CAVA Capitol Hill

This was a new addition last summer to the Marine Barracks' neighborhood. With Belga, Matchbox and Banana Cafe as a few of the anchors on that Street, this neighborhood now presents quite a diverse offerings of restaurants: Indian, Thai, Puerto Rican/Cuban, Salvadorean, Belgian, Italian, Mediterranean Mezze, a few Irish themed bars, .....not to mention the arrival of Zest and the soon to be Chesapeake Room and Ted rounds up the comfort food offerings on the Hill.
Cava is a locally owned chain; Potomac Fine Foods, started in 2007. The menu, seemingly, formulated and standardized for continuity and consistency throughout all of their locations.
I've only been to the Capitol Hill location, but I assume the decor, look and feel will be similar on all locations.
The Capitol Hill location has a dark exterior; with seating outside under large mediterranean style umbrellas. Upon entering the bar is located on the right side that stretches 3/4 of the length of the dining room with app. 20-24 seating. The bar is sectioned off by perforated walls so as not to create a claustrophobic feel at the bar. There is also a small bar that is geared for private functions that also doubles as a rooftop deck lounge.
The wine selection offers a selection of Greek, Italian, California and some Australian/New Zealand and Argentinean.....
Tip #1: Skip the Greek and Italian wines, don't bother with Argentinean, go straight to the California and oregon if they have them by the glass.
The menu selection offers Mezze style (mediterranean style small plates) and some entree selections as well.
I especially like the Sparaggia (Grilled asparagus dressed with lemon vinaigrette and feta), a healthy amount of asparagus spears perfectly grilled, although they could hold back a little bit on the feta and lemon dressing.
I also tried the Kastoria Beans (large navy beans stewed in tomato, garlic and Basil), this is also very good, but tasted almost like bean soup.....nothing special.
The fried cod, however, a potentially good dish was waaaayyyy too salty. I realized that it is a salt cured preparation, but the batter needed to be neutral.
On another visit, I tried the Whole roasted Branzino, which is a european bass, closely related to the rockfish. This was prepared with simply by roasting it with lemon, oregano, garlic, salt and pepper; simple yet perfectly done......remember my preachings about simple preparations?
The Branzino tasted like trout, but stronger yet not fishy, presented whole on a platter enough to be shared for 2 persons. Te end product is a very nice flaky roasted fish with all the flavors of the fish, lemon and oregano and perfectly seasoned.
I haven't tried any of their desert as of yet, but perhaps that would be for the next review..........