Kapnos

It was a really great deal for restaurant week. Unfortunately, the lemonades were not good, but the Whiskey lemonade was super strong. The lamb, fried zucchini, and Brussels were tasty, but everything else was pretty average.

Brunch was ok here. I usually determine how pricey a brunch spot is based on what they charge for a cup of coffee. Here it was $ 4 a cup and as pretty as the cup it came in was, it looked and tasted a little watered down.
Taste wise, I love trying something different than your standard omelette/​benedict/​french toast/​pancake. My husband and I ordered the stone oven baked eggs and the baklava french toast, both of which were delicious. The portion sizes are unfortunately too small — we both left feeling hungry and definitely were ready to eat again a couple hours later. My cousin ordered their scrambled eggs and although it had zucchini, tomato, yogurt, whole grain croutons in it (according to the menu), it looked like 2 scrambled eggs with some chives that I could’ve made at home. For what we paid for brunch, I was expecting a bit more substance.

Made reservations for Kapnos on Open Table for a late night dinner, we got there around 9:00 pm with a group of four people. I was really pleased that they immediately sat us. Overall I though the service was good, never an issue finding our waitress, she was very attentive to our table and the water was always full.
We started by ordering three spreads, tzatziki, tyrokafteri, taramosalata but make the mistake of not ordering the sampling pikilia which would have saved us some money. All three spreads had their merits and none was a disappointment. Although they do not bring enough bread to the table. My favorite one of the three was tyrokafteri, although I would recommend tzatziki on a warmer day.
In addition, our table ordered greek fries, aegina shrimp and marinated lamb. All were really good and I was very pleased by the portion size for the lamb.
The ambiance in the restaurant was nice, the location is dimly lit. It’s a smaller location and all the conversations seem to have the noise level loud — that could have been due to the time of the night we were there.
The menu has a large wine selection, and a variety of wines that are served by the glass. In addition they feature 15 — 20 beers, most of them craft.
My one complaint for the night was that it was HOT in the restaurant. I’m just glad they kept serving the water without fail because we were drinking it quickly!

Just ate in the house of Kapanos some of the best Greek food on the planet here in Washington DC
who would’ve known on you Street next to the YMCA with the food be so fabulous
The handmade flat bread the hummus the olives the grilled asparagus was so flavorful
We also had the lamb crispy red snapper succulent great find for me loving med food
A must if your a foodie the menu is just full of delicious dishes
I wish I had eaten more cant wait to return

Kapnos is a modern Grecian tapas restaurant that specializes in many new and traditional Greek favorites. There are many small tasty plates to choose from and roughly 2 – 3 plates per person is probably adequate. The menu is loaded with savory spreads and spit roasted meats. The cocktail and wine list were impressive and had many options to choose from. The space is more than entertaining with its large interior and views of the kitchen and bar. All the dishes we sampled were well thought out and executed as intended. The flavors were representative of Greek cuisine with its salty but herbal palate. Our server was fantastic through the evening and kept the meal fun and relaxed. A great night out, thanks!

We came here for a girls’ brunch, and I thought the Stone Oven Baked Eggs was delicious. Even though it is a tapas place, we all ordered our own dishes. We shared a sampling of three spreads which is a must order.
I thought the baked eggs dish was a good size for one person, but my rest of friends’ entrees were quite small, including the toast and the phyllo pies. It was rather hard to share those dishes so perhaps brunch is not the best place to do sharing style and you may need to order more than 1 entrée if you want to be full. I thought the noise level was a bit too loud as we were seated next to a large party and it was difficult to hear my own party. The service was great.
I’m not sure I would come back for brunch especially if doing individual entrees, because my taste buds left wanting to try more.

Somehow I had not yet been to Kapnos, but I made it the capstone meal for my parents’ visit before they headed out of town. It turned out to be a great choice.
We started off with the three spreads selection: tzatziki, tyrokafteri (basically cheese) and revithosalata (basically hummus). These were delicious (the feta-​smoked manouri was my personal favorite) and so was the piping hot flatbread they came with. My only complaint is that the flatbread allotment for spreads is one serving, no matter how many people are sharing it, and after that you have to pay for more. We happily ordered another serving, but it feels like if you spring for the three-​spread assortment they should be a little more generous with the bread. (And yes I’m used to Zaytinya’s being bottomless.)
We split a bottle of very good Greek red wine that complemented the meal and helped our end-​of-​trip conversation flow. My parents and boyfriend split the asparagus and raved about it, while I dug into a phyllo pie with duck, cherries, pistachio yogurt sauce and cress that was heavenly and almost filling enough on its own. We also had the Friday night short ribs special and nearly had the plate licked clean between us. For dessert we ordered baklava, the Greek diner (a fantastic, piping hot fruit crisp) and the Greek cheesecake made with feta and served with wine-​soaked figs.
The service was fine and we never lacked for water or the chance to order more food. We had a nice table further in the back that felt a little more private. It’s not as flashy or as experimental as some of Zaytinya’s offerings (Zaytinya probably being the closest D.C. equivalent I can think of in terms of the type of food), but it does feel earthier, more like comfort food and more like something you might make at home. Being a fan of Greek food, I really enjoyed it and wish I’d gotten there sooner.

Once again, I found myself at Mike Isabella’s Greek restaurant, Kapnos, eager to try new items on the menu. Located in the bustling U Street Corridor right on 14^th Street, this place is always bumpin’.
We took a seat inside the main dining area and perused the menu. There are always lots of vegan items to choose from, which keeps it fun and exciting. We ordered a couple of cocktails including my favorite, the Angry Elf, then placed our orders.
We started with the Favosalata, an incredibly good spread made of yellow lentils, scallions, black garlic, and pine nuts. I have to say that it was the black garlic that made it so good. And that fire-​roasted bread is always fantastic.
Next, we tried the Grilled Maitake mushrooms in a rich sauce served with fresnos peppers and celeriac. Again, fantastic.
Then, we tried the Falafel. Falafels can be really good or really bad. This one was excellent and was served with roasted eggplant, tahini, and romaine lettuce. If we had a bit more tahini, it would have been perfect as the falafel needs tahini!
Lastly, we tried their latest cauliflower dish — Roasted Cauliflower. Cauliflower is roasted with baharat spice and served with pisachios and raisins. We loved this dish.
But wait, there’s more! On another visit, we had the Marinated olives with red chili and marcona olives. So good!
Our favorite dish of all was the Gigandes! It was so good, I forgot to take a pic when it arrived as we started digging in right away! These giant beans were served with spring onion and ramps. The tomatoes that thickened the sauce were great as they’ve definitely improved this dish over time.
We also had a Brussels Sprouts dish, which may already be off the menu. Served with sweet potato purée, these Brussels sprouts were fantastic!
All in all, the food and drinks were excellent, the service was good on both occasions, and the atmosphere was fun. At $ 8 — $ 12 per small dish, they certainly won’t be on a bargain list any time soon, but I do think it is worth it. Kapnos remains one of my favorite restaurants in DC.

Great food and service. We had the vegetable salad– delicious although something I could easily make at home. The charred octopus over lentils– another great, flavorful dish. And the suckling roasted pig over tzatziki. We also had the greek cheesecake. Each dish was delicious, well balanced flavors, beautifully prepared and pleasantly surprising. I also was in love with the ceramic plates and coffee cups!
Only complaint was that the restaurant was extremely loud. Had to scream to hear the person I was sitting across from. Not appropriate for having a romantic dinner. The décor was nice, however. I would suggest they put some sort of sound absorbing material on the walls…
I would go back for a special occasion, but probably not a romantic occasion.

Almost 3 years after our first (and previously only) visit, my wife and I gave Kapnos another shot, and I’m glad we did. This time around, the portions seemed to better fit the prices, the food tastes as good as they sounded, and service was just right.
Our waiter hyped up the roasted chicken and he was 100% correct. By far the best damn chicken in DC.

YASSS! Absolutely in love with this restaurant. We went here for a girlfriend’s birthday and it was everything we could hope for of a dinner and then some! Loved the fact that it was small plates so everyone could try something different.
Service was impeccable — our waitress explained how the menu was set up and essentially how the dishes would come out. All of the dishes we ordered were cooked and seasoned perfectly.
Highlights of the meal included:
~Taramosalata (how is it possible that this cauliflower dip is so creamy and rich??)
~Charred Octopus
~Duck Phyllo Pie (sweet and savory)
~Roasted Marinated Lamb
~Greek Karidopita (think coffee cake on steroids. AMAZING)
Kapnos had an extensive cocktail list — of which there were ingredients in each drink that none of us had heard of, but luckily, our waitress came to the rescue and helped us with that. «Mitch, Please» was my favorite from all the drinks we ordered (tangy and citrusy)!
For all you Top Chef fans: definitely spotted George Pagonis in the kitchen, perfecting our dishes!!!
I would definitely come back to try even more dishes for sure. ¹⁰⁄₁₀!

A group of 8 of us went to Kapnos to celebrate a friends’ birthday. It was delicious! I highly recommend the dip sampler to try one of every kind, the duck, and the fried zucchini fritters. The whiskey cocktail is incredible, and I don’t even like whiskey.
The service is a little inconsistent– hot and cold between friendly and standoffish, attentive and nowhere to be found.
Décor is spot on– really great place to celebrate.
Headed back this week for their happy hour– half off prosecco and all of their dips.

Kapnos is one of my favorite restaurants in DC. It is not near my office but I try to make it when I can. Dinner menu is not available until 6pm but you can have tapas at the bar until then. I had the roasted chicken and it was fabulous. There is street parking in front of the restaurant and nearby streets.

So honestly I was really excited to try Kapnos because I watched Chef George on Top Chef Season 12 Boston. This restaurant was also the 3^rd one I have tried from a chef that was on Top Chef Season 12. I have also read the reviews and it seemed to be a pretty good place to dine. I was definitely not disappointed. When you walk in you can’t help but notice the décor. It is very nice. I love the wine bottle and wine glass chandeliers. As it is a Greek style restaurant it also had a Greek touch to it. Overall very nice! They were packed but because I was there celebrating my husband’s birthday, I made reservations so we only had to wait about 10 minutes for our table. We were also 20 minutes late because of DC traffic and we were still able to be seated, so they are pretty flexible. However, they are a tad pricy.
Next I want to point out the service. I read a few reviews that said their service wasn’t so good. I did not experience bad service, in fact we had excellent service. We had a guy named Benjamin (tall, bald head, and skinny). He was AWESOME! From the moment we sat down he came over and was very welcoming and tentative to our needs. He explained the two different menus because it is restaurant week and was able to answer any questions about the menu items. He was just fabulous. If possible ask to be seated in his section.
Now on to the food. I love love love tapas! I love being able to try different options all in one sitting. Tapas are just awesome. My husband and I were at Kapnos celebrating his birthday. We were definitely shown a good time and experience. It was also a nice change to our regular dining out food choice. We normally go for comfort food or southern style restaurants. The ones that were our favorites have *FAV* listed on the end.
*Tzatziki — is a traditional Mediterranean yogurt, cucumber, dill, and citrus dip. Their version of it was very good. It has chucks of what seemed to be orange served on top of it. It added a nice sweetness. It was served with fresh hot flatbread. *FAV*
*Farm House Vegetable Salad — a salad that consisted of cucumbers, onions, olives, tomatoes, capers, feta cheese cubes and a red wine vinaigrette. The vegetables tasted very fresh. This salad was overall pretty good. However, my only complaint is that it was heavy on the vinaigrette. A little sour. If you put a vegetable in your mouth and don’t pay attention the vinaigrette will slide down your throat and slightly choke you.
*Kolokithokeftedes — these are zucchini fritters with mint yogurt. These were actually pretty good. They reminded me of mozzarella cheese sticks. They are crispy on the outside (fried) with a zucchini cream mixture on the inside. It was served with a mint yogurt on the plate as a garnish, sprinkled with dill. *FAV*
*Charred Brussels Sprouts — these are pretty self explanatory. It was served with a sweet potato purée and candied pecans. They were very good and had a nice taste. *FAV*
*Suckling Pig — this dish was very good. It was marinated pork chucks served with orzo, dill, and a touch of crispy pork skin. I’m not a big fan of pork and try not to eat it much. Their pork was flavorful and very tender. It was seasoned well. The orzo and crispy pork skin added a nice touch to the dish. The little crunch from the pork skin was very good. *FAV*
*Aegina Shrimp — this dish is 4 marinated shrimp on a slice of country bread. They used lemon and kohlrabi to give the shrimp flavor. The shrimp was cooked well and nice and tender. However, it was not one of our fav dishes because it was heavy on the lemon. Very citrusy.
*Roasted Duck Phyllo Pie — this dish was very good. The duck on the inside was very tender and seasoned well. It was served with what seemed to be pickled onions, capers and cress. My only complaint is the actual phyllo dough itself was not as crispy as I would have wanted. It was a little soft, but it is still good. *FAV*
*Charred Octopus — I have never tried octopus before so it was a must try when I saw it on the menu. It was served with lentils. It was cooked perfectly as far as the charred marks and tenderness. However, this was not one of my fav dishes. It was a texture thing for me. It had nothing to do with the way it was cooked. The texture was chewy and squishy. I just didn’t like it.
*Fourno Patates — these were potatoes cooked with the drippings from the meat and lots of lemon and topped with chives. This was not my favorite dish because it to was also heavy on the lemon. One thing I did like is that you do get the smoked flavor from the meat drippings. It was just a tad to lemony for me. They were also very tender and had a good bite to them.
Overall, My husband and I had a great time at Kapnos. They have good food and the ambience was nice. A little crowded but still enjoyable. Some things were heavy on the lemon and dill, but they had other great dishes that helped balance out the ones that weren’t our favorites. I would recommend this restaurant to others

Brunch here was super tasty but also really heavy. If you’re in the mood for a light brunch, perhaps not the best choice. Not the cheapest menu but diverse options and a solid cup of coffee. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the bread and tzatziki dipping sauce (tasted good but super overpriced), but I really enjoyed the main dishes.
The stone oven baked eggs and the baklava french toast were both delicious and definitely different. The eggs were served in a skillet with crazy flavorful crispy lamb meat, potatoes, and some feta. A really lovely and filling mixture. The French toast also was super flavorful and the walnuts gave it a nice crunch. It was on the sweeter side of dishes but definitely worth getting.

Every time we’ve eaten here, I’ve left with a stretched stomach and a smile.
We’ve been for brunch, dinner and lunch, and haven’t found a time of day that we don’t love it here. It’s basically like a tapas style Greek restaurant with an awesome open kitchen where you can watch the wood fired ovens roaring and watch various dead animals rotating on spits dripping in the rotisserie.
We usually start with the sampler of the dips and the ridiculous bread, and then just sample as many different meats and sides as we think we can handle at the table.
This place is great for both a big group brunch, or a romantic date night. As has been mentioned, sometimes the service can be a bit off, but such is life, not bad enough not to come back, at least for us.

My favorite dinner we had while visiting DC! Love the ambiance: lively vibe, rustic yet modern décor, with little Greek touches like colorful chandeliers. The food and drinks were really good and I generally love tapas style dinners. We sat in the bar area and didn’t have very attentive service, but my friend who has been several times said the service is normally great.
MUST HAVE:
***Brussel sprouts (⁵⁄₅ stars): so good!!! Everyone in our group raved about these!!! So perfectly charred and perfect blend of savory and sweet.***
Pikilia (⁵⁄₅ stars): you get to pick a sampling of three of the spreads. You get a smaller portion of each one, but it’s a great way to try multiple spreads. Also comes with delicious flatbread!!! Perfectly crunchy and soft all at the same time. So light and fresh, we ate way too much.
Melitzanosalata (⁴⁄₅ stars): a cold eggplant spread with roasted peppers, walnut, and feta. Fantastic if you like eggplant! We ended up getting a full order after trying it in our sampler.
Tyrokafteri (⁴⁄₅ stars): a blend of three cheeses, super rich and creamy. A favorite at our table!
GOOD:
Shrimp
Salmon skewers
Lamb
Mushroom pie
SKIP:
Greek fries (²⁄₅ stars): not sure why these are called fries. It’s a little doughy patty made mostly of garbanzo beans. None of us really enjoyed these.
Tuna tartare (³⁄₅ stars): it’s good, but a basic tuna tartare you can get anywhere.
Revithosalata (³⁄₅ stars): basically hummus, but not a good one. Only get it if you’re super craving hummus.
Really happy we ended up here for our final DC dinner!

It’s no secret I am a Top Chef whore, so a restaurant owned in part by Mike Isabella (Top Chef Las Vegas) with executive chef George Pagonis (Top Chef Boston) is a no brainer for me to visit. But is it any good? Definitely.
Wasn’t able to make it in for dinner, so came in for a Saturday brunch instead. I wanted something from the meat spit but there weren’t many meat rich dishes on the brunch menu, so I opted for the stone oven baked egg which was topped with lamb. It was delicious — next time I might just order two $ 9 sides of lamb.
My wife, a native southerner, ordered the chicken and waffles, which came with plenty of honey flavor — it’s a Greek restaurant after all. Flavor was good but the portion was a bit small. I will filled up by my egg and lamb dish, but my wife had to have an order of the donuts to finish her meal.

This is my all time favorite restaurant in DC. I have come here several times since they opened a few years ago and I have never been disappointed. The food is always cooked and seasoned perfectly and the service is wonderful.
My favorite items on the menu would include:
— Smoked eggplant spread
— Yellow lentil spread
— Roasted Cauliflower (sooo good)
— Falafel
— Charred octopus
— Marinated lamb
— Suckling Pig
— Spiced baby goat
— Wild Mushroom Phyllo pie

Obviously that’s a large list of favorites, but it is truly hard to narrow it down since everything is so good. If you come here with a big party and a bigger appetite getting the whole lamb or pork shoulder would be a great option!

BRUNCH.
Came here when visiting my boyfriends friends when we were in DC. First off, décor is beautiful — open space and everything looked pretty rustic with a twist. We were seated at a long table by the kitchen. Immediately we see a huge pig being roasted included other meats. It was pretty cool seeing that because you got to see everything going on with the chefs in the kitchen!
Started off with a cappuccino which was great. Some people ordered Greek coffee which comes with some grinds at the bottom. And then food wise: my boyfriend ordered the lamb gyro which was good, but I wish it had come with a little something else because it was a lot of JUST gyro. Maybe a side salad? I ordered the pork and beans, which was on POINT. The pork was sliced up chunks in the beans with a veggie cooked in. It also came with a sausage and some bread. All great. Would definitely recommend the pork and beans if you go (I’m also not the biggest fan of lamb so the gyro wasn’t too appealing to me).
The French toast looked pretty good too because baklava was laid over it! Yum.
Overall great experience. Staff were prompt and very nice. Even helped us understand some of the foods on the menu. Food was great. YUM.