04-13-2023 Howard Magazine - Flipbook - Page 12
3 THINGS
BY AMANDA YEAGER Howard Magazine
Andy Shallal
founder of Busboys and Poets
PHOTO BY JEFFREY F. BILL
The story behind Busboys and Poets is wellworn by now: artist and entrepreneur Andy Shallal founded the restaurant/bookstore in 2005 in
Washington, D.C., creating a space for creatives
and the community to gather for poetry slams,
open mic nights and book discussions.
The local chain, named in honor of busboyturned-poet Langston Hughes, has since grown
to nine locations, including one that opened in
Columbia’s Merriweather District in late 2021.
“People know a lot about me,” said Shallal, 68,
who has shared the restaurant’s story — and his
own — many times over the years. “It’s hard to tell
what people don’t really know.”
But there are still some details about him that
might manage to surprise even Busboys and
Poets’ most avid fans. Shallal shared three littleknown facts with Howard Magazine.
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| Spring 2023 | howardmagazine.com
He was a medical student before
joining the restaurant industry.
Shallal spent one semester at the Howard
University College of Medicine before deciding to
pursue a different path.
“I really didn’t like it,” he said of his time as a
med student. “I just wasn’t prepared to spend that
many years and that much time. For me, it was an
opportunity to find something else, and I decided
to wait tables. Through that, I learned about the
restaurant business.”
He’s an avid hiker.
Shallal has tackled some of the world’s toughest
treks, including the ascent to Mount Everest Base
Camp and a trip through Antarctica. He’s headed
to Annapurna, the 10th highest mountain in the
world, this fall.
“I think the solitude is really wonderful,”
Shallal said of his hiking expeditions, which
were inspired by his admiration for historical
explorers and adventurers as well as the thrill of
conquering a physical feat. “It’s the challenge, the
moment you get where you feel like you can’t do it
anymore — and then you do it.”
He got his MBA at 63.
Five years ago, Shallal decided to go back
to school to earn a master’s degree in business
administration at the University of Maryland,
College Park.
Despite his success in the restaurant industry,
“I wanted to see if there are any other secrets
that are hidden that I need to know in order to
continue to be better,” he said. “I’m always evolving, I’d like to think, and I want to learn as much
as possible.”