After six years of planning and undergoing renovations since July 2025, community members, public officials and longtime supporters gathered to celebrate the reopening of Ben’s Chili Bowl on U Street NW on Friday, a moment that represented more than the return of a historic restaurant.
A little more than a week ahead of Mother’s Day, the reopening served as a gift to the enduring commitment and legacy of Virginia Ali, the restaurant’s co-founder, known as “Mom” to many across the District.
“This is all for Mom,” Sage Ali, the founders’ oldest son and restaurant’s co-owner, told The Informer ahead of the reopening. “For her to be alive at 92 and see us bring [Ben’s] back and restore it to its original glory is going to be very special.”
Hundreds filled U Street NW for a celebration that was hosted by DJ QuickSilva, included a performance from Sirius Company, speeches from D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, and special appearances from influential figures such as filmmaker Spike Lee, D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), Maryland First Lady Dawn Flythe Moore, and Cora Masters Barry, former first lady of the District.
“It’s [an] honor today to [celebrate] my teacher and our inspiration [Virginia Ali],” said Bowser, who also declared May 1 ‘Ben’s Chili Bowl Day’ in the District. “So let us remember that this woman, in her 92-year-old body, in her beautiful petite frame, she can tell you stories about giants meeting in her chili bowl. She can tell you about reaching out to people that some of us would pass by on the street and discount and say they were worthless or didn’t meet worth our time, but they came to the Chili Bowl, they helped keep the Chili Bowl open when times were tough.”
For more than six decades, the restaurant’s co-founder has poured into a business she started with her husband – the establishment’s namesake – on Aug. 22, 1958, as a way to give back to the community.
“Some people won’t know that when they saw Ms Virginia Ali greeting her guests, she was also staying till the end of the night to count her money.” the mayor continued. “I would say, ‘Miss Ali, why don’t you go home?’ [And she’d say] ‘No, no, no. I’m going to close out.’”
Getting to the May 1 reopening was a labor of love, sacrifice and endurance, something the Ali family says their mom knows all about.
Ensuring the restaurant felt like home to each person who walks in has always been the matriarch’s priority, even as she navigated life as a mother, wife, and business owner throughout the Civil Rights Movement, riots of 1968 post the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., recessions and more. Despite challenges, she always has worked to make a way, all the while helping others.
“When I say she would do anything for her kids, she would do anything. But the thing is, it’s not only us she sees as kids,” Vida Ali, the co-founder’s daughter-in-law and Ben’s public relations director, told The Informer. “Every one of you, she calls a son and a daughter.”
Before walking into the new space arm-in-arm with the D.C. mayor, the nonagenarian said she could not have reached this milestone without help from people across the District such as Bowser, Norton and loyal customers.
“The only way I could have been here [at Bens] for 67 years is because of the support of my community and my wonderful city,” Virginia Ali said. “The good Lord gave me the wonderful gift of caring and loving people. And that’s been so easy for me to do. I’m 92 years old now and I love coming to my Chili Bowl every day, and greeting my guests.”
Reopening a D.C. Staple
In celebrating the reopening, Mayor Bowser emphasized the critical role Ben’s Chili Bowl plays in the District.
“I’ve been all over the world, all over the United States, and [the three things] people ask me about Washington, D.C. is Marion Barry, Howard University … [and the other] is Ben’s Chili Bowl,” she said.
With the first day of May kicking off Small Business Month, the mayor also highlighted Ben’s as an example of the benefits local establishments can bring to the community overall.
“Let us be grateful for good neighbors, good friends, and good businesses. Business is not our enemy. Business helps us deliver good food, good jobs, and make corridors like U Street what they were and what they will be,” Bowser continued. “Thank you, Mrs. Ali.”
While Ben’s has been beloved for decades, the Ali family said the space was in dire need of repair.
“This was really about taking care of our guests because the building is old, everything was old, and that was fine until things started to fall apart,” Sage Ali explained. “It rained, we had leaks happening, we had to put buckets out. We had the electricity [issues]. … The HVAC wasn’t working right, so we really wanted to take care of everyone by getting things done.”
The decision to temporarily close after 67 years was not easy, brothers Sage and Kamal Ben Ali explained. However, after making the necessary repairs, they’re most happy their mother can see the new and improved location.
“To finally have that infrastructure done — that plumbing, that electric — and to have my mom here at 92 years old to know that this Chili Bowl [will] go on for another 50, 60 years is just a great blessing,” Kamal Ben Ali told The Informer at the May 1 event.
While the reopening was a full circle moment for the Ali family, it was truly a community celebration, with representatives from local teams coming to cheer on the business and its big day.
“I could not be happier than to be with the Chili Bowl to celebrate the reopening,” said Mark Clouse, president of the Washington Commanders.
Janine Brunson-Johnson, senior director of events and entertainment for D.C. United, called the restaurant a cornerstone of the community.
“To see it be reopened, all is right with the world now,” she told The Informer. “I don’t think that you can quantify the impact that Ben’s has had on D.C. as a whole, I mean it’s so historic.”
For the Alis, the reopening is both a milestone and a promise for the future.
“The family will ever be grateful for the love and support we have received and Mom has received now for 67 years,” the oldest of the Ali brothers.
Love and Lessons, Furthering the Legacy
At 92 years old, the Ben’s Chili Bowl co-founder has learned a lot, met countless people — including U.S. presidents — and has loads of wisdom and stories to share.
While her family has continued managing day-to-day operations, she still enjoys going to the restaurant she started nearly seven decades ago.
“I love [talking to customers] very much,” the family matriarch said on May 1. “I want to tell my story, and I want to hear your story, because everybody has a story.”
Her appreciation for getting to know others roots from a lesson the rural Virginia native learned when she was a young girl.
“The one thing my parents taught [me] was to treat everybody the way you want to be treated and you will never have a problem,” Virginia Ali said. “It’s all about just a little bit of kindness.”
That philosophy, her family says, is what transformed a restaurant into a success.
“When you have an amazing mom, you see the world differently. You don’t see limits,” Vida Ali told The Informer, “you only see possibilities.”
Hoping to continue the family business and uphold its legacy, Sage Ali, said he and generations to come have one primary duty.
“Our job is to not mess anything up [and] to keep this not only alive, but thriving,” he said. “We’re not looking for [just] a successful business, that’s fine, that’s gravy [but] we’re looking for the warmth and the values that we have always exemplified.”
The co-owner and eldest son pointed to the reopening crowd as proof that those principles still resonate.
“You see the love, you see the unity, and you realize that these small community gatherings are not so small,” he told The Informer. “They are meaningful.”
