Dine After Dark During Ramadan

We’re proud to be joining Dine After Dark along with other great local businesses to make dining-out more convenient for our Muslim community celebrating Ramadan. 3.5 million Americans and 1.6 billion people worldwide celebrate Ramadan, the 9th month of the Islamic calendar, as a time of reflection and charity. We’re inviting customers to “Dine After Dark,” to enjoy iftar meals at the end of daily holiday fasting.

Each of our seven locations will be participating in Dine After Dark during Ramadan until June 4, 2019. We have a variety of menu options that include vegetarian and vegan dishes, as well as halal chicken.

The Dine After Dark initiative, launched late last year by a nonprofit organization of the same name, encourages businesses to offer late-night or early-morning hours during Ramadan to better serve customers celebrating the season.

You can find our locations (DC, VA and MD) and hours here.

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

Sep 2, 2025

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

For Langston Hughes on His 123 Birthday

Feb 1, 2024

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 2024

Jan 12, 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

Xmas Eve Service at New Beginnings

Dec 26, 2019

Every Christmas Eve Busboys and Poets gathers a group of volunteers to go to New Beginnings Juvenile Detention Center to prepare and serve a special meal for youth serving time. A way of giving to our young people who may struggle particularly around the holiday season. Big thanks to all our volunteers! New Beginnings is … Continued

Split This Rock Poem of the Week: Patrick Rosal

Aug 3, 2018

Split this Rock is a longtime poetry partner of Busboys and Poets. Check out the Sunday Kind of Love monthly poetry series at Busboys and Poets every third Sunday of the month from 5-7PM. Typhoon Poem The teacher can’t hear the children over all this monsoon racket, all the zillion spoons whacking the rusty … Continued

Jerusalem Chefs Prepare a Peace Meal at 14th & V

Sep 17, 2013

The State Department and Busboys and Poets sponsored four chefs from Jerusalem to come to the United States to prepare a peace meal at 14th & V

Busboys and Poets Books Review: My Guantanamo Diary

Jan 12, 2018

Have you set a goal or a resolution for the New Year? As I’m reading My Guantanamo Diary (PublicAffairs $14.99), by Mahvish Rukhsana Khan for an upcoming literary club with a dramatic twist (details to follow), I’d like to encourage you to consider participation in the arts as a worthy goal for 2018. Artists, writers … Continued