New Greek place on 8th
Cava 8th SE opens Monday. I popped my head in just now and asked. place looks nice, I hope it's as good as the Rockville location reviewed in the Post last Fall.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/res...
not stellar praise, but I'm intrigued (anyway all the best Greek food is found in someone's Nana's kitchen)
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Checked out Cava for the first time last night. It was the perfect weather to sit outside and enjoy some mezze.
The food is very good there, and quite affordable (especially if you are sharing with some friends). I started off with the cucumber mojito. As I might have mentioned here in the past, I'm very in to cucumber drinks lately, so I had to try this one out. It was nice and refreshing.
I really like the various oils and dips they bring out with the pita when you first sit down. The red peppery tomato dip was nice with a little kick. We ordered the hummus, zucchinni fritters and the haloumi (charcoal grilled Greek cheese w/ a mint and oil sauce).
All were very good. The winner for me though was the zucchinni fritters. Absolutely delicious and quite addictive. The portion sizes were perfect and the nice thing about mezze/small plates is if you decide you are still hungry you can always order more.
I saw a lot of items on the menu I wanted to try so I will certainly return in the future. Oh, and everything was very affordable. After splitting the check with my friend my total came to about $30...not bad.
One small note though: We had a friend that was meeting us a little later. We were just going to pull up a chair to our 2-top. She planned on ordering drinks (and more for us) and a small plate or 2. After asking if we could grab an extra chair we got the run around. First they said there were no more chairs. Then they said it was a fire hazzard. There was a 4-top that had an extra chair but for whatever reason they wouldn't let us pull it over. Pretty annoying! Outdoor seating is prime real estate on 8th St. They would be wise to store a few extra chairs out back just in case some people want to turn a 2-top into a 3 or 4-top. We weren't blocking the way and there was more then enough room.
Their loss really though. We headed a few doors down to Matchbox, ordered lots of drinks (has anyone tried the Matchbox punch!? Wow is that strong and brings back my memories of Jungle Juice in college...in a good way) and my friend got a pizza.
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re: Elyssa
littlew1ng
May 22, 2009 08:01 AM
yaaayyyy for cucumber mojitos! how is the pita? as good as mourayo's? god that stuff is addictive.
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re: chicken kabob
littlew1ng
May 22, 2009 08:41 AM
the shrimp and scallops are divine. i had an amazing steak there. and i really like the squid ink soup. honestly i've not had anything there that disappointed me. a shame the pita was off when you were there!
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Heading here tonight for drinks and maybe some small plates with a friend. Look forward to checking out some of your recommendations. Seems like the dips/spreads may be the way to go. Although I just checked out their menu for the first time and there seemed to be a lot of items that interest me.
I'll make sure to report back!
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hill food
May 16, 2009 09:30 PM
my new BF on 8 SE.
I did not have the octopus (next time...)
it is kid friendly (we were around 6 PM-ish) maybe too much garlic for the toddler set (for me just the right amount). but lots of other cheese things and those zucchini fritters, and my friends found a new spinach delivery system for the kid - Spanakopita! yeah ok that's a sorta no-brainer,
attentive service, good space. a little loud, but the leather ceiling helps.
Elyssa: lunch is coming soon
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re: smithhemb
Where do they stock them at Tenleytown. I was there was week and couldn't find them. I asked someone who works there and they claim they didn't have them.
BTW, I'm obsessed with the eggplant and red pepper dip. It's delicious but so over priced. Plus, I have trouble believing the nutritional information on it.
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re: Elyssa
Sorry. Dinner only.
They open at 5 PM, Monday, April 27, 2009.We had their lamb chops at the Taste of 8th on Saturday. Really good. The stand-out hit of the festival.
They also had a selection of their dips or spreads or whatever they call those things that are now also available at Whole Foods according to the owner of Cava.
We wandered around to see the interior which is very pleasant, (they were giving our free drinks) and he walked up and started chatting. Very enthusiastic about the new place and eager to make the community happy.Considering that they were not yet open, and trying to get ready to open on Monday, the Cava staff were very well organized for the event on Saturday. It seemed really professional and smooth. Hope that bodes well for the place.
Walking around on Barracks Row gnawing on a lamb chop was a great way to spend a beautiful Saturday afternoon in April.
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Cava is participating in Taste of 8th on Barracks Row tomorrow - Saturday 4/25, from 1 to 4 PM. Buy tickets for portions of food at a bunch of the restaurants and eat your way from Levi's Port Cafe (Carolina BBQ and mac/cheese) to Belga and everything in between.
From the Barracks Row Main Street press release: "Newcomer Ted Xenohristos and partners, Ike and Demetrie will be on hand at Cava to introduce Greek meze “small plates” to Barracks Row. “Like tapas, only Greek,” explains Ted!
Cava (formerly Marty’s) will open for business in mid April but even if the opening slides toward to the end of April the three partners will bring samples from their original Cava restaurant in Rockville – the one that consistently gets Best Greek Food in DC awards."Good news that they're opening on Monday. Saturday is a great chance for a sneak peak.
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