Ben’s Chili Bowl, a family-owned restaurant serving homemade chili and half-smokes to DC residents for six decades, is currently gearing up to launch a franchisee program that would help with expansion plans beyond the DC area.
Co-owner Sage Ali told What Now DC that expansion will start in 2024, but no specific locations have been chosen yet.
“We’re now setting up a real thoughtful franchise program. A properly structured franchise program so that we can really expand at a bit of a larger level,” he said.
Ali explained that he and the owners want to work with franchisees who are not family members but would still follow Ben’s Chili Bowl standards and guidelines as they use all restaurant’s products no matter where they set up shop.
“The most important thing for us right is just to maintain the full integrity and value of the brand and what we mean to the communities around us,” Ali said. “When talking about expansion, that is the expansion that we’re really referring to that begins by focusing on the franchising side first.”
Vida Ali, the daughter-in-law of Ben’s owner Virginia Ali, told Axios on Thursday that Ben’s Chili Bowl is eyeing expansion in Richmond as one of the first cities that the family is targeting. Franchising is one part of Ben’s Chili Bowl’s ambitious plan to continue building up its brand above and beyond. The iconic DC restaurant recently announced that it would sell its chili and hot bars in packages at grocery stores, the DCist reported on Friday.
