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Ben’s Chili Bowl usually shows up on lists of “must eat” places in Washington DC. The venue is charming. I love old school diner type places. There are not a lot of them in Vancouver so whenever I am in a city that has a good one, I’m there.
I ordered the original chili half smoke and Ben’s famous chili burger. I was so excited as they looked incredible:
Both came with a bag of chips. Unfortunately, the flavor was disappointing. The chili did not really have any sort of “kick” to it in terms of depth of flavor, spices, seasoning etc. I would describe as a bit bland. My benchmark of chili dogs is Dog House in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I would pass on Ben’s next time.
what was the wait like for the food? and the service? Once a “hidden gem” place makes it onto some sort of “list”, the quality subsequently begins to crumble. It’s almost as if the hidden gems need to have a quality control authority to make sure the “list” creator is not a shill
One group in front on arrival. Short wait for food after ordering. Service as expected from fast food type place.