Thanks to the net, word travels fast. Ben Ali, the 82-year-old founder of Ben’s Chili Bowl, passed last night in his home in DC of congestive heart failure. For the last two years, I have frequented Ben’s Chili Bowl and more recently their full-service establishment Ben’s Next Door, but never had the privilege to have ever met the man behind this famed landmark.

Although I was a latecomer as a DC area patron of The Bowl, I still immediately saw how the family business made everyone, from tourists to regulars, feel like they were one of the Alis as well. That’s what keeps me going back (plus the jumbo dogs)!

As a business woman of partial Trinidadian descent, learning of the progress Ben’s Chili Bowl has made from its opening in 1958, surviving the U Street riots in 1968, and still holding down the same block 50 years later is very inspiring. This is a feat not achieved by many Black businesses so I have made an effort to always support the Ali family whenever possible. RIP Mr. Ali – your memory and spirit will forever remain at 1213 U St. NW.