ordered was horrid. admittedly, we didn't try a wide variety, so maybe it's a cupcake-specific problem, but yikes.

Mr. Sweetsalty and I split two cupcakes- one chocolate w/lemon frosting, and one chocolate w/peanut butter frosting. The cupcakes themselves tasted completely plastic-y, nothing really redeeming about them. As I said, perhaps it is a chocolate cupcake problem, since we didn't try other flavors. The frosting was appalling- tasted VERY much like it was made from shortening, as it was just greasy and really quite flavorless. The peanut butter frosting was marginally better- we both agreed this was most likely d/t the addition of the peanut butter fat, and probable reduction in shortening in the frosting.

Overall, I found the quality to be so completely poor, I would not go back, even to try another option- it didnt' seem to be a preparation problem (burnt cupcakes, too chewy, etc), but a quality-of-ingredients issue. IMO, this is made all the more unforgivable by the sky-high prices charged.

I was in DC a couple weeks ago and stopped into Cakelove. While I didn't have an issue with my chocolate cupcake w/ orange buttercream, I was disappointed in the lemon berry tart. Not enough lemon and, at $6, grossly overpriced.

I did enjoy the chili half-smoke I had for lunch at Ben's, though!

Cakelove is bad. I mean really bad. It is also an enormously contentious subject here in DC. Brown claims the cupcakes must sit out until they reach room temperature at which point they will be good. But they keep then in a refrigerated case...so be prepared to wait a while for it to taste halfway decent. I've had his cakes as well, and have never been horribly impressed, at least for the price. It's a great story (successful minority man, making big bucks as a lawyer, drops law for baking and opens shop in a 'transitional' neighborhood), if only the goods could live up to the hype.

On the other hand Ben's Chili Bowl is a DC institution and is fantastic for a 2 am snack. But the food isn't particularly good, you go there because its Ben's. I mean the burgers come from a box...

If you really want good cheap-ish food with a neighborhood vibe check out Oohs and Aahs a few blocks down (U and 10th NW). Amazing soul food.

Ben Ali, the founder of Ben's Chili Bowl passed away on Wednesday October 7, 2009. His family, who has been running the restaurant plan to keep it open "for many years to come."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/10/us/10ali.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Ben%20Ali%20obituary&st=cse

You do, in fact, go to Ben's because of Ben....and the history of the place....but i've gotta tell you...I think their "half smoke, all the way" is pretty darned tasty.....had one at Ben's, and then another the next day at the Nats baseball game....good stuff, imo.