A hip-hop-inspired bar slinging fried chicken and oysters makes its debut today in Shaw’s Atlantic Plumbing building. Roy Boys, which takes over the Tasty Burger space, is the brainchild of Arlington restaurateur Scott Parker and former Ghibellina general manager Marlon Marshall.
The result is a dark-walled hangout lit by string lights and a neon sign that splashes “The World Is Your Oyster” across a back wall. Parker and Marshall wanted the menu and soundtrack to tie into the atmosphere, but the restaurant got off to a rocky start earlier this month after a backlash over its décor. Chef Rahman “Rock” Harper was one of the first to call attention to the “cultural appropriation” of artist Christopher Lynch’s murals, which depicted Notorious B.I.G. dressed in a chicken suit and rappers Tupac Shakur, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and Suge Knight with chicken beaks, in a play on their 1996 Vibe magazine cover.
Roy Boys responded to calls to remove and replace the murals within days; the space will open with revised artwork that still highlights the hip-hop artists (without the chicken imagery), including a bathroom wallpapered in Notorious B.I.G.’s Ready to Die album cover.
For the menu, chef Will Sullivan, who was last at Green Pig Bistro in Clarendon, sticks to Southern staples. The chicken—either fried or Nashville hot—comes on salads or in five sauced-up sandwiches that demand multiple napkins.
The Drop It Like It’s Hot features hot chicken, slaw, bread and butter pickles, and ranch dressing. The Ain’t Nothing to Cluck With is sweetened by mango and spiced with red chili-laden gochujang. The menu includes four different kinds of East Coast oysters on the half shell, plus a barbequed version dressed up with Old Bay garlic butter and panko parmesan. Sides include mac ‘n cheese, waffle fries, brussels sprouts, and honey butter biscuits.
Oysters also make an appearance on the drink menu in the form of shooters, along with Bloody Marys and a spate of cocktails from Jack Rose’s Frank Mills. The restaurant will serve happy hour from 4 p.m.-7 p.m. every day of the week.
For dessert, Marshall hopes the ice cream tacos—vanilla soft serve encased by homemade waffle shells—will “take on a life of their own,” he says. Tacos are available in several rotating weekly flavors, topped with creative mixtures of fresh strawberries, cinnamon Teddy Grahams, coconut, chocolate-covered bacon, or Crunch Berries cereal.
To cater to the late-night crowd near U Street and capitalize on its proximity to the 9:30 Club, Roy Boys will soon unveil a walk-up take-out window to serve a condensed version of the menu until 2 or 3 a.m. on weeknights and 5 a.m. on weekends. But Marshall insists it’s not all drunk food.
“We wanted something approachable,” says Marshall. “Scott has bars in Arlington with a cult following. We want this to be small, fun, inviting, and not only driven by the nightlife culture. Come for a dining experience.”
Roy Boys, opening Friday, is located at 2108 8th St. NW. Dinner hours are Sunday-Thursday 4 p.m-2 a.m., Friday and Saturday 4 p.m.-3 a.m. Lunch and brunch hours to come.
