Ben's Chili Bowl is THE place - I lived around the corner from there back in the 80s, when the area was a bit of a wasteland...nowadays, it's rather ka-ching, with houses that were boarded up crack dens newly renovated with granite counters and Viking stoves and fetching a million dollars. Ben's is still Ben's though. Nizam Ali (Ben's son who now runs the place) was a year behind me in high school, and he is a great guy. I'm really glad that place survived all the bad years and is now getting the recognition it deserves.