Photo courtesy New York Times

Thank goodness I live in Clarendon and work in Court House. I don’t think I would be in good shape if I was any closer to the truck.

What truck you may say? Why the Taco Bell truck that’s giving away free food today in Rosslyn. Just make sure you check out it’s Twitter feed to get the latest info on where it is and line up to get a free taco- no base stealing required!

The Taco Bell truck appears to be a myth to some, reality to residents of Huntington Beach, CA. So if you are up to it, get down to Rosslyn and get on the hunt for the truck, there aren’t that many places it could hide- unless it’s pulling a shady “deep throat” like exchange.

(h/t to DC Foodie Katie)

UPDATE: It looks like the truck will be in Foggy Bottom until 3:30- however don’t go there expecting Chicken, they are fresh out.

I actually live in Arlington, VA; but lots of DC locals call it their home, and now I’m proud of it thanks to this wonderful video that I found Thursday night (thanks to FamousDC.)

So I hope you learn a little bit about the ‘hood I come from.

Photo by Roger L. Wollenberg / pool / Getty Images

“Definitely just saw Obama at Ray’s Hell burger. F Yes.”

Those the words I saw yesterday afternoon on Clinton Yates’ twitter account.

As I read those words I thought about dropping my things and running over to the Rosslyn establishment from my Court House office, however logic kicked in: Hell Burger is typically busy on a normal afternoon, what kind of place would it be if Barack Obama and Joe Biden walked in and had lunch? I wouldn’t of gotten anywhere close. At least I’m sure it wasn’t anything like the time a fictional Bill Clinton visited McDonald’s. I do have to say that I am at least jealous of my co-worker Kristen who was coincidentally next door at that time.

Linda Feldman over at the Christian Science Monitor has the best account of Obama & Biden’s last minute lunch out.

According to the daily guidance lunch was supposed to be, “in the Oval Office, closed press.”

But around 12:30 PM the White House Press Pool was assembled and put into a motorcade that took them to Rosslyn. It looked like Obama and Biden wanted to go somewhere new for lunch.

Feldman describes Hell Burger as, “a joint so new it still doesn’t have a sign up.” Ray’s has been opened since July 2008 which made me wonder if it will ever get a sign now that Ray’s The Steaks moved to Court House.

Photo by AP/Huffington Post

Obama and Biden walked in the front door, the press came in the back; and I could only imagine the look on a patron’s face when they see the President & Vice President wait in line with you to order a burger. In what could only be described as classy, Obama turned to the Press Pool and offered to buy everybody lunch and just like a good Commander-in-Chief does, he delegated Caren Bohan of Reuters to take everyone’s orders.

After warning that they were going to order food for here and to-go, Obama let Biden toss in his order: a Swiss cheese burger with jalapeno peppers and a Root Beer. Obama then ordered a basic cheddar cheeseburger with mustard (spicy mustard if you got it), lettuce and tomato. When he inquired about fries he learned what many Hell Burger patrons already knew: they don’t do fries.

I wonder if the President asks for fries, do you just make fries?

Luckily the manager pitched him on the tater tots and he agreed on that instead.

They both paid for their orders in cash- with Obama picking up the tab for the pool.

“We’re paying, or these people [the pool] are gonna write about how we’re free-loading,” Obama said when the management offered to pick-up the bill.

Obama also threw a five-spot into the tip jar.

Photo by AP/Charles Dharapak

They were then served at a table by the chef (curious how there was magically a table free when usually the place is packed at 12:30, but then again when you are the President things can be arranged…), if you take a look at the video they had table tent #42- too bad #44 wasn’t available.

They were back a little after 1:00 P.M- a very efficient lunch if I may say so myself.

Now after remaining on the fence on Hell Burger- I guess I should give it yet another try now that it’s been Obama-approved. However Hell Burger was popular enough pre-Obama, will it go the way of Ben’s Chili Bowl now that it’s been graced by The President?

courtesy of Personal Wine Buyer

Type in Hell Burger into Google and you’ll find nothing but great reviews of the place. So I don’t need to write another review on how great the burgers are.

However I did want to try it for myself- and I did last month. My friend Mike and I went down to Hell Burger and took burgers home to enjoy before The Oscars.

The place was exactly as described, an unmarked building next near the old location of Ray’s The Steaks (it’s now across the street from my office in Courthouse.)

We walk in and see the B-Movie posters, the line of fans (even on a Sunday night), and the shots of hot chocolate which are as advertised- to die for.

I ordered the BIG Poppa and I did enjoy the burger. It was a mess to eat but I enjoyed every bite. I ordered the Mac & Cheese side and it was ok but the main attraction was the burger itself.

While the burger as a whole package was delicious- I found the spice crusted burger too spiced up for me to really judge the meat. I hear that the burgers and made from leftover cuts from Ray’s The Steaks and so I wanted to taste what DC’s best burger tasted like. I needed a repeat visit.

That visit happened last week where I ordered the Soul Burger Number One… and now I’m still on the fence.

Don’t get me wrong- I think Hell Burger is great and I’m going to go there again, but maybe I need a third try to really sort my feelings out on the place.

What do you guys think- is there a favorite burger there I should try next?

Ray’s Hell Burger
1713 Wilson Blvd
Arlington, VA 22209
(703) 841-0001