Kapnos, Kapnos Taverna, and Kapnos Kouzina - Greek in Multiple Area Locations - Closed

[Lary]

The Mike Isabella restaurants are becoming wildly inconsistent. A good cook was pumped up by investors, is expanding as quickly as the (PR/TV-subsidized) free market will allow, and you're beginning to see the logical conclusion of such P.T. Barnum-style foolishness.

No more elephants in circuses. The suckers have all died off at the rate of one a minute, and now it's their grandchildren who are reading the internet.

every cook wants to be a chef-owner, and every chef-owner can't wait to have a team reliable enough to execute their concept without being in the restaurant every moment of service no matter how much you love the place, cooking is your passion etc. Once you are comfortable trusting daily service to your team it must be hard to say no to people who want to profit from your success with gobs of money or an "offer you can't refuse" on a new space to expand your concept if you don't have the capital to diy. so anyway i think this dude's beyond chef/elephant and hopefully has a good run as head greek of kapnos corp. We have eaten at his restaurants a couple of times and It was, as the grandchildren say, tight.

[Andelman]

every cook wants to be a chef-owner, and every chef-owner can't wait to have a team reliable enough to execute their concept without being in the restaurant every moment of service no matter how much you love the place, cooking is your passion etc. Once you are comfortable trusting daily service to your team it must be hard to say no to people who want to profit from your success with gobs of money or an "offer you can't refuse" on a new space to expand your concept if you don't have the capital to diy. so anyway i think this dude's beyond chef/elephant and hopefully has a good run as head greek of kapnos corp. We have eaten at his restaurants a couple of times and It was, as the grandchildren say, tight.

Well said.

[DonRocks]

Well said.

 

Agreed. I don't blame him one bit.

[Andelman]

That being said, I would be a little concerned about opening a Kapnos in that location. 

[DonRocks]

That being said, I would be a little concerned about opening a Kapnos in that location. 

Or, as Agatha Christie might say, "And Then There Was Brine."

[Andelman]

Or, as Agatha Christie might say, "And Then There Was Brine."

Sorry, over my head.

[DonRocks]

Sorry, over my head. 

Considering the mountains you've climbed, that's saying something.

[Ilaine]

There are other restaurants in Mosaic.  While I have not eaten at any of them except Gypsy Soul and Brine, I think Don is probably right that Brine is now the best of them.  I will give the seafood pop up a try, I will give Kapnos a try.  But not $8 tzatziki.  $8 for cucumber and yogurt? My soul rebels.

[Andelman]

$8 for tzatzki better be some pretty spectacular tzatzki.  Might fly in DC, maybe even Ballston, but I wonder if Mosaic can support those prices.  Yeah, it's fancy for Virginia, but it's still Fairfax County.

I think you hit the nail on the head right there. I don't have the problem with the $8 tzatzki, as I feel like restaurant prices reflect the whole experience. You'll drive yourself crazy if you look solely at the food cost.

However, I do agree that "it's still Fairfax County"

[Bart]

every cook wants to be a chef-owner, and every chef-owner can't wait to have a team reliable enough to execute their concept without being in the restaurant every moment of service no matter how much you love the place, cooking is your passion etc. Once you are comfortable trusting daily service to your team it must be hard to say no to people who want to profit from your success with gobs of money or an "offer you can't refuse" on a new space to expand your concept if you don't have the capital to diy. so anyway i think this dude's beyond chef/elephant and hopefully has a good run as head greek of kapnos corp. We have eaten at his restaurants a couple of times and It was, as the grandchildren say, tight.

I remember reading an interview or an article years ago in some business magazine about Mike Isabella's goals and he basically said he wanted to become Jose Andres - not just a chef but a guy who understood the business end of opening restaurants and the financing and all the front end stuff that happens long before you serve your first meal. This was way back when Kapnos just opened and it seems like he's been steadily moving in that direction. Hopefully he's not doing too much, too quickly, but by reading this thread it seems like he may be.

In a weird coincidence, Jessica Sidman had a blurb in her Young and Hungry column in the City Paper yesterday titled, "How Many Restaurants Does Mike Isbella Have Anyway?". The list is staggering.  (and the two comments (so far) are brutal)

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/2015/08/20/how-many-restaurants-does-mike-isabella-have-anyway/

[Lary]

Or, as Agatha Christie might say, "And Then There Was Brine."

saying though, since croxton, isabella and cooper share(d?) money people doesn't it seem a bit of a conflict of interest first to open brine to compete with gypsy soul and then do this fishy popup thing to compete with brine?

[Andelman]

saying though, since croxton, isabella and cooper share(d?) money people doesn't it seem a bit of a conflict of interest first to open brine to compete with gypsy soul and then do this fishy popup thing to compete with brine? 

Yes. Yes it does.

[ScotteeM]

Anyone know what the rents are like in Mosaic? I remember that the Black Restaurant Group was originally planning a restaurant there, but eventually pulled out because the rent jumped so far above what they'd originally been offered. The landlord sounds like it might be a difficult one to deal with (requiring restaurants serve lunch, for example).

[JBag57]

So, the problem with the $8 tzatziki is that in "reflect[ing] the whole restaurant experience" you happen to still be in Fairfax County, not someplace special.

Try as it might, Mosaic is not going to be someplace special, except for possibly the movie theater.  That seemed to be the main problem for Gypsy Soul.  The cool people went to drink there, but not so much to eat.

It appears to me that the young people living near Mosaic/Merrifield (there, I said Merrifield) are somewhat extended on rents and do not have Gypsy Soul or Kapnos-type disposable income.  (I do, but am not going to regularly spend it there, for that).  For the younger crowd, maybe Blackfinn, Lost Dog, and, in Mosaic itself, Matchbox, Ted's Bulletin and the like, might see their regular patronage.  They are paying a premium to live where they do in order to live on top of the Dunn Loring Metro stop.

Time will tell.  I happened to grow up less than two miles away from this place, and am astounded that the developer was able to mostly fill the retail space in the first place.

[Lary]

i still believe merriopolis can support a couple expensive and worth it restaurants. not everybody in nova wants to schlep to dc to pay too much for a meal.  

[Ilaine]

not everybody in nova wants to schlep to dc to pay too much for a meal.

Hear, hear.  We've almost given up on DC.  Signed up for Dinner Lab and only used it once.  Venue was pleasant, library on New Hampshire or something like that, food was very good,  Traffic horrendous and no parking.  No mas.

[ktmoomau]

We went to Kapnos Taverna on Friday night with a friend who is a big meat eater and a friend who is a vegetarian (they are married it's pretty amusing).  And the food was very good, and I am not sure if I thought it wasn't exceptional because we have had some of it before, or if it was not quite as good as going to Kapnos on one of our fist visits their, but overall I thought it was a very solid meal, AND this is a great place for vegetarian options, there were at least two vegetarian options in each category for RW and the regular menu has lots of options too.

Before dinner I had a passionfruit cocktail at the bar that was very refreshing, not overly sweet.  MK had a mule and we really liked the saspirilla flavor in it, it made it tangy and spicy in a good way.  At dinner I had the passionfruit currry soda and I really liked it, so did a friend.  MK had a different soda which he really liked, as well.

We started with hummus and tzatziki and fresh pita.  I thought the hummus was as good as normal, and I like their hummus.  I didn't have a lot of the tzatziki, but others thought it was a little salty.  For my second course I had the salmon tartar.  I thought it was cool and refreshing with onion, cucumber.  I liked the dish, it wasn't a wow dish, but it was really refreshing.  I would have taken the leftovers home with me, but we were with company.  Friend had the falafel and zucchini patties.  The falafel was spicy, but I liked it.  I really enjoyed the zucchini patties, which I thought would be a great bar/hh snack.  For dinner Mk had the lamb and grains, I just thought this wasn't as good as when you order the whole lamb and grains platter, I can't explain the difference from the past experience.  I think it was that before there was something mixed into the grains, maybe green of some sort?  This was just grain, meat and sauces.  But MK liked it as much as normal (he has gotten this here at lunch too and it tasted the same to him).  I had the shrimp, which were in a really good rich sauce with crusty bread.  This was a dish I hadn't had before and I really enjoyed it.  I thought the flavors were really good.  Friends had the lamb and the cauliflower- I don't know how much they liked the cauliflower, I love that dish.  For dessert I had the baklava with sorbet, which was really flavorful without the dairy (yay) although you kind of needed a knife and fork/spoon to eat it.  I ended up having a really hard time eating it neatly with just a spoon.  But for RW I thought it was a good deal for the amount and quality of food.

This is one of the nicer restaurants we can walk to and I think the food is good, but I have to admit the first couple meals I had at the original location, I thought were great, and again it could just be because now I have been there a few times.

[NolaCaine]

While I dined at Kapnos Taverna in Ballston on Friday night, I"ve been carefully considering how to write this review.  You see, I have adult onset food allergies (diagnosed less than two short years ago).  Last month I had a rather irritating ER visit because of them and so now and more committed than ever to not eating dairy and nuts.

I know what you are thinking: "why go Greek?" Curiosity mostly and supporting my neighborhood's emerging dinning scene as well.

Since that ER visit, I've been to lunch at a few fine dining establishments in DC and each time was met with gracious hospitality (Woodward Table and NoPa, most notably).  When I ask for options, i usually say that I'll eat anything, would like fish/seafood, and am not otherwise picky.  I also call in advance, usually.

KT was not all accommodating. I could choose from maybe 6 items.  I love shrimp and was a little amazed that they could not alter the shrimp dish. That made me wonder if they even had a make-table in the back with single ingredient it in.  As nice as the waiter was, he could not convince the kitchen to alter anything leaving me with 6 options.

--pork on potato salad was very good

--the raw-bar scallops were memorable b/c there was a canned jalapeno on top of it which  overpowered the rest.

--the salmon dish was the best

---the others were not memorable.

In fairness, I didn't have a magical dining experience as I was made to feel like I was a pain in their ass and they would rather not bother. That's fine. I will take my business back to Spain.

[zgast]

Any word on soft or hard opening for Kapnos Kouzina in Bethesda?  Seems like work has started progressing again there.

[Lydia R]

Any word on soft or hard opening for Kapnos Kouzina in Bethesda?  Seems like work has started progressing again there.

According to their twitter feed, it looks like they've started hiring.

[pras]

Per Robert Dyer, it looks like construction is progressing.

[pras]

Opening in Bethesda for Lunch on March 7, per Bethesda Magazine. 

[pras]

Opening in Bethesda for Lunch on March 7, per Bethesda Magazine.

Open.

[thepozno]

Is Bethesda ready for a real trendy restaurant? File under 'about time' 

[rcoreyw]

Tried Kapnos Kouzina in Bethesda last night. Very well-staffed, very crowded and very loud at 9pm on a Thursday.

Ordered 3 dishes, all of which arrived within 5 minutes of placing the order.

The half fried chicken and brussel sprouts were excellent, and the hummus was better than most, but not up to the level of the other 2 dishes.

A welcome addition to Bethesda.

[zgast]

Tried out the newish Kapnos in Bethesda.  Have to say it was a very good meal.  Group of six, so got to try a bit of everything, but the highlights that I had were:

Fried chicken: slightly spicy breading, moist meat, and a sweet/spicy dipping sauce.  I ate most without the sauce.

Zucchini fritters: These were great.  Several cheeses, but still a great zucchini flavor.

Spreads: All of these were quite good, although the hummus was probably my least favorite.  Ever since I discovered Perfect Pita, I need a bit more tahini in my life!

Place was rocking from 6:30-7:30, but then seemed to slow a bit.  One of these days Bethesda will learn to stay up past 8 pm.

[MSDCX]

Dined at the Wilson Blvd. location last Thursday. Everything was relatively tasty, yet nothing was memorable.  The hummus was fine, although a bit too smooth for my liking.  The bread that came with it was a bit underdone and doughy.  The horiatiki salad (garden salad with feta) was very fresh.  The roasted cauliflower was tasty, although I prefer the Graffiato version better.  The acidity of the dish was nicely counterbalanced by the plump raisins, though.  The charred octopus was disappointing without any charring and I did not enjoy the puree underneath it.  The cumin marinated chicken souvlaki was well grilled and juicy, although I did not get much cumin in the flavor.  My wife enjoyed the cabbage slaw on the bottom (I thought it was just random cabbage but can't argue with a pregnant woman).  The lamb meatballs tasted better the next day, tasting very cumin-y when they came out piping hot.  The service was fine.  I think that after all these years, Zaytinya is still doing this type of "Eastern Mediterranean" food better.

[Rieux]

I love Kapnos in DC, I think it is a great restaurant with good options for vegetarian friends.  I wish I could say the same for the outpost at National Airport.  

I had lower expectations, being that it is an airport restaurant, but the menu, food, and service were just bad.  My table was broken and wobbly, and no one seemed concerned (it was broken to the point that any pressure on it would spill a drink).  The menu is severely limited.  I was in the mood for a gyro, and there were pork, chicken, and vegetarian options, but no lamb.  I opted for the chicken, which my server said was "excellent".  It was not.  It was a cold pita covered in wan tzatziki with shredded iceberg lettuce (the kind you get a Sizzler) and 6 pieces of "grilled" chicken that had no flavor and had a really terrible squeaky texture to the bite.  Seriously, there was zero flavor.  The gyros don't come with sides, so I ordered fries.  The fries were a huge portion and excellent.  Still, for a pretty bad meal I spent close to $30.  Never again will I try this at DCA.

[Pool Boy]

On 3/18/2016 at 5:18 PM, rcoreyw said:

Tried Kapnos Kouzina in Bethesda last night. Very well-staffed, very crowded and very loud at 9pm on a Thursday.

 

Ordered 3 dishes, all of which arrived within 5 minutes of placing the order.

 

The half fried chicken and brussel sprouts were excellent, and the hummus was better than most, but not up to the level of the other 2 dishes.

 

A welcome addition to Bethesda.

I went for lunch recently. Food was pretty good (ground duck souvlaki here), generally (the stuffed grape leaves were uninspired).  The service was OK. There were a ton of servers for how many people were there (maybe 30 diners). It was already quite loud with only the 30 diners and maybe 20 staff. What is it about places that prefer to design restaurant places to be noisy? I do not mind a nice hum to a room, but when it becomes necessary to raise your voice to be heard or lean in to hear the other person you are conversing with it is kind of pathetic. Ah well, it was not tooooo bad. I can only imagine what it would be at prime time when the place is packed though.

[Ericandblueboy]

Arlington.

Me: How is the [Piraeus] shrimp?

6 y.o.: [thumbs down] too chewy

She's not wrong.  All 4 shrimp were rubberized.  We were there at 5:30, so the place was not slammed.  Whoever was doing the shrimp has no idea what he/she's doing.

[DonRocks]

8 minutes ago, Ericandblueboy said:

Arlington.

Me: How is the [Piraeus] shrimp?

6 y.o.: [thumbs down] too chewy

She's not wrong.  All 4 shrimp were rubberized.  We were there at 5:30, so the place was not slammed.  Whoever was doing the shrimp has no idea what he/she's doing.

How can shrimp cooked on a wood grill be rubbery?

That's more of a rhetorical question than anything else.

[rockcreek]

On 4/6/2016 at 4:00 PM, Pool Boy said:

I went for lunch recently. Food was pretty good (ground duck souvlaki here), generally (the stuffed grape leaves were uninspired).  The service was OK. There were a ton of servers for how many people were there (maybe 30 diners). It was already quite loud with only the 30 diners and maybe 20 staff. What is it about places that prefer to design restaurant places to be noisy? I do not mind a nice hum to a room, but when it becomes necessary to raise your voice to be heard or lean in to hear the other person you are conversing with it is kind of pathetic. Ah well, it was not tooooo bad. I can only imagine what it would be at prime time when the place is packed though.

I went for lunch on Friday. I gotta say, I had no expectations going in but I really enjoyed it. Three of us started with the hummus and smoked eggplant dips, and the tomato cucumber horiatiki; we added on the roasted cauliflower and a beef souvlaki. 

There's just so little worth writing home about down there that when someone does something, anything, it tends to make me happy. So at least we have something.

 

[NolaCaine]

Had the big ass seafood tower at Arlington location.

Yes, it's expensive but it was amazing. 

Pros:  The lobster salad on top. The entire middle layer (there were mild skirmishes). The shrimp on bottom.  (I did not try bivalves)

Cons: We were a 4-top and I could not see the person diagonal to me. Also, the top is too high so lobster salad got spilled into ice. The wood bowls gave me a '70's flashback.

[Pool Boy]

On 5/17/2016 at 0:23 AM, rockcreek said:

I went for lunch on Friday. I gotta say, I had no expectations going in but I really enjoyed it. Three of us started with the hummus and smoked eggplant dips, and the tomato cucumber horiatiki; we added on the roasted cauliflower and a beef souvlaki. 

There's just so little worth writing home about down there that when someone does something, anything, it tends to make me happy. So at least we have something.

Truth. Have you been to PassionFish yet? I have not but am curious.

To be fair, I did enjoy my lunch there enough to try to get a meal lined up there for coworkers coming in to town this upcoming week.

[rockcreek]

Sorry for the break. I haven't been to PassionFish, but FWIW, I did recently drop in on the Reston location, and it seemed fine (didn't have enough time to eat.) 

I've heard PassionFish is good but a poor price performer, even accounting for the price difference of seafood. But - it's summer, so we'll check it out! 

[teddyguy]

Yesterday went to Kapnos Taverna in Arlington and had a good experience. Started with the tzatziki, smoked eggplant and taramosalata spreads which were all excellent, with the standout being the taramosalata with its hint of fishiness balanced with creaminess. The bread they give you was delicious.

Moved on to some mezze. The shishito peppers were plentiful and well seasoned, the saganaki was not flamed tableside but still had nice grilled flavor on the cheese, the octopus was exceedingly tender and probably the standout dish, the spit roasted lamb was inconsistent, with some pieces exceedingly dry and others moist and delicious. 

Overall, a good meal that didn't reach great, but would go back and try other things on the menu. 

[ScotteeM]

Went to KT in Arlington last night for NOVA Restaurant Week. This was our second RW experience with this restaurant, and we would go back again in a heartbeat. It's a great deal: 4 courses (several choices in each) for $35.17 and 5 courses (even more choices) for $55.17.  We opted for the smaller menu, and with 8 dishes to share between the two of us, we had plenty of food. We started with Tzatziki and the smoked eggplant spread, with bread for my husband and crudites for me.  Then we shared the horiatiki (cucumber/tomato salad) which had a nice addition of pomegranate seeds, and a silky King salmon tartare over chopped "grilled" avocado and cucumber. For entrees we enjoyed the spit-roasted lamb ("ancient grain salad" on the side because it wasn't gluten-free) and charred octopus (actually cooked in a pan because the grill is contaminated with gluten). Husband finished with apple cake ("apple-y") and I had salted caramel ice cream.

Last RW they had a special wine list as well, but this time we ordered from the regular list, which is quite price-worthy. Service was great, and my needs as a diner with celiac were clearly understood and met.

When we left at about 7:15, the place was about 60% full. I wondered aloud why there wasn't a line out the door and around the corner, given the great food and great deal.

[Kibbee Nayee]

I went to Kapnos Taverna in Ballston today for lunch with 3 companions. In a sentence, it was good, not outstanding, but good, and pretty damn expensive.

Everything on the lunch menu is mezze, which forces orders of multiple items and lots of sharing, but the prices for the items are closer to full portion prices. I ordered the dolmades (grape leaves) and the charred octopus. The dolmades were the so-so vegetarian version, but they were passable. The magic was how they turned less than $1 of ingredients into a $9 menu item. The octopus was a spare tentacle, priced at $16, so about $4 a bite.

Around the table were meatballs, spiced salmon, chicken and beef kabobs, pikilia (combination of 3 spreads), spanokopita, and plenty of fresh pita-like bread. This is not light eating, by far. Prepare for a heavy stomach and much belching throughout the rest of the day. Nothing was bad, and nothing was great, so I can't complain about the quality of the meal.

But at just under $60 each for 4 people at lunch -- tax and tip included -- we're not talking about value.

[Kibbee Nayee]

4 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

[I'll delete my post this evening, but this is a perfect example of my "Liking" a post, without it making me happy: This is *exactly* what I think about Kapnos.]

I don't think you should delete it.

[hopsing]

Me too.  Husband and I love Greek food, but after trying this place a couple of times, we decided it was lackluster and pricey, so we don't go anymore.  Instead, we go to Greek church festivals, Plaka Grill, and Greek Taverna, while waiting for something truly excellent to come along.  We did love Mykonos Grill, but that is a bit far away to add to my regular rotation.  I keep forgetting about Nostos and should make a visit there soon.

[Kibbee Nayee]

24 minutes ago, hopsing said:

Me too.  Husband and I love Greek food, but after trying this place a couple of times, we decided it was lackluster and pricey, so we don't go anymore.  Instead, we go to Greek church festivals, Plaka Grill, and Greek Taverna, while waiting for something truly excellent to come along.  We did love Mykonos Grill, but that is a bit far away to add to my regular rotation.  I keep forgetting about Nostos and should make a visit there soon.

Yeah, if I had a choice, it would be Greek church festivals first, and then Kapnos, whenever I get my Greek itch.

We're fortunate to have a lot of Greek Orthodox churches in the area -- St Sophia just had theirs at the end of May -- where you can get good food and a nice dip into the culture as well.

[hopsing]

23 hours ago, Kibbee Nayee said:

Yeah, if I had a choice, it would be Greek church festivals first, and then Kapnos, whenever I get my Greek itch.

Let me put a plug in for my local Greek church:  Saint Katherine Greek Orthodox Church near Bailey's Crossroads.  They hold a spring and fall festival.  Lots of food, music, and dancing.

[ALB]

35 minutes ago, hopsing said:

Let me put a plug in for my local Greek church:  Saint Katherine Greek Orthodox Church near Bailey's Crossroads.  They hold a spring and fall festival.  Lots of food, music, and dancing.

I've never been to a Greek Festival, and have no idea why. When they start up in the fall, can people post the dates somewhere?

[hopsing]

Based on Saint Katherine's website calendar, the fall festival should be held October 6-8.  The other one I usually go to, St. Sophia's in DC, only has a spring festival.

[MarkS]

I went to Kapnos in Bethesda Monday Night.  The space was very nice and it wasn't that crowded so there were no noise issues. I enjoyed the fact that the tables are not next to each other.  So I'd say this is a nicer Cava,

The wine list was large but I have no experience with Greek wines.  Mostly had carafes of wine when we were in Athens.  So a $40 bottle of greek red was good, nothing memorable. 

The food was great.  Spreads, Couscous, Eggplant, Fried Chicken, Lamb Shank and Pasticcio were all superb.  We left stuffed, enjoyed it all and would go back.  Better then most and a welcome addition to Bethesda.

[Tweaked]

We went to Kapnos Kouzina in Bethesda for brunch  and I'm not sure that mezze really works that well for brunch.  We decided to go with the $35 Bottomless Brunch, a menu of about 18 dishes, plus the first mimosa is free, refills are 25 cents.  For food, order as much as you like.  A la carte is also available. 

One problem is the mezze plates are small (obviously), so if you have a group of 5, like we did, splitting dishes and getting more than a small bite is near impossible.  But since it's all-you-can eat, we ended up double ordering everything and then sharing.  Also it's best to order several plates at once and to keep the orders flowing so there's not much delay between dishes, because as we all know by now...the plates are delivered at the whim of the kitchen.

Caveats aside, we did have some really tasty food.

The smoked shredded lamb shoulder was really good.  I didn't get much smoke but the meat was succulent and finished on a griddle. 

The spano-scramble of leeks, spinach, feta was also really good.  We had three orders.

I enjoyed the crispy potatoes, but the lemon potatoes were just ok...go crispy.

The bifteki patties, two small slider sized patties of lamb and beef were nicely charred on the outside and rare on the inside with some good pickled onions to balance it out

The coined-sized zuchhini patties were also very good.

Greek bagel & lox was a rather messy mash up of taramasalata, salmon, capers, tomatoes and greens.  Sort of glad we ordered but it was just ok.

I enjoyed the crispy eggplant, but it wasn't really a hit with the rest of the table.

The hummus was unremarkable, the fruit plate was fine, and the marousalata was basically a skimpy pile of greens on a plate and not worth the effort of carrying it from the kitchen to the table.  The dolmades had way too much tightly wrapped grape leaves and therefore fibrous.

For dessert, go with the greek coffee waffles and the loukamades doughnuts.  The baklava was uncut-ably dense.

And at 25 cents a mimosa, just keep those coming.

We arrived when they opened for service and by the time we left around 1 pm it was only half full at most.  You could have easily walked in and got a 2-top or 4-top.

I don't know if the $35 price was worth it, but I wasn't paying and we did get to try a lot of their offerings.  If the portion sizes for the Bottomless Brunch are the same as the a la carte mezze, I'd probably be pissed over the portion size/cost ratio...you could do some damage real quick.  But definitely some tasty food at Kapnos (get the lamb!)

[cheezepowder]

Another Kapnos Taverna is opening at 7777 Baltimore Ave, College Park, MD, on Monday,  Sept. 25 (via Washingtonian).

[DonRocks]

45 minutes ago, cheezepowder said:

Another Kapnos Taverna is opening at 7777 Baltimore Ave, College Park, MD, on Monday,  Sept. 25 (via Washingtonian).

This is one of several restaurants at The Hotel at the University of Maryland - a $189-million miniature "city" slash conference center with 43,000 square feet of event space. Eateries running along the exterior of this photo are, from left to right: the fourth iteration of Potomac Pizza, Old Maryland Grill (opened by Mike Franklin of Franklin's in Hyattsville), the fourth iteration of the Kapnos chain (not including airports and stuff), and Bagels 'n Grinds (the official bagel and coffee shop of the UMBC Retrievers through 2017).

Congratulations to one and all.

[DaveO]

Opening night for Kapnos Taverna in College Park at the Hotel at the University of Maryland is this evening.   One of our grads, Bryan is behind the bar.  He is excited about the cocktail menu.  Soft opening nights have been successful.   Stop by.

[ktmoomau]

We took my godson and his spouse to Kapnos Taverna in Ballston as a goodbye dinner of sorts, as they are leaving Arlington, to go to Pittsburgh.  My godson is vegetarian and he was impressed with all the choices for vegetarians on the menu.  We arrived early for our reservation, and had drinks at the bar waiting for them.  I got a cocktail that was something with the word season- it was apple jack, bourbon and a mix of delightful fall flavors- that still work well in winter.  We got seated, we could have done the RW menu, and it looked good, lots of options, but they preferred a la carte so we did that.  We started with the dips and spreads- still good, the portion seemed to be a bit smaller than previously, it might be a better value to just get hummus and pita, as that was what we ate the most of.  We got zucchini patties to start- these were delicious, glad we got two orders for the table.  We also got broccoli which was good and not overly cooked.  We got the cauliflower, which seems to be a bit of a different preparation- the menu said harissa, but it didn't taste like harissa to me and had a very light orange look, like harissa mixed with some other sauce, it wasn't as strong as their previous cauliflower dish, which I thought had a really nice balance of flavors and acid, but it wasn't bad, but I wouldn't waste a dish on this in the future.  We also had the lamb and pork- both of which were roasted and shredded meats.  I only ate the pork which was good, but by this point I was pretty full from pita and veggies.  They brought the check without asking about dessert, which was the only hiccup in service.  I didn't pay the bill, but it was a nice dinner, service wasn't too lax or too overbearing, and it was a great place to go just knowing that my godson wouldn't have to ask what dishes they could modify, and would have lots of choices.  And we had a lot of fun together.  The pork was really good warmed up in one of my homemade naan for lunch the next day, and the last bit of it and cauliflower got added to some kimchi ramen, which was also excellent with that addition.