Virginia Ali: The Matriarch of Black Broadway and Keeper of Community Through Six Decades of Change
From Segregated Rural Virginia to National Icon: How One Woman's Commitment to Kindness, Quality, and Community Built Washington D.C.'s Most Enduring Cultural Landmark
In the heart of Washington, D.C.’s U Street corridor—once known as “Black Broadway” and now a symbol of urban renewal—stands a restaurant that has witnessed and survived every major upheaval in the nation’s capital for nearly seven decades.
They created intergenerational wealth by deliberately preparing the next generation for ownership and management.
Ben’s Chili Bowl, co-founded in 1958 by Virginia Ali and her husband Ben, represents far more than a dining establishment; it embodies the resilience, dignity, and communal bonds of Black Washington through civil rights struggle, devastating riots, economic devastation, crack cocaine epidemics, prolonged construction disruption, and global pandemic.
At the center of this remarkable story stands Virginia Ali herself—now 91 years old and still greeting customers daily at the restaurant—whose life spans from segregated schools in rural Virginia to hosting presidents at her counter.
Known affectionately as “Mom” or “Mrs. Ben,” Ali has become one of Washington’s most beloved figures, described as the “Matriarch of U Street” and “the most photographed woman in DC”.
“I’ve served presidents and judges and every profession you can name,” she reflected. “But I’ve also served the heroin addicts, the crackheads, and the bums. And if you treat every one of them the way you would like to be treated, you don’t have a problem”.
-Virginia Ali
