Ben's Chili Bowl - Washington DC

[Music] every city has a restaurant that's more than just a place to eat it's a culinary and cultural institution and in Washington DC the most iconic place to meet and greet any is the world-famous Ben's Chili Bowl the historical spot I mean you hear about it when you come to DC this is the best place to go it was amazing it's the staple man in the history the legendary bowling chili it's really really good I look I just look located on you Street in the nation's capital Ben's Chili Bowl is one of the most legendary restaurants in America and that's quite an accomplishment for a no-frills quick service order at the counter kind of spot where the specialty of the house is burgers dogs and fries all smothered in Ben's famous chili Chili's good Chili's really good had a single burger with chili I had a chili cheese fry it's a little spicy but not too spicy nothing like the hot bowl of chili to warm me up for me and say a lot has changed over the past 60 years but Ben's Chili Bowl is pretty much the exact same it was started in 1958 by Ben Ali and you can still find his wife Virginia in here working taking photos with customers almost every single day we serve comfort food great homemade chili sauce and we pride ourselves on welcoming everybody from all walks of life and we do it 60 years of change and throughout those six decades Ben's chili recipe has been a closely guarded secret but that didn't stop me from asking Virginia what's in it oh yeah come on yeah right that's for loving some spices of course they won't tell you what the chili recipe is but I'll tell you what I think I think it's delicious now the place is named Ben's Chili Bowl but a bowl of chili isn't actually what most people order here the thing that most famous for here is the half smoked so what is a half smoked basically it's a combination of beef and pork into a breakfast sausage that's very highly seasoned and smoked hence half smoked half beef half pork and smoked half smoked and of course this is Ben's Chili Bowl so what do you do you got a half smoked and you pile on the chili alright can I get a chili half-smoke with some chili cheese fries and a chocolate shake remember when you order your half smoke you got to get it all the way that means chili sauce chopped onions and mustard you need all three I'm so excited for my half smoked oh yeah this is what it's all about right it's all about my first ever been Chili Bowl experience what do I need to do to prepare or anything no just enjoy just enjoy that it can do I'm a specialist at that and this is my kind of lunch right here the ultimate combination you got your chili half-smoke and your chili cheese fries at Ben's Chili Bowl that's a lot of chili so let's break this baby down for you first of all the dog itself the half-smoked it's substantial this is a quarter pound beef and pork dog now the bun is very important it's the vessel that holds this baby all together it is non grilled it is not toasted it is steeped so it's nice and soft and squishy to the touch you can barely see it but underneath you got on a blanket of some mustard and some onion for a little bit of contrast of the flavors and of course the chili it's what this baby is all about it is blanketed in chili there's a lot of history a lot of love in that chili there we go by dorama time first thing that comes to you is smoke like this is waste spicier and smokier than your typical hot dog half smoke is its own thing its own special sub-genre of American sausages this is a contrast in textures supersoft bun very crispy snappy hot dog and just that soft comforting blanket of chili on top three different textures a million different tastes one happy mouth there are hundreds of museums in Washington DC but this is like a living museum I mean look at the walls of this place every inch is covered with photos of celebrities and politicians and musicians they all eat here we have had our fair amount of celebrities we've had a few presidents but we all just people really and we've been grateful for them but we all just people we like to treat everybody as our family member when they walk in that door and the people who come through the door come from all over the country from Long Beach California Chicago Boston Massachusetts from Minneapolis Minnesota but for locals Benz is more than a restaurant for tourists and Virginia Alley is more than a restaurant owner what do you think of Washington DC there is kind of local washing in federal Washington International Washington there are very few places that bring them all together it bends does that better than anyone I've ever seen so Virginia Lee is the matriarch not just the bends but of Washington it's rare for a city to have a mom and Virginia is that mom for all of us here in Washington it's been an interesting 60 years I have to say I don't think I've learned to trade that is [Music]

Channel: phantomgourmet

Views: 55,799

Rating: 4.8913045 out of 5

Keywords: Phantom Gourmet, Ben's Chili Bowl, half smoke, hot dog, chili, Washington, DC, restaurant, legendary, chili dog

Id: 5TxuMP74Rnc

Length: 5min 8sec (308 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 06 2019