“I think we’re gonna have new people coming from all over the city, not just Ward 8.” “This will definitely bring new buyers out,” Davis says. Davis, a local real estate broker, is convinced the new Busboys will bring attention-and revenue-across the river. Some residents see the opening as a sign of good things to come. Its arrival has been met with mixed emotions.
He says other businesses took too narrow an approach in “a community that doesn’t even have a coffee shop to hang out in.” The ultimate goal, he says, is for Busboys and Poets to play a leading role in the revitalization of Ward 8. Shallal hopes the wide appeal will make Busboys succeed where other restaurants like the meat-centric Ray’s the Steaks at East River or health-minded Nurish Food + Drink have failed. “We’ll keep our ears to the ground and continue to expand our options.” Mayor Muriel Bowser attended the opening events. “It’ll be geared by and for the community,” he said. Shallal says an event space may host ANC meetings one night and jazz performences the next.
Vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options are plentiful. The concept is one-size-fits-all: a coffee joint, bookstore, bar, and all-day cafe with a global mix of dishes-you’ll find Iraqi corned beef hash (Shallal was born in Baghdad) next to N içoise salad and shrimp and grits. Like the other branches in Brookland or Hyattsville, the cafe will open early at 7 AM for breakfast and close well after dinner (11 PM to start) so that patrons can mingle over mojitos or gather after community events. The Big Chair sculpture-a Southeast DC landmark-was assembled there. The Anacostia Busboys and Poets, the seventh location for the socially conscious restaurant chain, occupies a building that once housed a furniture store on Martin Luther King Jr. Shallal says Anacostia now has something “people on the west side take for granted”: a neighborhood gathering place in an area where sit-down, full-service restaurants are few. After a string of construction and funding delays, the restaurant opened yesterday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by mayor Muriel Bowser, neighborhood residents, and local politicians. Five years ago DC restaurateur and activist Andy Shallal announced plans for a location of Busboys and Poets east of the Anacostia River.