By the Gastronomes

In this age of transparency and full disclosure…or not…when we sat down to pen this column we decided to see when we had last written about Hard Times. It was February of 2019. To tell the truth – there’s that word – this piece is looking like it is going to be almost a mirror of the 2019 version. That tells you that no matter how much things change, some things stay the same.

Washington D.C. may have Ben’s Chili Bowl, but Old Town Alexandria has Hard Times Café. With winter on its way and the holidays fast approaching, we decided that a visit to Hard Times Café for some chili and a sandwich was a perfect fit for a cold day and will make for a good place to take a break from shopping.

Back when there were hardly any businesses in the west end of Old Town, brothers Fred and Jim Parker decided to take Fred’s passion for making chili out of his house and open a restaurant. They rented an old building in the 1400 block of King Street and opened in 1980. It was a bold step as there wasn’t much foot traffic or many offices in that end of town, but the brothers forged ahead and opened their depression-era chili parlor. Now, 45 years later, that end of town has flourished and so has Hard Times.

Both Parker brothers are no longer with us but the tradition is being carried on by Co-owners Rich and Heather Kelly. Same easy-going ambiance and really good eats.

A Little Chili History: The initial recipe was handed down to Fred from his Aunt Irma, who had owned a successful chili parlor in Oklahoma. Fred’s other recipes were the result of research, experimentation and competition cooking at chili cookoffs around the country. As I remember, when Hard Times first opened, all they had was their Texas Chili and some variations, a hot dog, and a hamburger that was flame broiled.

Walking into Hard Times is like walking back in history. You might imagine yourself in an old western saloon. There is a bar in the back after you make your way past wooden booths. Everything is extremely casual, and the action moves fast. In the bar area is an old neon jukebox that plays old tunes – both western and contemporary – that most of us of a certain age know all of the words to.

Today’s menu has grown considerably from the beginning. The appetizer lists a host of items including Chili Nachos, Corn Dog Nuggets, their famous Onion Rings, Deep Fried Pickles, Steak Bites, Santa Fe Egg Rolls and more. They also offer Grilled Wings and Boneless Wings.

Their chili recipes are authentic and historically correct versions of the chili created on the turn-of-the-century cattle drives of the Southwest and in the Cincinnati chili parlors of the Midwest. These include the original Texas Chili, Cincinnati Chili, Terlingua Red – a tribute to the Texas ghost town that hosted the first chili cook-off. The Terlingua is redder in color with a spicy kick of championship chilies. They also offer a Vegetarian Chili consisting of Soy flakes cooked in a tomato base with fresh mushrooms, onions, green peppers and jalapenos – this is one to choose if you want chili with a bit more of a kick.

Chili by the bowl is your choice of chili with or without beans and your choice of toppings the likes of cheese, onion and jalapenos. If you want to step outside of the “just chili” box, Chili Mac (chili over spaghetti) is the way to go. It is served 3-Way (spaghetti, chili and cheese), 4-way (add onions) and 5-way (ad beans). If rice is more to your liking than pasta, all of the aforementioned is available over Cilantro Rice.

They also offer Chili Bubba (chili over cornbread), Frito Chili Pie (over Fritos, duh) and Chili Taters (over tater tots, also duh). All of the portions are pretty hefty and if you aren’t high on walking around doing your shopping with leftovers, go for the half portions.

Hard Times offers seven different burgers (including two vegetarian), two variations of sliders, chili dogs and several sandwich, wrap and taco choices. From previous experience and pure observation, every one of these is HUGE!

In addition, there are seven salad offerings and five Dinner Platters which include – Southwest Ribs, Chicken Tenders, Chicken Alamo, Grilled Bourbon Teriyaki Salmon, New York Strip and a Crispy Fish. All dinners come with two sides.

On our visit in 2019 we started off with their famous onion rings. They are lightly battered and breaded and deep fried. There is just enough breading to get the idea across but let the onion come through and are a meal in themselves. The couple sitting next to us ordered them and they look just as good as always.

Since we knew what we were in for, we skipped the OR’s and went straight to our main course. As I discovered when coming across our write up in 2019, I had followed suit in 2025 and ordered the Southern Fried Chicken Sandwich. The plump chicken breast was hand-battered, deep-fried, served on a toasted bun topped with bacon and jack cheese. This sandwich took me back to my boyhood days on my grandparent’s farm in Georgia and my grandmothers fried chicken. The only thing missing was sweet tea. I opted for a pint of ice cold Bud Light that paired very nicely.

My partner went straight for the Chili Mac 5 ways with fresh chopped jalapenos on the side. She went back to her roots when she was a regular at HTC in the mid 90’s. On our 2019 visit, she opted for the Frito Chili Pie. This is sort of a high-end version of a Taco John (popular fast food place out west for many years) Chili Frito that was her old staple back home in Wyoming after a night of consuming more than one adult beverage. Only thing here is that you have to eat it sorta fast unless you are fond of soggy Fritos! We split a piece of corn bread this time and it is some of the best around – we like it because it is on the sweet side.

Like I said above regarding my beverage of choice, none of this would be complete without a cold beer and Hard Times has just that.  A good selection of on tap and bottles without all of the now-popular “craft” beers taking over the bar. There is full bar service as well but I don’t think I have ordered anything but a beer in the 40 or so years I’ve been coming here.

Last, but certainly not least, the staff at HTC remains upbeat and friendly. The woman who greeted us at the door was a fun gal and our server, Dominque, was as cute as he can be.

Take a break from the holiday hubbub and treat yourself to some hearty eats and a tab that won’t break the bank. Hard Times Café is easy to find…just look for the 1941 Chevy pickup out front with a *horse mannequin? equinaquin? hayburneraquin? standing in the bed and Old Glory flying high!

Hard Times Café

1404 King Street

Old Town Alexandria

703-837-0050

Hardtimes.com

*Publishers Note: At the time of this writing, the fall décor was still up. The photo of the restaurant exterior and “Trigger” featured on these pages were supplied by HTC from a previous year. By the time you are reading this, we are confident all will be decked in Holiday finery. And…in the spirit of transparency…we think the poor horse needs to be sent in for some serious body work in the new year. He’s lookin’ kinda sad.