Transitioning to Vegan with Senator Cory Booker, Andy Shallal, and more

The Transitioning to Vegan panel, hosted by the Congressional Vegetarian Staff Association’s Maureen Cohen Harrington and Adam Sarvana took place today at the Russel Senate Office Building. It was a packed house with some awesome vegan advocates and a great introduction to the upcoming DC VegFest celebration highlighting vegan businesses and products.

The panel included:

  • Senator Cory Booker, the Senate’s most outspoken vegan
  • Andy Shallal, founder of Busboys and Poets, an increasingly vegan restaurant and community gathering space
  • Jasmine Leyva, director of The Invisible Vegan, a documentary about the black vegan experience
  • Leilani Münter, a race car driver who has given vegan food to thousands of NASCAR fans at Daytona and Talladega
  • Nzinga Young, Greater NYC Community Events Coordinator, Vegan Outreach (10 Weeks to Vegan Program)
  • Erica Meier, Executive Director, Compassion Over Killing (DC VegFest, VegWeek)
  • Adam Zipkin, Counsel to United States Senator Cory Booker, and vegan
  • Tracye McQuirter, author of recently-released Ageless Vegan, and of By Any Greens Necessary, a national best-seller
  • Dr. Milton Mills, member of the National Advisory Board for Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM)

We were thrilled to provide plant-based vegan options, including our fried cauliflower sandwich, vegetable curry and vegan tofu bites, to support the non-partisan Congressional staff association and introduce attendees interested in vegetarianism to new food possibilities.

Erica Meier of Compassion Over Killing runs the DC VegFest, the largest vegan gathering and celebration on the east coast with upwards of 25,000 people coming to Yards Park in Northeast, DC to explore vegan foods, authors, musicians, and to learn about how to create a sustainable animal-product-free lifestyle.

Busboys has been a sponsor of the DC VegFest for the last 4 years and this year we’ll be running a Busboys beer garden, book tent, food tent, and live music stage with local bands that we’ll be announcing shortly.

This year’s VegFest is September 15th at Yards Park in Northeast, DC from 11am-6pm. Free entry. We encourage you bring cash for beer, food, books, merch and other plant-based, environmentally-friendly items! Hope to see you there!

The Making of Busboys and Poets

A Seat at the Table: The Making of Busboys and Poets

We’re proud to announce A Seat at the Table: The Making of Busboys and Poets, the new memoir from our CEO and Founder, which reveals the vision, challenges, and triumphs behind opening Busboys and Poets. Packed with misadventures, unexpected triumphs, and insights on race, business and politics, Andy Shallal’s memoir takes us on a “How I Built … Continued

PHOTO 2024 02 01 07 10 14

For Langston Hughes on His 123 Birthday

Speech given on February 1, 2024 in Havana, Cuba In 1927 Langston Hughes walked into a Cuba amid an emerging community of artists, intellectuals, and radicals.  He saw a “sunrise in a new land [– a day – in his words]sic – full of brownskin surprises, and hitherto unknown contacts in a world of color.”  … Continued

PALESTINE WEEK 1920 x 1080 px 2

Palestine Week 2024

January 18, 2024 – January 25, 2024 In keeping with our ongoing mission of uplifting racial and cultural connections, Busboys and Poets is hosting Palestine Week (January 18 through January 25, 2024). This week-long series of events will offer a diverse range of programming featuring Palestinian food, music, dance, poetry, discussions, and other enriching events. … Continued

15 Influential, Iconic, and Inspiring Women Writers Through History

15 Influential, Iconic, and Inspiring Women Writers Through History

15 Influential, Iconic, and Inspiring Women Writers Through History Come into one of our Busboys and Poets bookshops and we can direct you to any number of wonderful books by women. From the high fantasy of N.K. Jemison to the sublime poetry of Joy Harjo to the intense investigations of Monique W. Morris we are … Continued

6. Langston Hughes in Cuba

Follow along for the Busboys and Poets Travel Tribe’s Cultural Exchange trip to Cuba (July 6-13, 2022) By Andy Shallal (@andyshallal CEO/Founder, Busboys and Poets) The Union of Writers and Artists is one of the oldest institutions formed after the Cuban revolution. The year was 1961. Its first president was Nicolas Guillen. Cuba’s national poet. Named … Continued

first date

Busboys and Poets First Date Story: Pauline and Tim

So we found out from Instagram that Pauline and Tim, who are now married, had their first date at Busboys and Poets. Then Tim proposed to Pauline at the Hyattsville open mic! We asked them to tell us about their first date, how they found each other and relationship advice!   What did you two … Continued