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

A Seat at the Table is the story of the founding of Busboys and Poets, a Washington, D.C.–based restaurant that has become a celebrated hub for political activism. Named in honor of Langston Hughes, who worked as a busboy while writing poetry, the restaurant is the creation of Andy Shallal, an Iraqi American restaurateur, artist, and activist.

In this fast-paced, personal, and often humorous story, we follow Andy from his teenage years on, helping out in his family’s pizza business, changing his name, abandoning a career in medicine, working in some of the city’s best restaurants, and eventually opening a restaurant of his own.

A rave review by legendary Washington Post food critic Phyllis Richman puts the new place on the map. Long lines form outside. Andy witnesses the power of food to bring people together. He creates a meeting space and a bookshop upstairs. The idea of a restaurant as a social and political hub begins to take shape.

In these pages we encounter the galaxy of progressive authors and activists who have frequented Andy’s restaurants, everyone from Marion Barry and Jesse Jackson to Ralph Nader, Howard Zinn, Jerry Brown, Alice Walker, and Angela Davis.

Packed with misadventures, unexpected triumphs, and insights on race, business and politics, A Seat at the Table takes us on a “How I Built This” journey that ends with the opening of the first Busboys and Poets, now just one of eight D.C. locations bearing the same name. Along the way, we get to savor the delicious cuisine and unique ethos for which Busboys and Poets has become famous. 

Andy Shallal is an Iraqi born artist, activist and entrepreneur, best known as the founder and CEO of the Washington, D.C. area restaurant, bookstore, and performance venue Busboys and Poets.