Busboys and Poets - Columbia

Love everything about Busboys and Poets. Always a good time and good food!!!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

2nd year attending a NAMI event held in the room on the 2nd floor. Nice space - consider some type of adjustable shade for the latest afternoon sun.
The blackened salmon over asparagus and rice was delicious - servers managed three courses seamlessly.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Our server Boyd was excellent handling the large party we had.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 5

Average sub spot with expensive pricing.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 3

Service: 3

Michelle was my server and was great. Great ambiance and food.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Columbia Busboys and Poets is one of our favorite places to eat! I love coming here with my son and my mom. The service is always top-tier. Even when it was busy downstairs, they opened the upstairs, which has such a beautiful dining and outdoor area overlooking Colorburst Park and Merriweather Post Pavilion—perfect for enjoying live music or just relaxing outside.

Our server, Boyd, was incredibly kind and attentive, handling all of our changes and requests with ease despite the rush. The whole experience felt seamless and welcoming. Definitely a 10 out of 10—we’ll be back again and again! ✨

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

We had an extremely disturbing experience at this restaurant this morning. We came in for breakfast with our one-year-old daughter and my wife, who is eight months pregnant. While our daughter was eating bread, my wife noticed that one of the slices was visibly covered in mold. By that point, our child had already eaten part of another slice and had started eating the moldy piece.

This is completely unacceptable and dangerous—especially considering my wife’s pregnancy. Mold exposure is not something to take lightly, and serving contaminated food to a pregnant woman and a young child is beyond negligent.

To make matters worse, the moldy bread had been touching the rest of my wife’s meal, meaning her entire plate was contaminated. When we alerted the staff, they simply took some information, but there was no explanation for how something so obviously spoiled made it onto a customer’s plate in the first place.

This isn’t an isolated concern either. On a previous visit, we witnessed another customer complaining that their to-go order had been packed after being dropped on the floor. That alone should have been a red flag.

At this point, this establishment shows a serious lack of basic food safety standards. We will absolutely not be returning, and we strongly caution others—especially families and pregnant women—to think twice before eating here. We are now left worried about whether our daughter will get sick after being exposed to mold.

Love Bus Boys and this location! Paul is the best server!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Heard great reviews of this local chain.

Pros:
The old bay wings were crispy and good.

Cons:
They were out of the short rib which I came specifically for, so that was pretty disappointing.

The waiter was very disengaged and seemed to be distracted the whole time, maybe even a bit annoyed/inconvenienced. I saw other wait staff that seemed attentive and engaging, though.

As a bartender, the pour of wine was silly. Definitely less than 6oz.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 5

Service: 2

The food was good as always but the service was very poor compared to our past experiences.
Upon bringing it up to the server, he actually tried to gaslight us by saying he was not ignoring us when we requested to get his attention numerous times. The food or even extra items were delayed due to either lack of focus or he was distracted or just not into it today.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 1

Top tier....blackened salmon...jalapeño grits and greens unmatched. Im so sad I live in Pennsylvania and wont experience this again!!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Always a favorite for me and family. Professional service and friendly staff. Food is good with great vegan choices 😋

We have our fund raiser here every year. It's very very nice and atmosphere is very pleasant. People that work here are so professional and nice, that's the reason we keep having in this restaurant. We come from NY and we have friends here so they suggested the restaurant. It really is so nice. It's spacious, clean and plenty of parking. We all give this restaurant a 5 star. The portions are also good if, you do eat here. Our fund raiser was catered by the restaurant, they did an ausum job. We loved the food. People went up for seconds and thirds. Thank you all who participated in organizing this catering. Beautiful job. See you again next year. God willing. .

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

lots of choices , great vibes

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 4

Food is decent, but my $8 side salad that had 7 pieces of lettuce really upset me, no I’m not exaggerating. That and the lack of good service, doesn’t justify the prices.