Busboys and Poets
| Busboys and Poets | |
|---|---|
View of Busboys and Poets' downstairs interior
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| Restaurant information | |
| Established | September 7, 2005 |
| Current owner(s) | Anas "Andy" Shallal |
| Food type | American |
| Dress code | Casual |
| City | Washington, D.C. |
| Coordinates | 38°55′4.5″N 77°1′54″W / 38.917917°N 77.03167°WCoordinates: 38°55′4.5″N 77°1′54″W / 38.917917°N 77.03167°W |
| Other locations | |
Busboys and Poets is a restaurant, bookstore, lounge, and theater in Washington, D.C., founded in 2005 by Andy Shallal. A second location opened in Shirlington in 2007; a third location opened in Washington, D.C., in 2008; and a fourth in Hyattsville, Maryland opened in July 2011. Another has since opened in Takoma Park. It has been described as a haven for writers, thinkers and performers from America's progressive social and political movements.
The first Busboys and Poets lies two blocks from U Street, a commercial corridor in Northwest Washington, known as "Black Broadway" in its heyday. Concerned that his creation of a trendy artistic space would clash with U Street's traditional identity, Shallal reached out for support from community leaders, neighborhood groups, church organizations, schools and radio stations prior to opening the location. Shallal obtained a loan from black-owned Industrial Bank, located at 11th and U streets. Shallal also decided not to charge rent to Teaching for Change, which runs the bookstore area, until it turned a profit.
The name refers to American poet Langston Hughes, who worked as a busboy at the Wardman Park Hotel in the 1930s, prior to gaining recognition as a poet. Rejected ideas for the restaurant's name include Writers Block Cafe, Broken Bread Cafe and White Rabbit Cafe, the latter inspired by The Matrix.
Shallal painted the giant civil rights movement-themed mural covering one wall of the restaurant, titled Peace in Struggle Wall. He refuses to sign the mural, saying this would be a "final gesture" that would preclude him from making revisions later. The collage depicts civil rights icons including the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Nelson Mandela. It features the words of Langston Hughes, "Let America be America again / Let it be the dream it used to be."
Busboys also occupies the same building as the Langston Lofts, built by PN Hoffmann in 2005, and the theater hall is called Langston Room. Plays performed at Busboys include "Fear Up", about Guantanamo Bay, "Operation: Dreamland" about the occupation of Fallujah from the perspective of an American soldier. It has also hosted a screening of the Guerrilla Film Festival.
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Wikipedia