Busboys and Poets is a restaurant and gathering place and a bookstore to educate the masses on art and activism. Founder Anas “Andy” Shallal opened the first Busboys restaurant/café/bar with a bookstore managed by Teaching for Change. While many bookstores have added cafés to bolster their business, Shallal uses literature as an activist counterpart to his restaurants.

Busboys and Poets is a community gathering place. First established in 2005, Busboys and Poets was created by owner Anas “Andy” Shallal, an Iraqi-American artist, activist and restaurateur. This is the flagship location at 14th and V Streets, NW (Washington, DC).The neighboring residents and the progressive community embraced Busboys, especially activists opposed to War. Busboys and Poets is now located in six distinctive neighborhoods in the Washington Metropolitan area and is a community resource for artists, activists, writers, thinkers and dreamers.

Busboys And Poets: 14th and V

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Busboys And Poets: 14th and V 38.917866, -77.031682 “I’m not really a restaurateur,” says Shallal, who opened his first restaurant in 1987. “I’m an activist with food. We all eat. There’s a commonality.” said founder Anas “Andy” Shallal

 
The name Busboys and Poets refers to American poet Langston Hughes, who worked as a busboy at the Wardman Park Hotel in the 1920s, prior to gaining recognition as a poet.