About Us

Established in 2008, Ben's Next Door is a family-owned and operated restaurant and bar on U St in Northwest, Washington DC. As a black-owned establishment, it’s our goal to deliver a warm, welcoming, familiar, and communal vibe to all guests. We exist to provide our customers with a hospitable hyper-local experience of "fun dining" worth coming back for time and time again.

Appropriately named, it's adjacent to our original concept, Ben's Chili Bowl. While Ben's Chili Bowl has stood the test of time on U St; we love, appreciate, and acknowledge our community for holding us up in their hearts, minds, and prayers. We thank them for positively carrying the name far and wide - by sharing our blessing of being able to be a food destination for the last 60+ years in Washington, DC. In a world that doesn't seem to slow down often enough to gather dust or allow proper time to savor a moment - we exist to honor that legacy and tradition at Ben's Next Door - while still striving to progress into the future. We exist to be a backdrop for your memories where you don't have to set up, cook, bartend, or do the dishes.

We seek to offer our creative Washingtonian take on relevant local fare that reflects us as a blended African American family of West Indians and Southerners.

We take pride in reaching for an exceptional customer service experience - rooted in our people and our products. While our aim is true, we won't always be perfect for you. As we are always seeking to improve, please do let us know how you feel and give us the opportunity to show you that we're trying our best and will always aim to be worthy of the support and love offered in your patronage of our black-owned and operated business.