D.C.’s Activist Hub Busboys and Poets, 20 Years In | Eater

"Founded by Iraqi American immigrant Andy Shallal in 2005, this restaurant–bookstore–community space was created as an activist, intellectual hub on the U Street/14th & V Corridor that combines food, books, art, and public programming. The author remembers traveling there as a college student and being enchanted by the ``walls of vivid, colorful artwork,'' bookshelves stocked with Toni Morrison, James Baldwin, and Zora Neale Hurston, and conversations nourished over the shrimp and chicken chorizo pasta (the author’s favorite). Shallal explains the concept and intent plainly: "I always imagined a place like this, and I wanted to create a place that I didn’t find elsewhere in the Washington metropolitan area. Restaurants in particular and gathering places like this are perfect for the type of conversations that we need as a society to bring people together." He frames the project as a response to feeling like an outsider after 9/11 and a desire to "bring in the dreamers, the people who believe in a better world," designing the space with a bookstore at the front, a lounge for interaction, and a back room for poetry, author talks, and panels, with murals and artwork representing the diverse people and values the venue aims to uplift. From the start the menu emphasized accessibility and plant-based options—"we were one of the first places that offered vegan and vegetarian food options in the city"—and programming accessibility: "It’s open to the public, and it’s open all the time. You can hang out, drink water, and enjoy some of the programming we have; 90 percent of it is free of charge." The space has hosted figures such as Angela Davis, Harry Belafonte, Alice Walker, and Howard Zinn and, by 2008, was even ranked by readers over the National Mall as a favorite place to take an out-of-towner. Along the way it has weathered controversy—tensions over a non-Black owner running a Black-centered activist business, debates around international issues and local DEI fights, the practical and existential shocks of COVID, and the political shifts of recent administrations—but Shallal insists on the venue’s mission: "It’s the people’s business. It’s a service," and that "the fact that there is a safe space to come and retreat from the insanity that’s around us, I think, is really one of our strengths." Having grown to eight locations (including two in Maryland and one in Virginia), he says he wants the enterprise to remain at the forefront of progressive ideas—protecting immigrants, sourcing food responsibly, using green energy, and using its platform to speak judiciously on local and international policy—while acknowledging that "as you grow bigger, your responsibilities get more serious." - Kayla Stewart