Busboys & Poets claims a commitment to strengthening communities through socially-conscious initiatives. Despite this statement, the establishment operates in a manner reminiscent of a Cotton Club, where they use the image of blackness to profit, and are actively lying to the community about being a black owned business to siphon off business from real black owned businesses and protect them from their known anti black sentiment stated by elected officials.

“Every black person in the city, especially Ward 8 thinks you’re a racist,”[1] a quote from Cora Masters Barry in reference to the owner Andy Shallal. I myself have been a victim of their anti black sentiment.

Getting “mistaken” for a black-owned business isn't a mistake; it's their business model. 

• They signed up and participated in Black Restaurant Week. [2] This isn’t a mistake.
• They are listed on "Buyblack.org," [3] which requires listing through a business account. This isn’t a mistake.
• Yahoo Finance [4], Travel Noir [5] (an African diaspora travel advisor), Patch [6], Kelo Radio [7], all cite Busboys and Poets as a black-owned business. This isn’t a mistake.
• They are listed on Yelp [8] as a black owned business, which requires their business account to self-identify as black owned, as the option to identify as black owned lies solely with the business. This isn’t a mistake.
• They even have their black employees telling black patrons that the restaurant is black owned [10]
  
  

It's blackface. The owner stated in an interview with the Baltimore Sun,  “I identify much more with Black culture,” after stating that his teacher “made him choose his race.” In that same article, Shalall admits that he doesn't identify as black. He always tells people in interviews he's Iraqi... Except when it comes to his business listings and his employees statements, then all a sudden he's black.[9]

Busboys and Poets has benefited from an identity that is not theirs, siphoning business and visibility from real Black-owned establishments. Their actions amount to cultural exploitation — using Blackface as a marketing tool while denying real ownership and lived experience.

We demand that Busboys and Poets:

1. Immediately remove all false listings identifying the business as Black-owned.
2. Issue a public apology for this misrepresentation and for exploiting Black culture for profit.
3. Commit to transparency in how they present themselves moving forward.
4. Instruct employees to stop telling patrons the place is black owned

Black culture deserves respect, not appropriation. Real Black-owned businesses deserve the opportunities that are rightfully theirs.

IMPORTANT: I have been asked before, maybe there are co-owners. No, Andy Shalall is the sole owner, founder and CEO [11]

UPDATE!

Busboys and Poets no longer has a listing on Buyblack.org as of 11/26/2025, but here is a screenshot of their listing before it was taken down.

Citations

[1] https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/637842/andy-shallal-bans-cora-masters-barry-from-busboys-and-poets-unless-she-apologizes/

[2] https://dcist.com/story/20/11/13/dmv-black-restaurant-week-east-of-the-river/

[3]  https://www.buyblack.org/sitesearch?q=busboys+and+poets

[4] https://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-cities-most-black-owned-163000659.html

[5] https://travelnoire.com/black-owned-bookstores

[6] https://patch.com/district-columbia/washingtondc/black-restaurant-week-highlights-dcs-delicious-side

[7] https://kelo.com/2021/04/21/at-black-owned-and-activist-bookstores-talk-of-the-next-chapter-in-u-s-civil-rights/

[8] https://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=Black+Owned+Restaurants&find_loc=Columbia%2C+MD

[9] https://www.baltimoresun.com/2022/04/08/busboys-poets-owner-says-columbia-has-embraced-his-brand-of-diversity/

[10] https://www.youtube.com/shorts/P_ElYtvw7OQ

[11] https://egov.maryland.gov/BusinessExpress/EntitySearch/Business