Ben's Chili Bowl is a cultural and historical must experience if you are visiting the DC area and especially if you live in the area but have never been there. Yes, the half smokes are good and the chili cheese fries too but take time to read about the history and look at all the photos. You will not be disappointed.

I had the half smocked chili dog, which is the speciality, it was great and cheap. My girlfriend had the veggie chili dog , very tasty. The restaurant looked authentic with pictures and decoration and looked like a family business with friendly staff

Walked from the White House to Ben’s to have lunch ... as a group we had hotdogs - chilli cheese fries - hamburgers and shakes ! All good ... Sorry goes out to the wait staff for having to try to understand us.

We also were lucky enough to see the original owner Virginia still going strong !

Had lunch at this famous DC dive. My husband encouraged me to have the half smoke and I’m so glad I followed his advice. Absolutely delicious, and knife and fork required otherwise it would be the messiest meal you’d ever had eaten.

Went with large (14) group and service was great. The chili warmed us up on a cold windy day & we're glad we stopped in while in the neighborhood! People coming in & out the entire time we were there - definitely a MUST! Also fun to look around and see all the famous faces who have stopped by over the years. Can see why they've been so successful the past 60 years!