A Half-smoke at Ben's Chili Bowl
If you were a student in the District of Columbia, which was very racist, there were a number of African-American sections of the city where you could eat. In Northwest Washington, the home of Howard University, an HBCU, there were several historic restaurants. Not far from the Howard campus is Ben’s Chili Bowl located on U Street. It’s a popular African-American-owned place where Howard students went for hassle-free down-home food. Ben’s became famous for its chili dogs and chili half-smokes. Half-smoke refers to a half-pork, half-beef hotdog and it’s a DC thing. DC based sausage distributor Briggs and Company started selling the product about 1930. Ben’s added a chili topping to the dog and made it a signature item on its menu. Interesting is the fact that Mahaboob Ben Ali (1927-2009) a immigrant from San Juan, Trinidad, located near Port-of-Spain opened the restaurant in 1958—originally came to Washington to attend Howard University where he earned his bachelor’s degree and then started at the Howard Dental School.
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