Ben’s Chili Bowl – National Airport

Well I have the chilli fries and beef dog it was quite good. Now that being said I believe it does not live up to the hype. I was expecting real hearty chilli with my choice of spiciness. But all n all it was tasty and I will definitely be back for lunch lol

Bringing a beloved Washington historical landmark to the airport? Genius! It was my last day in DC and I was super sad about not getting the chance to try it out until I actually checked in the airport, what a great surprise!
Service was excellent and extremely fast, friendly staff, clean setting. Giving 4 star for the hotdogs, don’t bother with other food items.

If you like no flavor, a ton of salt, a lot of fatty mystery meat, eat at ben’s. I can’t believe they stay in business. It proves you can literally serve the worst food and stay in business. On top of that it is super over priced!!! If you have a palate and taste buds, save yourself time and money (and nitrates).

Food is typical Ben’s. If you’ve had it somewhere else you won’t be disappointed. Three stars isn’t bad review. This is a chili dog place — even a very good chili dog place. So on a sliding scale is’t a 4.5 star of all chili dog with counter service.
my go to is the half-​smoke.

Twice I’ve been to Ben’s Chili Bowl and I still just don’t get the obsession. Perhaps it’s the fact it’s been around forever, but that shouldn’t make it noteworthy. Mosquitoes have been around since the beginning of time and people don’t like them any better than they did thousands of years ago.
Ben’s Chili Bowl specializes in their chili dog and it’s an average chili dog. However, the chili sauce they put on it has a sharp, mud like taste to it. I’ve never had mud before, but it tastes like the smell of mud (You know what I mean). The quality of the meat is average. The one thing that was decent was the French Fries.
Ben’s Chili Bowl is a Pepsi restaurant FYI.

There’s more hype here than good eats. I ordered a half smoke which is a griddle cooked fat hotdog that is snappy and textured. At least it tastes like more meat than filler. It comes on a toasted bun that seems to dry it out. Also mustard onions and chili. On the side came some generic chips that were similar but not a good as Ruffles. The chili was not that great on the hot dog.
I also ordered a small chili with onions. It was spicy and I thought the chili bowl was better than the chili on the dog. Not sure if it’s just how it’s eaten or if they are different.
What was interesting was they had a Pepsi machine that was similar to the Coke freestyle machines. Trying to catch up.
In all, it’s a decent dog with good chili. I wouldn’t buy into and don’t see what the fuss is about this place though. It’s just okay. Probably just one of those things that tourists have to have to say they were there.

Was really excited to see Ben’s Chili Bowl in the airport when we didn’t have time to go to the main location during our DC trip. Unfortunately, everything was pretty lackluster.
My friend and I split a hot dog and chili fries. We actually felt that the chili was a pretty big let down. It didn’t really have all that much flavor. I actually didn’t even finish eating the food because I thought it was just going to make me feel sick before my flight and it wasn’t delicious enough to be worth it, haha.
Nonetheless, I’m giving an extra star because the girl working the cash register was such a joy. She was so sweet and helpful! I loved it. I saw that she continued to smile the entire time she was helping customers, even those who seemed a bit grouchy and tired from being at the airport.
I think I’ll try Ben’s Chili Bowl’s main location next time I’m in DC. There’s no way this place would the reputation it has if the food is bad! I’m gonna give it the benefit of the doubt.

I had a very delicious chili hot dog lunch at this particular branch of Ben’s Chili bowl. The serving counter and dining room were super clean and well organized as well as the extra large plate glass windows. I enjoyed watching the planes come and go as I was eating my my late lunch. Service is quick, fast and friendly and the waitstaff wee friendly and courteous as well By The Way.

I should start with the fact that I’m a vegetarian. With that said, I was very happy that Ben’s Chili Bowl offered a vegetarian burger option. However, the patty was bland (tasted like turkey… hmmm). It was so dry, I had to drown it in ketchup and mustard to go down. I also had french fries. The order is large enough to share with 2 or 3 people. The fries were okay, nothing special.
The soda machine wasn’t being worked on so we had to wait to get our drinks. No drink and a dry burger isn’t a good combination.

This place does not have all of the quirkiness and charm of the original Ben’s on U Street but dang if I don’t appreciate being able to grab a half smoke and fries on my way out of town. It has become a habit to hit this place each time I am leaving DC to tide me over until I can come back into town for another fix of those tasty chili dogs. The food is every bit as good as the food at the original and the place is conveniently located outside of the secure area so you can treat your airport ride/​friend/​significant other/​random taxi or Über driver to lunch before you take off.

I wanted to like this place… it’s ok…
So I got the half smoke, what’s nice is you can tell it isn’t a «mass produced processed» meat, there were chunks inside and great texture. Chilli was «meh», I enjoyed the texture more than I did the taste. The bun was run-​of-​the-​mill which was a disappointment.
Fries were also ok, a little pricey at 3.20 though the portion size was generous, it’s just if you did half smoke with fries and a drink it would approach $ 12-​$ 14 which is the price of an entrée at some other places.
Glad I tried it, it wasn’t bad, just given the other options in the airport not sure I’d return.

My wife and I popped in here before my flight for a quick bite. Plenty of available seating as we picked an oversize booth by the window. There is no table service here as you order and pick up from the line.
I went with a large chili bowl and vanilla shake. My wife went with a smothered half smoke and chocolate shake. It didn’t take long after ordering for our order to appear. They did give us our shakes in advance.
My chili bowl was good and included cheese and onions on top. The chili was tasty but not as spicy as I would have liked and a bit more runny than I prefer. My wife’s half smoke was yummy according to her. Both shakes were extra thick and quite refreshing after a hot afternoon walking around DC.

Since 1958, Ben’s Chili Bowl has been a downtown DC favorite, but mostly because it is a landmark in DC. Having been visited by celebrities such as Bill Cosby and most recently even our President, Barack Obama, it is well known throughout the city. Recently, they opened a location prior to security in the Reagan National Airport in DC so I thought I’d check it out.
The décor is reminiscent of the 50’s with old diner-​style tables and chairs. The bright yellow floor brings warmth and brightness to an otherwise clean diner atmosphere.
The menu is quite simple — you can have veggie chili in a small or large bowl, chili on a salad, or chili in a rice bowl. Alternatively, you could choose a vegan Boca burger though I’m not sure if the bun is vegan. There is also a veggie hotdog, but it is not vegan.
So I went with a simple order of veggie chili topped with fresh onions and tomatoes. Ben’s veggie chili is their original recipe made with texturized vegetable protein, kidney beans, tomatoes, green peppers and onions. It really isn’t that great — it’s just an old-​school chili made the way they used to make veggie chili back in the day. It was a fine meal — nothing special, but a hearty meal in the airport. I ended up dousing it in hot sauce as it is a bit too mild for me.
Chris also ordered the fries, which he seemed to like.
One thing that bothered me was their use of styrofoam, which is very uncommon in the DC-​area and very unenvironmentally friendly. I hope they reconsider the materials they serve their food in and choose more environmentally friendly options in the near future.
All in all though, I’m happy to just have another option in DCA and I’d definitely eat here again. Please welcome Ben’s to DCA!

Wanted to try this spot since I didn’t get a chance to try it in the city.
Service was friendly and the food came out fast. Ordered the Ben’s Original Half Smoke and it was spicy and tasty. We worth the $ 6.55 for sure.
I’ll make sure to try the original spot next time thanks to this experience!

When in the airport, why not try out their Ben’s? I’ve already sampled the U Street plenty of times and sampled the disappointing ballpark location. When you think about it, at the airport, if you have a choice between Ben’s and McDonald’s. are you really going to pick McDonald’s? (though DCA does have a Fuddruckers, if you’re lucky and get that wing of gates)
I was pretty hungry, which I am sure helped. but I found the chili here to be quite good. Of course, not like the original, but good considering it’s at DCA. It’s also outside of the TSA gates of hell, so you can come here to say au revoir to friends or family before they depart.
The food comes quick, on par with the U Street location. The burger is quite good, your typical diner type of fare. But better than McD’s. Look at it that way. If you want a burger or a dog, doooo iiiiiit.

Can you say over-​hyped? I split the half smoke with my husband and wasn’t blown away. I was blown away by the cooking staff and management though. We were sitting right at the counter after we ordered and watched the cooks just stare at the printout and continue their conversation for a good five minutes. The girl working the register tried to prompt them to prepare the orders multiple times but was blatantly ignored. This was New Year’s Eve so I guess they weren’t into it but this type of lack of motivation kills me. The worst part is that someone that appeared to be the manager was also there trying to hit on the ladies working there, but I digress…
I didn’t love the chili on the hot dog so I won’t be back for a bowl!

Like the other Arlington location, or Nats Stadium, this is where you can scratch the itch. I do like Ben’s half smokes, but I recognize that they are far from the final word in culinary greatness. That being said, I feel bad for the tourists who have heard of Bens and only experience it at the airport. A very big part of eating at Bens is actually going to U St and immersing yourself in the scene down there and the rich cultural history of that neighborhood and Bens itself as a landmark. It sure as hell isn’t the mediocre and often overcooked half smokes that has people coming back all the time. Rather it’s whatever personal memories and association you have for the original location that can to some extent be relived elsewhere.
Do be nostalgic at the airport Bens. If it’s your first time, make sure you schedule a visit to U St during your following visit.

Never again will I ever eat bens chili bowl. I thought their original location was awful because of all the tourist and people who are in there. So I thought I try the airport location since in was flying out and they have a good view of takeoffs and landings. I ordered the half smoke and what I got was a burnt sausage with little chili. Oh man let me also tell you… you can see the dried out layer on my chili on my hot dog. They were too lazy even stir the darn chili before serving! Then they must have a shortage of chips because I literally got a pinch. I rarely take photos to post on Unilocal and this was so awful I wanted to show people proof.
Really save your money. Make hotdogs with chili at home. Its the same thing that this place serves up.

Great experience while waiting for a delayed flight at DCA. I had forgotten Ben’s is open now in Terminal B.
Dogs where perfectly cooked, completed with spicy chili, mustard, onion and catsup. Thumbs up!!!
Service was good and Resturant is clean. I understand they are expanding west. I remember these guys when growing up in the metro area.

How awesome is it that the airport has a Ben’s Chili Bowl???
I remember reading about Pres Obama eating here, as well as Bill Cosby and others. I never made it to the original location… but when I saw this at Regan National I just had to try their famous half smoke with chili… it lives up to the hype.
The half smoke is a blend of pork and beef on a warm bun with mustard (nevah evah put Ketchup on this), onions, and their famous Chili. The dog is grilled on their flattop and gets a nice char and crunch to it. The Chili has a kick and is delicious on the dog (it is more the liquid type of Chili similar to Tommy’s in Los angeles. It is also good on the chili cheese fries.
Prepare for a messy experience but a very tasty one!
Prepare for the dirty looks on the plane after you consume this gut buster!
I highly recommend this place.