Kapnos Kouzina

The noise level is obscenely loud. It just isn't fun not being able to talk to your dinner mates. We liked a lot of the food but not enough to put up with the discomforting noise.

Great! We had a groupon. It was a great deal. Not many people there, which is sad because it was a cool place

SO disappointed to share how awful this experience was...from service (slow, forgetful, dismissive, condescending), to food (cold, slow and haphazard out of kitchen, tasteless), to complete non responsive or helpful interventions from floor manager, and manager of restaurant. This beautiful restaurant on a lovely corner in Bethesda has unfortunately ‘jumped the shark’. Embarrassed we took our dear friends out to dinner here. Awful,.

Love this place! I've come here several times for all occasions. It's just a nice little spot.

$16 for the express lunch is a lot of food - a gyro plus a yuge casear salad and a soda/iced tea. You might as well spend the extra $5 on a regular lunch and have a sit down.

Amazing! Service was great and the food was very tasty.

A bit loud, but food is delicious. Would go again.

The food is consistently delicious. The dining experience would be improved by attention to acoustics because the restaurant is quite loud when it is full.

the food was great but we will not return because of the noise level. Impossible to talk

Kapnos has gone downhill since my last visit. What I don't know is whether this was an off-night or a trend. The three "dips" with warm pita were excellent as always. But I don't understand what happened after that. We decided on two separate entrees this time around, with a side of broccolini to share. My half fried chicken arrived, totally overcooked; this had always been a go-to dish at Kapnos. The "crust" was totally hard, and the chicken under it was very dry (particularly the white meat). For some reason, my wife's medium rare lamb chops didn't come for 10 more minutes, and when they did, she discovered that they were totally red -- no pink whatsoever; we sent those back. It took 5 more minutes for the broccolini to come; while it was delicious, for us to have to eat our dinner in shifts was not a great dining experience. The restaurant was full, so we may have had bad luck, but I suspect that there is less supervision in the kitchen than before....

For those looking to vary their restaurant choices, Kapnos provides some good Greek cuisine. I like the small plates best, and we recently enjoyed some tasty spanakopita, falafel, salmon kebab, and chicken souvlaki. My primary complaint is with the service. They serve dishes in a random fashion. My wife's appetizer arrived about 10 minutes before mine, and the main courses similarly arrived at different times. No one seems to have trained the staff to serve a course to everyone at the table at the same time.

Kapnos needs a refresh!
We will not go there again after having been frequent dinners.
It’s becone stale, food is average and not exciting

We had a great waitress, the food was good. The noise level is out of control on a busy night!

Kapnos was very good as usual. Waiter was very obliging and service was great. Only reason I have not given five stars was the drinks took a while to come out. But otherwise a lovely experience.

Great food but beware of the noise level. We went for lunch on a week day and even with the place mostly empty we could hardly hold a conversation

Perfect for a glass of wine and delicious small plates.

While we miss Graffiato, we’re glad Kapnos survived. Great food, very flexible menu. Weekend brunch is amazing. Also a good place to go before or after a movie at Bethesda Row.

The tasting menu was delicious, but way too much food for one person!

I always enjoy my meals at Kapnos. My favorite is their starter, the eggplant, walnuts, feta cheese spread with their in-house made flatbread. It's great to share or a meal in itself. I've converted two non eggplant liking people based on this dish. We decided to try some other mezze dishes that we weren't familiar with, so we tried the mini brisket pies, definitely tasty. The chick pea salad paled in flavor to the other dishes, but the next day it was delicious on it's own. I have to admit the tuna tartare was not my favorite, I had tried it before and love tuna, sushi grade raw or seared. I won't get that next time, but will definitely be back to sample other favorites.

The food is consistently delicious and the staff are efficient, friendly, and helpful. Excellent choice of Greek, French, and Spanish wines by the glass.

I have been to Kapnos in the past. The Bethesda one is not that great for kids. They were not prepared to seat kids and didn’t have kid friendly utensils (plastic cups etc.) It was good for the bar scene but since I went in with my whole family I wouldn’t recommend this for family night. Food was ok. Service was not that great. We went on a Friday night and it was busy but they seated us right next to the bar which was not great for family with kids.

The food was excellent. Tasty and well-presented. The service was very good. The noise level was a little too loud for my liking, though.

The service was very disappointing. Although the restaurant was almost empty (our reservation was for 1:15 pm and we arrived at 1:25), we waited a few minutes before someone took the time to seat us and waited again for a server to take our order. Eventually, the food came but then we were totally ignored. We could see the wait staff joking around with each other, but we couldn't get anyone's attention for the longest time. By that time, the restaurant was empty.

I was very surprised because in the past I really enjoyed the food and the service! I was embarrassed because Kapnos Kousina was my choice, and I had raved about it to my friend -- who is knowledgeable about Greek food.

Great food with many vegetable options. The quality justifies the expense. It's way too noisy though. The space is open, large, and with hard floors and decor. A few unseen sound baffles in the ceiling would make a huge difference.

For the money - there is no better restaurant in Bethesda. The owner may have some issues but I totally support his staff and the great food they prepare.

We went after having been there once before. Thought it would be reasonable after all the noise with Mike Isabella, to see if the experience was good. Afraid of the noise level but we got there at 630 and it was okay. Food was really good. 4 out of 5 items I would recommend, 5th okay. Service and waiter helping with selections was excellent. Would return

Service could be better. The restaurant was not busy but it took a long time for our drinks to be delivered. Appetizers arrived 5 min before.

Lunch special was a good value and presented well. Service personnel were very attentive.

Small expensive plates. Restaurant was not crowded and service was ok. Everyone at the table could not understand the waiter as he spoke in a low, soft ,but fast voice. He was upset when we asked him to repeat himself.
on a positive note, they refilled our water glasses without asking.

Ive been to this restaurant many times and always am happy with the food. Generous portions and delicious. We had the dip sampler which I highly recommend. Best hummus in DC. Our flatbread was undercooked and floury but my request to have it cooked more was met with excellent customer service and it came back to the table piping hot. Asparagus, octopus and tuna tartare were all nicely done. Warning on the tuna - it has an unusual mix of strong spices which my guest found delightful but it wasn't to my taste. The smoked lamb shoulder was the best - like lamb confit. The steak and potatoes nicely cooked and flavored. The service on a Sunday evening was very attentive and personable. It was not crowded at all which surprised me for a neighborhood place - a pleasant surprise because when this place gets going, its hard to hear. All in all - I recommend this restaurant. It is easily one of the best in the area.

I really enjoyed myself at our last visit. The staff was kind and accommodating even though we had a picky eating toddler.

Out of the 6 people who ate 5 out of them loved their meal (2 Lamb topped Fritatas, chicken and waffles. and a delicious cheese stuffed omlette.) All the small tapas like plates were very tasty. The birthday boy got the Lamb Gyro and did not love but it might have been because the lamb gyro is pulled lamb meat rather then the cut meat he is used to. Anyways, I recommend this place and would return.

The food was good except for on over cooked chicken dish. We ate half of the kabob. The manager said that we ate too much for him to give us credit. There were 4 pieces. No problem...he will lose more than we did. The servers bring more food without taking away our finished plates. We were at a small table for 2. The noise makes eating there uncomfortable and not at all relaxing. The manager said that they are working on that with some sound control. That’s what they told me last year. We would not eat there again & would advise our friends & family not to as well.

Date night — movie and dinner. Excellent waitress and wonderful food. Our section of the restaurant was quite hot,however, and it was very noisy.

My husband and I went for dinner on a Saturday before a theater production. The food was quite tasty and there were lots of options for vegetarians. (The menu has some fish options too, but no meat.) The service was friendly and quick. One downside was that the space was kind of loud, but we could still hear each other. We also noted that some of the more fried dishes seemed a bit oilier than we would like. We otherwise enjoyed it here and would recommend to others.

I love good Greek food set in a nice comfortable atmoshpere. This was my first time at Kapnos Kouzina and it was well worth the trip. Our hostess met us with a "welcome" and a smile. Our server was happy, knowledgeable and helpful. Our food was beautiful and delicious. We shared two spreads (favosalata & tyrokaftari) with stone baked flatbread to start. Then we ordered an assortment of vegetarian dishes (dolmades, horiatiki, crispy eggplant.) All were excellent. I was the designated driver but my companion had a "ginger & vanilla" and a "bees knees." He enjoyed both but preferred the "ginger & vanilla.". We ended the meal with loukamades (doughnuts & ice cream). It was so good that next time we won't share that item! The check was correctly prepared. We were lucky enough to find parking on the street but the area looks like it can be busy so plan a little extra time to search for that perfect parking spot.

Way too expensive for the pedestrian service and cafeteria look. Wine options by the glass were atrocious (for $15 per), served too warm, and chiny pours. Air condition not working, so my friend and I were both perspiring for much of the evening. I fin all of the Kapnos restaurants too expensive and inauthentic, but the Bethesda location is by far the worst. I won’t go again.

Wonderful!

Typical of a 'small plates' place we spent a fortune, but left starving. Even with the 'family style' rack of lamb that was supposed to be 'for the table' and an on the bone hunk of meat (for $52), we got five lamb chops and some small potatoes. For $52! We spent almost $100 apiece (not too many drinks, less than 1.5/person) and had to get more food on the way home. Neat to try but will definitely not be back. Go get a real meal somewhere else.

Kapnos Kuzina is a really good restaurant in downtown Bethesda. The food and drinks are very good. It was a rainy night and there was some kind of problem in the ceiling they were trying to fix, so had a ladder and tools in the aisle near us. So atmosphere wasn't as good as usual. I have been there many times and will go back. My favorite dish - the beet salad, was taken off the menu . I wish they would bring it back!

Creative Greek food. Great, healthy food. Atmosphere can be better.