Cava Founders Create New Standalone Restaurant

The co-founders of Cava, the quick-service Mediterranean restaurant that started in the D.C. area and has subsequently spread across the country, are creating a French-themed, full-service eatery in North Bethesda.

Bethesda Magazine reports that Julii, a French-Mediterranean restaurant and coffee shop (11915 Grand Park Avenue), is slated to join the restaurant collecting Pike & Rose complex at some point in the future. A spokeswoman tells Eater that Julii, which is projected to serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner — including croissants, shakshuka, and roast chicken — is completely separate from the build-your-own-meal spots Ike Grigoropolous, Dimitri Moshovitis, and Ted Xenohristos have sprinkled from coast to coast over the past decade.

“It’s a one-off that they’re doing in their hometown,” the aide says, describing the new venture as “a passion project for these three.”

Xenochristos expressed as much in an official statement cited by Bethesda Magazine.

“We grew up in this community, it is where we started our first restaurant, it’s where we now live, and it’s the neighborhood we want to continue to draw people to from all over the DC metro area,” is how Xenochristos explained the desire to try something different.

The company spokeswoman was not able to provide a timetable for Julii’s arrival.