DC's defining sausage: a coarse-ground, lightly-smoked half-pork, half-beef link, split lengthwise on the griddle and tucked into a steamed bun under chili, mustard and onions.
The half-smoke was born on U Street. Ben Ali and his wife Virginia opened Ben's Chili Bowl at 1213 U Street NW in August 1958, in a former silent-movie house, and built the chili half-smoke into the city's defining sandwich. The link itself, larger and coarser than a hot dog and lightly smoked before being grilled, has been made for Ben's by Manger Packing in Maryland for decades. The U Street riots of April 1968 left Ben's as one of the few neighbourhood businesses standing; the room fed protestors, fire crews and reporters around the clock. Anthony Bourdain, Barack Obama and most US senators have eaten one. Weenie Beenie in Arlington has its own claim to predating Ben's by a few years, but the chili-half-smoke template at Ben's is the canonical DC dish.
3 editor picks for Half-smoke in Washington DC, ranked by editorial score. All Washington DC signature dishes · Half-smoke across every city.
Ben's Chili Bowl ★ 4.6
u-street · 1213 U St NW, Washington, DC 20009
Ben's Chili Bowl in Washington DC is the 1958 U Street counter from Ben and Virginia Ali, the city's defining half-smoke, served at 1213 U Street NW under the famous mural for sixty years.
Ben's Next Door ★ 4.2
u-street · 1211 U St NW, Washington, DC 20009
Ben's Next Door in Washington DC is the sit-down sister of Ben's Chili Bowl at 1211 U Street, a soul-American kitchen with a cocktail list and the half-smoke from the original menu.
Weenie Beenie ★ 4.0
2680 S Shirlington Rd, Arlington, VA 22206
Weenie Beenie is the Arlington half-smoke counter at 2680 South Shirlington Road, a 1950s walk-up window that claims a Northern Virginia hold on the half-smoke that predates Ben's Chili Bowl.