A Hint of Spice to Come — Ben’s Next Door

Those lucky chilidawgs at Capital Spice got a preview of the new restaurant the Ali family is opening next to their venerable Ben’s Chili Bowl. Nizam Ali had hoped to open earlier this year, and we can guess at the cause of the delay. In this town, builders yell “DCRA!” when they hit their thumbs with a hammer.

NotionsCapital hopes the search for the perfect jellroll was not a contributing factor. The Alis want to carry that confection to commemorate the fact that Ferdinand “Jellyroll” Morton played jazz upstairs in the building that houses their plush new place. 

Ben’s Next Door is slated to open this month. That leaves plenty of time for a shakedown cruise before the all-night Inaugural Marathons.

 

Image by Mike Licht.