Pathbreakers of Arab America—Anas “Andy” Shallal

posted on: Sep 10, 2025

By: John Mason / Arab America Contributing Writer

This is the ninety-third in Arab America’s series on American pathbreakers of Arab descent. The series features personalities from various fields, including entertainment, business, sports, science, the arts, academia, journalism, and politics. Our ninety-third pathbreaker is Andy Shallal, who was born in Iraq to diplomat parents, educated in the U.S., and who has become a highly successful businessman. He is equally well known for his philanthropy, artistry, and his political and proudly pro-Arab stances.

A man for all seasons, Andy Shallal, successful entrepreneur, artist, and convener of fellow activists

Anas “Andy” Shallal, born in Baghdad on March 21, 1955, moved to the U.S. with his family in 1966. His father was the Ambassador of the Arab League, a position he held until Saddam Hussein seized power. Since the family could not return to their home country, Shallal began his “Americanization,” which included graduating from the Catholic University of America and then enrolling in Howard University’s medical school. Deciding against a degree in medicine, Andy completed an MBA from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. Following that, he was employed in research in medical immunology at the National Institutes of Health.

Before starting his own restaurant business, Shallal worked as a teen in an Annandale, Virginia, pizza shop owned by his father. This eventually led to his opening in the District of Columbia (D.C.) of Cafe Luna, Skewers, and Mimi’s. In September 2005, he opened Busboys and Poets at 14th and V Streets, a historic area of the city. The name Busboys and Poets derives from a phrase in the work of poet Langston Hughes, whom Andy admired from his studies in literature. The restaurant included a bookstore, a performance space, and a mural painted by Shallal. According to the Wikipedia series on Arab Americans, “The restaurant was an instant success, embraced by the neighborhood and the progressive community, especially among activists opposed to the Iraq War.”

Busboys and Poets now occupy ten locations, including the DC and Baltimore metro areas. The restaurants are known for being cultural hubs that combine food, a bookstore, and event space for artists and activists, with a progressive and literary atmosphere. The U.S. Healthful Food Council (USHFC) bestowed one of the first Responsible Epicurean Agricultural Leadership (REAL) restaurant awards on the chain. Such an award is part of USHFC’s certification program, which helps connect people who want healthful and sustainable food and beverages with the restaurants that provide them.

As an activist, Shallal was honored at The DC Vote Champions of Democracy Awards Dinner on October 12, 2010, for advocating for full, equal voting rights for DC. He has also received numerous awards, including the Mayor’s Arts Award, the Martha’s Table Luminary Award, the Mayor’s Environmental Award, the United Nations Human Rights Community Award, and leadership awards in employment and sustainable business practices. The Washington Peace Center named him Man of the Year. Ralph Nader, a fellow Arab American, referred to Andy as “Democracy’s Restaurateur” in a Washington Post article.

In the international peace arena, Shallal has established a stellar reputation. He has founded or co-founded several peace movement organizations and holds leadership positions in numerous others. Among them are Iraqi Americans for Peaceful Alternatives, created before the 2003 invasion, and The Peace Cafe, which seeks to promote Arab-Jewish dialogue. Wikipedia’s Arab Series reports that, with 800 members, it is the largest such group in the Washington, D.C., area. Andy is a Peace Fellow with Seeds of Peace and spokesperson for Education for Peace in Iraq Center (EPIC). The United Nations named him a recipient of its Human Rights Community Award and has been named Man of the Year by the Washington Peace Center.

Shallal is an active artist, drawing murals that adorn not only his restaurants but also other public spaces. An example, he drew an original mural highlighting the struggle to end “Taxation without Representation,” reflecting DC’s status as a non-voting entity. That was auctioned off at the gala to benefit DC Vote. Andy noted the irony that when Iraq got its voting rights in the post-Saddam period, he was able to vote in Iraq but not, as a U.S. citizen, in DC, his city of residence.

In one of his restaurants, Andy painted a mural reflecting the civil rights movement, “Peace in Struggle Wall.” He notes that he refuses to sign the civil rights mural at Busboys, saying this would be a “final gesture” that would preclude him from making revisions later. All Busboys and Poets locations feature an original mural by Shallal.

Shallal ran for Mayor of DC in 2013 and lost that election.

Andy Shallal on Mixing Politics and Business, his new memoir, “A Seat at the Table: The Making of Busboys and Poets”

In his new memoir, A Seat at the Table, Shallal writes about rising in the restaurant industry, “struggling with his Iraqi-immigrant identity, confronting racism, and finding his tribe.” It received rave reviews, including one by legendary Washington Post food critic Phyllis Richman. She puts the ten new Busboys and Poets 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 on the upstairs level. The idea of a restaurant as a social and political hub begins to take shape.”

His memoir includes encounters with numerous progressive authors and activists who frequented Andy’s restaurants, including Marion Barry, Jesse Jackson, Ralph Nader, Howard Zinn, Jerry Brown, Alice Walker, and Angela Davis. Richman notes, “Along the way, we get to savor the delicious cuisine and unique ethos for which Busboys and Poets has become famous.” 

In remarks to fellow Arab Americans, Shallal shares views on our “troubled times”

Following is an account of Shallal’s talk at the Arab America Foundation’s commemoration of National Arab American Heritage Month on April 9, 2025. Initially scheduled at the theater in Amazon’s headquarters in northern Virginia, Amazon abruptly canceled the celebration with only 48 hours’ notice. Politics clearly intruded on the decision. Instead, the popular yearly cultural event “honoring the past, inspiring the future,” was held at Saints Peter and Paul Antiochian Orthodox Church in Potomac, Maryland.

Andy began his remarks, “Good evening, fellow Semites.” Referring to “difficult and troubling times, we have the opportunity to make this a more perfect union.” He referred to The 1619 Project, in which black people are declared the biggest contributors to making America a democratic country. Shallal noted, “Without Black people fighting and sacrificing everything, the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, and other civil rights legislation would not have happened.” He further avers that immigrants and people who came afterwards benefited from that contribution.

But “now it’s our turn as Arab Americans to carry the baton,” Andy proclaimed. He continued, “As Arab Americans, we have to move away from a position of victimhood and weakness and turn our efforts into fighting for the civil rights and social justice that this country claims to uphold. This is our time. We are called to this moment in history to speak out against injustice for all. Not just Arabs and Muslims, but against all immigrants and people of color throughout the world. We are called upon to uphold the rule of law—to uphold the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice rulings. To fight against draconian measures that equate anti-Semitism with anti-genocide and ethnic cleansing. This is ridiculous, and they know it.”

Later in his speech, Shallal opined, “Remember: they are the white supremacists. Don’t you find it ironic how white Europeans are lecturing us about anti-Semitism? These are the same people who introduced the world to Nazism, fascism, Zionism, and apartheid. While Arabs and Muslims were making discoveries in math and science, writing books, and mapping the heavens, Europeans were burning witches. The same so-called civilization that gave rise to Adolph Hitler, Benito Mussolini, King Leopold, Binyamin Netanyahu,” among others.

Finally, Andy warned his audience, “This is not the time to pull back. We must continue to mobilize, organize, strategize, run for office, work on campaigns, donate money and time, join a school board, and support an NGO. I do not doubt that we can win this. Our kids and grandkids are watching and counting on us. We cannot let them down.”

Now, there is a man with a spine, with the fortitude and moral conviction that justice will prevail, that the might-makes-right strategy used by the ‘other side’ cannot win in the end. Anas “Andy” Shallal is truly a man for all seasons!

Sources:
-“Andy Shallal,” Wikipedia Series on Arab Americans, 2025
-“Busboys and Poets Owner Andy Shallal On Mixing Politics and Business, a review of ‘A Seat at the Table: The Making of Busboys and Poets,’” Washingtonian Magazine, by Jessica Sidman, 9/2/2025
-“Remarks By Andy Shallal to His Fellow Arab Americans,” Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, Posted 4/27/2025

John Mason, Ph.D., focuses on Arab culture, society, and history and is the author of LEFT-HANDED IN AN ISLAMIC WORLD: An Anthropologist’s Journey into the Middle East, New Academia Publishing, 2017. He has taught at the University of Libya in Benghazi, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, and the American University in Cairo. John served with the United Nations in Tripoli, Libya, and consulted extensively on socioeconomic and political development for USAID and the World Bank in 65 countries.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Arab America. The reproduction of this article is permissible with proper credit to Arab America and the author.

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