So....I've been in DC for just over two years and Thursday night, at about 10pm, was my first time eating at Ben's Chili Bowl. If there's anyone one reading this who does not live in DC (or anyone reading at all for that matter), Ben's Chili Bowl is a historic diner in DC's Northwest quadrant. Let me start off by saying, before eating there, I was not moved by the hype. For me, a Michigander, no measly diner could add up to the glory I know as "coney islands". In Michigan, it's not an amusement park, it's a series of restaurants (not a chain, just a bunch of random people decide to open their own) that sell any and everything. Burgers, gyros, chicken, subs, breakfast. etc. Therefore, when I went into Ben's, it already didn't measure up, that is, until I bit into that chili half smoke. It's a bratwurst-y looking sausage with onions and mustard covered in chili and yes, it is as delicious as it sounds! Have you ever been to an amusement park and there was that one roller coaster you vowed never to ride and your friends make you get on it anyway? You're scared shitless waiting in that line and you almost want to turn back when you're strapping up your seatbelt but after that first drop, it's amazing and as soon as you get off you want to do it again? Well, this is that, all happening in your mouth. Seriously. It was great. AND, not only did they have chili cheese fries (a Coney Island specialty), they made them with nacho cheese!!! Do you know how hard my heart
began to flutter when I tasted that nacho cheese deliciousness?! Very hard, I must say. I mean, you go in expecting
plain old cheese, and you're happy enough because it's chili cheese fries, for Christ's sake. But when you realize it's nacho cheese instead? It's like the cook knows what you like and he's flirting with you. You just feel so darned special! My friend Alesyn's face and plate says it all----> Plus, if you're not really a fan of diner food, go for the music, I IMPLORE YOU! They played JAMS! Usher's Confessions, R. Kelly's Step In The Name of Love, Puffy's All About The Benajmin's, and Michael Jackson's Remember The Times!!! Just recalling Michael Jackson zapping himself into a pile of sand made me wish I was in the 90s again.
So, go ahead, stand in the extra long line in the small diner and get groped by more strangers than you care to. Your palettes and your groove thing will thank you :o)
