Busboys and Poets, Washington DC

Alexus was an amazing server! The harira soup was delicious and so was the crab cake sandwich.

I was here for work. At lunch, we ordered the avocado sandwich which was amazingggggggg. We ate at noon and I was still talking about this sandwich at 6 pm. Hmm, Jesus! It was that's why I have no photos

Great beer—and it’s served at the right temperature. A bit chilled but not ice cold. Perfect for fall weather and also perfect for tasting the beer! Yay!

Food was ok, expected better, but staff were friendly and a restaurant tied to a bookstore is such a great idea.

Y'all - stop the presses this place is AMAZING! I MEAN IT! My husband got the Egg and Cheese burger, my daughter and I got Shrimp and Grits, her friend got French Toast and our nephew got Red Beans and Rice and the Vegan Scramble. We ALL enjoyed our meals! The service was impeccable and they have a bookstore with a great selection. I was able to purchase a book I've been wanting for awhile. Don't hesitate to visit this place and support them with your business. You ABSOLUTELY will not be disappointed. The vibe is beyond cool and the food is even better. Bless yourself with this experience if you're ever in the DC area. You're more than welcome for the recommendation!

Update: (Late August 2023) - Visited this location while dropping our daughter back off at college. This was a must stop while we were making a "mad dash" to the airport. I missed it on our last visit to the area and wasn't going to do that again this trip. We ordered ahead to avoid waiting because time was of the essence. When we arrived the order wasn't ready. We took the time to peruse the book store and make a couple of purchases. We continued to wait and after a while I approached them and explained we'd ordered ahead and needed to get going.

Finally our order arrived and we were off. Our bill was a little over $60 for two orders of Shrimp and Grits which I don't remember paying that much on our last visit. It's my favorite so I went on and paid it. The issue is while at the airport walking to our gate the food fell out of the bag they provided and onto the ground. The packaging they used for the "To Go" order was flimsy and soaked through the paper bag breaking the bag and spilling the contents everywhere. This broke my heart and I was really upset because not only did I waste my money but my husband and I had our mouths all ready for this food and it was completely wasted in a disaster of a fail to correctly package our order. To add insult to injury they charged extra for the "eco friendly" packaging that was a total joke. Extremely disappointed in the experience all the way around. Sadly, I have to adjust my rating to reflect such a poor experience.

Beautiful location. Went here for a book signing but we ate there before the event. The Brussel sprouts and salads were delicious.

Had one of the worst server experiences I have ever encountered on morning of 9/9 for brunch.

Our server was slow, standoffish, and rude and the overall service was incredibly poor and not befitting of the reputation of the restaurant. The wait staff looked as a whole as if they didn't care about the customers and were in their own little world. They would congregate near the bar in little social circles chatting while diners were left out at the table with empty water glasses and stomachs. We had to go so far as to walk up to the bar counter and get our server's attention to place our order

I was given high expectations on this place by coworkers who lived there. Sad to say, was a little disappointed.

The bookstore was cool, but the titles on offer, in all genres, you could tell was geared towards a certain group of ppl. Wish they had more standard variety like other bookstores. When we sat to eat, there were flies EVERYWHERE, whole meal. V annoying (inside).

Food was decent, nothing to write home about. Server was ok, and we had items we ordered that never made it to the table. Coffee was served lukewarm Vibe looks cool, but just wasn't the day I guess

Our meal was phenomenal! The Salmon was moist and flavorful. And the Poetry Slam left me moved, joyful and wanting more.

I was in town for the weekend from Cali for a dance conference. I ate at this place several times. The food, service and atmosphere was a 10 out of 10. I was never a fan of Shrimp & Grits until I had theirs it was absolutely delicious. Everything I ate was fresh, not overly seasoned and the portions were plentiful. If you are ever in DMV area do not sleep on this place.

LOVE the vibes here. It's like eating in a chic library. The brussel sprouts are to die for - do not skip these!

I love that it's a bookstore/bar/restaurant
The salmon was remarkable. As well as the rice and asparagus going along with it. We also had salads and everyone mentioned how delicious the green dressing tasted.
After dinner, we all checked out the bookstore. Neat place. Oh! There's also art all around that is for sale.

Best curated book shop there is. After 45 minutes we realised how long we were already browsing the book shelves. Wish our suitcase could have been filled with more books and games. We will be back for sure! Love from Austria

Bus boys is downhill. I found a bug in my food and they refused to return my money. They actually barred me
Because l didn’t leave and the police officers ended up paying me back. They’re not the love and peace they claim to be. Tyler and Brendan deserve to be fired

I only enjoy the service and the food at the Original DC Location, Ill give them 4.5 stars. However the Hyattsville Location and any others have so far disappointed me with their terrible customer service and poor food quality. From when you walk in the Hostess seems miserable, she does not want to be there, my waitress did not write down my order and screwed it up, and the manager was a young guy who could care less and still charged me full price for a meal that I did not order in the first place. Never will I eat at any location other than at 2021 14th St NW, Washington, DC 20009 again.

My daughter and I went for breakfast on a Friday. It was not busy and we were greated and seated promptly. Asked if we were "ok with using a QR code for our menu? " My daughter used the online menu and used the old school laminated menu.

My daughter is Vegetarian and I am Vegan, and we found lots of choices for both breakfast and lunch/dinner on the menu. I had the tofu scramble which was excellent. It came with toast and a side, for which I picked grits. We also shared a side of home fries. Let me tell you, as a son of a southerner, I know grits, and these were excellent. The chef definitely took pride in his grits as they were perfectly done and perfectly seasoned. I know that many southerners would assume grits cannot be Vegan because they add butter, but I was assured there was no butter in the grits, yet they had a great flavor to them, so whatever non-dairy butter they were using was excellent. The home fries were good medium diced potatoes perfectly seasoned and tossed with big pieces of onion and bell pepper. Overall the food I tried was all excellent and I will definitely visit again to try more of the menu.

The food was delicious. They did not have the wait staff properly organized. Way to long to take orders.

Delicious food, cool vibe, excellent service! Brunch highlights: omelets, crab grits, Bloody Mary’s

Very cool place! Tons of gluten free options. I haven't had fried catfish in decades and I finally broke that streak. The burgers are solid as well.

The atmosphere is really neat, it's an actual book store, coffee shop, bar, restaurant combo. You can browse books while you wait on your food, and that's one of the best ways you could spend that time.

Great place, I'll be going back when I can.

I think the server needs training on how to serve customers. However, I still left a good tip.