Busboys & Poets is a D.C landmark that embodies the city’s artistic and political culture with by serving as a restaurant that also features poetry readings, book signings, a bookstore and film screenings.
The restaurant is named for Langston Hughes, the famous D.C. poet who started working as busboy before launching his famous poetry career. The first Busboys & Poets location opened in 2005 on 14th and V Streets. Since then, more locations have opened on 5th and K Streets in D.C. and in Shirlington and Hyattsville.
Busboys & Poets embraces the green movement as part of their commitment to the community. All of their menus, which feature many vegan options, are printed on 100 percent recycled paper, and the restaurant turns all of its kitchen oil into biofuel. There’s even an organic happy hour that serves eco-friendly drinks like a “tree-tini” and an “eco-mojito.”
Besides just serving food, the café’s goal is is to create a gathering place for the community that encourages artistic, political and cultural discussion.
“We believe that by creating such a space we can inspire social change and begin to transform our community and the world,” according to the Busboys & Poets mission statement.
Some ways Busboys & Poets encourages community discussion are through art forms, like music and poetry. Each month, the 5th and K Street location holds an open mic night for people under the age of 20 to perform music, raps or poetry. The Shirlington location also hosts weekly open mic nights, while other locations have poetry slams, sign language open mic nights and LGBT open mic nights.
The restaurant also actively hosts political discussions, showcases films dedicated to promoting social justice and holds fundraisers for humanitarian organizations. The first Sunday of every month is dedicated to their ACTOR, or “A Continuing Talk On Race,” discussion series, which is an open forum for people to speak honestly about discrimination in society.
This month, their annual “Nine on the Ninth” poetry series featured Sarah Browning, author of “Whiskey in the Garden of Eden.” Her poem “Praise Song for Busboys & Poets” captures the unique artistic atmosphere of Busboys & Poets.
“Code Pinks having Poet’s Pizza in one corner, techies for fair housing are off writing their HTML of love in another,” Brown read. “With each poem we write and each poet we love, the hope of Langston Hughes himself as we with our bodies here together conjure.”
