Ben's Chili Bowl, 1213 U Street, Washington D.C.
(U Street/Cardozo stop on the Green Line)

I have no doubts that this is the best hot dog in DC. I do not need to try any others. It would only taint my impression of this fine city.

Ben's Chili Bowl is a local legend, and with good reason. It opened in August 1958 on what was known as "Black Broadway" where it served such luminaries as Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, Nat King Cole, and Martin Luther King, Jr. During the rioting after King's assassination, Ben's stayed open after curfew to provide shelter for activists, firefighters, and public servants trying to restore order. As if that didn't give it enough credibility, Bill Cosby held a national press conference at Ben's in 1985 to celebrate the success of the Cosby Show. His favorite dog is the Chili Half-Smoke. Rumor has it that he would eat three (3!) in one sitting, and when he wasn't in town, he would send his mother in to buy 25-30 Half-Smokes at a time!

All this history is great, but what about the hot dog?

The hot dog was damn good! It was absolutely worth the half-hour wait in line. I wasn't sure what a Half-Smoke was, but I knew I wanted to try one (if it's good enough for The Cos, it's good enough for me). Just before ordering , I got worried that the Half-Smoke might actually be a sausage, so just in case, I ordered a regular chili dog.

The Half-Smoke turned out to be a pretty meaty dog (close to ¼ pound). It comes topped with onions (fresh! copped! just right!), mustard, and Ben's special secret recipe chili. The dog had a real kick to it, which I believe was a combination of the chili and some special inner-dog seasonings. But really, the individual components are irrelevant as this is one of those hot dogs where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. There should be no additions or subtractions to the Chili Half-Smoke. Ben's condiment selection (and their corresponding ratios) strikes a chord of culinary harmony that would be tainted with the addition even the most benign of potential hot dog toppings. It would be an insult to change this hot dog in any way.

The standard Chili Dog was fine, but it had none of the majestic overtones of the Chili Half-Smoke. The dog was considerable smaller, had a slightly tough/overcooked texture, and seemed slightly overburdened by the condiments. Would I be psyched to get this at Fenway? Yes. Would I order it again at Ben's? No: I'd get two Chili Half-Smokes instead.

In the past few years of my research, I've eaten a lot of hot dogs. Not only does Ben's Chili Half-Smoke rank in my Top 5, but I'm putting it at #2, just behind the immortal Boston Speeds. Next time you are in DC, give the Chili Half-Smoke the benefit of the doubt when trying to decide between the Smithsonian and Ben's Chili Bowl. It is worth it.