Ben’s Chili Bowl milkshakes bring all the boys to the yard

KELSEY DICKEY // THE EAGLE

Each semester my friends and I have an end-of-the-term dinner right before finals to relax, debrief on the semester, plan for next semester and spend time with each other before we are forced to separate.

This semester we chose to end the term at Ben’s Chili Bowl, partially because we have never eaten in U Street, and partially because Obama recently took the French president and his wife there.

How can you resist eating at a place where Obama ate?  We couldn’t, so we met in my dorm room Friday at 7 p.m., walked to the metro (because the AU shuttle is known for its reliability and speed), transferred to the green and yellow line, walked ten minutes in the wrong direction and finally found Ben’s Chili Bowl.

It was not what I expected.  I’m not sure what I expected with prices so affordable and foods like half smokes, chili dogs and cheese fries, but it definitely was not a cramped storefront filled with smoke, cashiers dressed in traditional hot dog vendor outfits and music so loud you could hardly hear what you were ordering.  To be fair, the music was perky and fun; it made me want to shake my groove thing while I waited eagerly in line to place my order.

After ten minutes waiting to order the moment of truth came.  What would I order?  I had an aversion to pork, hated hamburgers and I won’t touch a veggie burger unless my dad makes it.  I did what any college student would do: I ordered cheese fries and a banana milk shake (that diet I blogged about earlier in the semester has been dead almost a month and I feel no remorse).  I was in heaven.

The milk shake was thick and creamy and satisfied my enormous sweet tooth.  The mammoth order of cheese fries filled an entire plate; I barely put a dent in it.  The topping was no ordinary cheese; it had a kick to it which made every bite of my greasy fries even more addicting than the last.

My meal cost about eight dollars and was worth every penny of it.  I woke up the next morning craving a Ben’s Chili Bowl milkshake.  My only regret is that U Street is too far away to make a daily milkshake run.