
Minnesota Senator, Al Franken spoke in Busboys and Poets' Langston Room, Howard Zinn, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her daughter, actor Matt Dillon, modern hip hop artist Keri Hilson and others have either eaten or hosted an event. Additionally, onetime Washington Wizards center Etan Thomas has performed his poetry at Busboys. Louis Cardinals linebacker who quit the NFL in protest of the Vietnam War.

Sheila Jackson-Lee, Anthony Shadid and Dave Meggyesy, a former St. The Busboys clientele has included Alice Walker, Angela Davis, Danny Glover, Cheryl Strayed, Amy Goodman, singer Nick Jonas, Common, Cindy Sheehan, Tom Hayden, Harry Belafonte, Amiri Baraka, Rep. It definitely has a progressive feel to it it's in the 'hood, not disjointed from the community like the National Press Club and Capitol Hill are." Shallal said of the restaurant's popularity, "I've opened many restaurants, this is the first time that people came in and got it right away." Kevin Zeese, spokesperson for Ralph Nader's 2004 presidential campaign and director of Democracy Rising, related to The Hill, "Boom! It just became an incredibly important landmark for the community. C-SPAN, NBC News and ABC's " Good Morning America" all filmed segments inside the restaurant within the restaurant's first few months. Shallal had said he would keep Busboys running even if just broke even, but it proved a success from the beginning, even without committing an advertising budget. It features the words of Langston Hughes, "Let America be America again / Let it be the dream it used to be." Reception The collage depicts civil rights icons including the Rev. Have eaten at all the Busboys and the food. He refuses to sign the mural, saying this would be a "final gesture" that would preclude him from making revisions later. Delivery & Pickup Options - 176 reviews of Busboys and Poets - Columbia Gorgeous restaurant, love the food. Shallal painted the giant civil rights movement-themed mural covering one wall of the restaurant, titled Peace in Struggle Wall. Rejected ideas for the restaurant's name include Writers Block Cafe, Broken Bread Cafe and White Rabbit Cafe, the latter inspired by The Matrix.

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.

Shallal obtained a loan from black-owned Industrial Bank, located at 11th and U streets. 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. The first Busboys and Poets lies two blocks from U Street, a commercial corridor in Northwest Washington, known as "Black Broadway" in its heyday. Locations in the Washington, DC metropolitan area
