straphanger
04-21-2010, 08:52 PM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben%27s_Chili_Bowl
Ben's Chili Bowl was founded on August 22, 1958, by Ben Ali, a Trinidadian-born immigrant who had studied dentistry at nearby Howard University, and his fiancee, Virginia-born Virginia Rollins. The two were married seven weeks after opening the restaurant.
The Boston Globe described Ben's diverse customers as "punk-looking kids and fashionable business people and everyone in between".[6] The most famous regular customer is comedian Bill Cosby, who took his future wife to Ben's on dates in the early 1960s.[4] Cosby returned in 1985 to hold a press conference in the restaurant to celebrate the success of his television series, The Cosby Show.[6] He continues to stop by Ben's while in town for servings of half-smokes. A sign posted in the restaurant proclaimed that Bill Cosby is the only person who eats for free at Ben's Chili Bowl.[14] On November 3, 2008, a new sign was posted to add "the Obama family",[15] and the sign was later altered to state "but he paid".
Other celebrities, including Chris Tucker and Bono, have visited over the years. In 1998, former DC mayor Marion Barry described having traveled to Ghana and meeting the mayor of Accra, an alumnus of Howard University, whose greeting was "Glad to have you in Accra. Is Ben's Chili Bowl still there?" When journalist Ted Koppel stopped hosting news program Nightline, he held his 2005 farewell party at the restaurant.[1] Then-President-elect Barack Obama ate at Ben's on January 10, 2009.[16][17][18]
Ben's Chili Bowl was founded on August 22, 1958, by Ben Ali, a Trinidadian-born immigrant who had studied dentistry at nearby Howard University, and his fiancee, Virginia-born Virginia Rollins. The two were married seven weeks after opening the restaurant.
The Boston Globe described Ben's diverse customers as "punk-looking kids and fashionable business people and everyone in between".[6] The most famous regular customer is comedian Bill Cosby, who took his future wife to Ben's on dates in the early 1960s.[4] Cosby returned in 1985 to hold a press conference in the restaurant to celebrate the success of his television series, The Cosby Show.[6] He continues to stop by Ben's while in town for servings of half-smokes. A sign posted in the restaurant proclaimed that Bill Cosby is the only person who eats for free at Ben's Chili Bowl.[14] On November 3, 2008, a new sign was posted to add "the Obama family",[15] and the sign was later altered to state "but he paid".
Other celebrities, including Chris Tucker and Bono, have visited over the years. In 1998, former DC mayor Marion Barry described having traveled to Ghana and meeting the mayor of Accra, an alumnus of Howard University, whose greeting was "Glad to have you in Accra. Is Ben's Chili Bowl still there?" When journalist Ted Koppel stopped hosting news program Nightline, he held his 2005 farewell party at the restaurant.[1] Then-President-elect Barack Obama ate at Ben's on January 10, 2009.[16][17][18]