D.C.’s most iconic restaurant, Ben’s Chili Bowl, celebrates 65 years in business on Tuesday, Aug. 22. Co-founder Virginia Ali and her family are marking the occasion with a block party featuring free food, live music, and other surprises at the flagship store on U Street NW.

The restaurant will be open until midnight on Tuesday, according to family spokesperson Vida Ali, with the celebration on U Street between 12th and 13th Streets kicking off at noon.

Expect speeches from the family and other invited guests such as Mayor Muriel Bowser. There will also be live performances from Go-Go bands Sirius Company and Side By Side, plus a Caribbean Tribute in honor of the late founder Ben Ali’s Trinidadian heritage. Ben, who co-founded Ben’s Chili Bowl and was Virginia’s partner in life and in business, died in 2009.

Starting at 1:30 p.m., Ben’s will offer each guest one free meal that includes the signature half smoke or a hot dog (choice of beef, turkey, or veggie) along with a bag of chips and soda or bottled water. The restaurant will give out free meals as long as supplies last.

This year’s anniversary centers around giving back to the community that’s supported the restaurant for six decades. So Ben’s celebration will also offer giveaways, including back-to-school supplies for kids.

Vida says to expect all kinds of surprises – and that representatives from every sports team in the city have been invited.

The Black-owned restaurant has been a beloved fixture in the District since opening in 1958. Ben’s has fed everyone from Martin Luther King Jr. to President Barack Obama. Its signature dish, the half smoke, has become the unofficial dish of the District. The city even renamed a part of U Street after the restaurant.

Ben’s has proved resilient in the face of civic unrest, gentrification, recessions, and the COVID-19 pandemic. The restaurant has also expanded over the decades to several locations in the District, with plans to open more outside the Beltway. The restaurant’s food is already in local grocery stores.

Virginia, who’s turning 90 in December, expects Ben’s Chili Bowl to continue to thrive through her three sons and their partners who’ve taken ownership of the day-to-day operations, she told DCist/WAMU.

“I’m grateful for my children, that they would want to do this,” she said. “It’s a pleasure to be here working with my children and getting to see them every day.”

In 2018, Ben’s shut down U Street between 12th and 13th Streets and had a huge party when they celebrated their 60th anniversary. We expect nothing different come Tuesday.