The original Ben’s Chili Bowl location, at 1213 U St. in Northwest D.C., will close temporarily this month for what the restaurant called “essential repairs.”
In social media posts, Ben’s said the U Street location would close July 14 and reopen sometime in November.
The building where the restaurant is was built in 1915, and renovations were done in the 1950s. But it has been over 65 years since the last infrastructure renovation at Ben’s Chili Bowl, according to Bernard Demczuk, historian of Ben’s Chili Bowl and the former chairman of the Ben’s Chili Bowl Foundation.
“We figured this is the best time,” Demczuk told WTOP’s Dan Ronan. “We are now going to renovate the wiring, the plumbing, the air conditioning and all those things that you need to run a restaurant safely.”
He added that Ben’s “will stay the same as it looks today.”
“There will certainly be some improvements in the stove, the grills and the counters, but things will look the same,” Demczuk said.
Ben’s impact on DC
Virginia Ali opened Ben’s Chili Bowl with her husband in 1958, and her family has been involved in the business for generations. On the decision to renovate the building, she said there was “some work that needed to be done.”
“Things wear out after 67 years, and we’ve done a lot of fixing and patching, and now I feel the building needs a little love,” Ali told WTOP.
D.C. residents have expressed their support for the renovation.
Lorraine Grimaldi, who’s 88 years old, has been going to Ben’s Chili Bowl since she was a little girl and has enjoyed dining there.
“I like the way the place looks. And I’m like, ‘Virginia, please don’t change anything. This is Ben’s right here,'” Lorraine said. “Just do not change the ambience of Ben’s Chili Bowl because this is what we expect when we come through that front door.”
Another patron, Ramon, also had been coming to Ben’s since he was little and said it’s a cultural linchpin.
“We learned culture by coming here,” he said. “You would come here Friday evening to hear all of the latest songs, even before you could hear them on WOL Radio. They would always put the music in here for Miss Virginia and Ben first. … Everybody from every establishment up and down U Street, they all ended up here because this was just the corner of everything.”
“This was home for everybody that was a Washingtonian, whether they’re from Virginia, Maryland or whatever, they knew they could come here and they would be treated as though they were coming home,” Lorraine said. “You would be treated as a member of the family.”
Excitement for renovation
A pop-up across the street will fill the restaurant’s void.
“This is just the beginning of our next chapter. After 67 incredible years, we’re giving our historic building the love it deserves,” Ben’s said on Instagram.
A temporary Ben’s location will open at 1208 U St. on July 17.
“We’re still around, and this will only be a temporary closure,” historian Demczuk said.
Other Ben’s Chili Bowl locations are on H Street in Northeast, at Nationals Park, inside the Walter E. Washington Convention Center and at Reagan National Airport. The newest Ben’s opened at Dulles International Airport in May.
“We’re not changing the half smokes,” Ali said.
Its chili and half-smoke hot dogs are also sold at Giant Food grocery stores and at Costco stores in Maryland and Virginia.
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