“Behind the Kitchen Door”

On Monday, owner Andy Shallal made his way to NYC to sit on a panel discussion hosted by the Restaurant Opportunities Center United (ROC-United) at the Ford Foundation.  Along with food movement leaders, policy experts, journalists, artists, including actor Danny Glover, National Organization for Women (NOW) president Terry O’Neill, and ROC-United co-founder Saru Jayaraman, Andy spoke about the need for the restaurant industry to change the way it treats its workers. 

Busboys and Poets and Eatonville Restaurant are listed as one of ROC-United’s “High Road Restaurants.” Taking “the High Road to Profitability is an ethical, pragmatic, and profitable approach to doing business that benefits employers, employees, consumers and the community.” At Busboys and Poets and Eatonville, employees benefit from overtime pay, health insurance and paid sick leave, unlike the majority of the nation’s restaurants. Andy recommended to ROC-United, policy makers and consumers: “When I got to New York today, I noticed how restaurants post letter grades from the Health Department. What if they also had to post letter grades indicating the quality of the conditions for their workers?”

To learn more and get involved in consumer action and pressuring restaurants to pay sick leave to their employees click here.

Saru Jayaraman will be at Busboys and Poets on Feb. 13th to discuss her book, “Behind the Kitchen Door” at 6:30 PM in the Langston Room to bring attention to this human rights issue.

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

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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

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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

Reflections on a Historic Week

Reflections on a Historic Week

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in a landmark decision the Facebook generation has quickly likened to the collapse of de jure segregation.

Right to Know Our Food

Right to Know Our Food

Once again the issue of transparency and trust in our food system arises

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Books by Black Authors

Celebrate Black Lives and Black History with superb books written by Black authors. #blackbooksmatter Select one or many from recommended lists of multiple genres handpicked by Busboys booksellers, in store or online. l

On Censorship by Salman Rushdie

On Censorship by Salman Rushdie

No writer ever really wants to talk about censorship. Writers want to talk about creation, and censorship is anti-creation, negative energy, uncreation, the bringing into being of non-being, or, to use Tom Stoppard’s description of death, “the absence of presence.” Censorship is the thing that stops you doing what you want to do, and what writers want to talk about is what they do, not what stops them doing it.