Kozi Cafe

Just held my Dad’s 90^th birthday party here and couldn’t be happier. The service was excellent. The set up was much more than I expected, including the lovely touch of fresh flowers on the tables. I gave an estimate of 35 people and we ended up with 40 and the food was still abundant, fresh and good tasting. Great atmosphere for a lively and informal party.

I had a tuna fish sandwich at this restaurant two weeks ago. and there was such a small amount of tuna fish I laughed out loud. Won’t try again.

Best pastrami sandwich on rye toast that I think I ever had. Order was fast and came out exactly the way I ordered it. Live music is entertaining without being too loud. Usually acoustic. Had the bagel and lox earlier which I’ll rate a 4.5.

Everything I’ve ever had here, I’ve really enjoyed. The chicken salad sandwich is especially tasty. The matzoh soup (and all their Jewish fare) is very yummy! And their coffees are awesome — not what you would expect from a dinner style place.
My husband loves their white fish bagels and their deli style sandwiches.
Staff are friendly. They have a book corner where you can take-​one-​leave-​one. And there are Trivia and karaōke nights!

I live in Connecticut and usually eat out for breakfast most mornings. I have written over thirty reviews on Breakfasts restaurants. Most I give four stars. I think I have only rated one restaurant one star. But here in Silver Spring, Maryland while I was visiting my daughter, I found my second ONE star restaurant. It is KOZI CAFE.
I ordered my usual, a egg white cheese omelet with onions and tomatoes. Omelet was served, no cheese. So back to the kitchen, This café DOES NOT offer potatoes with its egg dishes. Can’t even order it as a side. Only one slice of toast comes with the omelet, Omelet was only fair.
Now service. There were only two other tables occupied, yet I had trouble getting my coffee cup refilled. Ask to get for my bill, then after getting my bill and giving the server my credit card., I waited and waited. Finally after several minutes, I had to ask for my credit card back and sign the credit card receipt.
What is even amazing, just a few store down in this small shopping center is another casual restaurant which serves breakfast. I ate there three times. I ranked this restaurant Four Stars. Why Kozi wouldn’t be as good as this restaurant amazes me. Competition usually make a restaurant better.
Kozi does not provide a cozy atmosphere, It does provide average food, and poor service.
I will not return.
TRAVEL KAL

I was really looking forward to eating breakfast here but was disappointed. First I told the waitress I wanted a poached egg on toast. She asked me what it was. I pointed to it ON THEIR MENU. I then said I wanted some bacon. Well, no bacon. No sausage. No scrapple. No ham. No breakfast meats of any kind. How can you serve breakfast with no breakfast meats… well except turkey bacon? I then decided to get bagel and lox. It was ok but it was fairly skimpy and I have had much better before. I paid for the meal but had to ask for my change from a $ 20 bill.
I’ve read that the omelets are good but unlikely I will be back. Too bad.

The food is pretty good.
There is karaōke on Thursdays. However, the owner has his favorites, so some people get to sing 2, 3 or 4 times before some get to sing at all. The last time I was there for karaōke, I waited 55 minutes to sing my first song. I realize that some people have to leave early, but I had friends who wanted to hear me sing, but they left before I got to sing anything, while others sang at least 2 or 3 times in the interim (in some cases, more than that, if you count the duets). It takes me 30 — 35 minutes to get there. While I did get to sing several times at the end of the evening, I feel that this is unfair. I go back because the owner has one of the largest selections of songs in the area, and some people ask me to come back every time I sing.

Aha! In this suburban wasteland of endless chain stores & malls, I was desperate to find a hangout with some character & what’ya know, right in the Giant strip mall by Leisure World is this really nice little place. The lattes are actually excellent! They have tasty crisp little biscottis (yes!!) The service caring and personal. And I’m just working thru a tasty (yes it really is) turkey burger for lunch. Oh, free fast internet! I’ll be here a lot during my stay. Brief update: both the internet and the service are a bit spotty. In fairness, some of the serving teams are pretty great. But some don’t reach that level.

Menu isn’t very creative. Food was just okay. Not a bad place, but not terribly wonderful either.

Just stopped in to the Kozi Café for the first time. While I was looking at the menu out front, two couples walked in and I saw the place filling up so I went in and sat at a table. I was waited on very quickly. I chose the barbecue brisket sandwich and it arrived very quickly. It was very tasty and reasonably priced. The place was packed when I left and I can see why. I will definitely be coming back!

OK. I had no reason not to give it a 5 before, but I returned, and found a reason. In an attempt to start off on a more positive note, though, I would add that the egg omelet was good, as well as the toast (rye). The rest of the family really enjoyed the salad and bakery items.
Now for the reason for the lowered rating. The menu and the cost is a bit deceptive. There is a poster-​size menu on the fireplace that shows breakfast items. It shows a western omelet for 5.45. The omelet shows vegetables and obvious chunks of ham. With the omelet is toast and hash browns. First, there is no ham in the omelet, which is OK for me, because I don’t eat ham. However, they don’t even have hash browns — not even as a side order. Though they stated the toast comes with the omelet, they charge 50 cents on the bill. Even after bringing this to their attention, we were told toast DOES come with it, even though it rings up as an additional 50 cents. They also charge you extra for ordering an iced tea for dine-​in, but they don’t tell you. They just charge you for a «supremo.» Finally, they charge extra for dine-​in coffee. I realize there is a potential for drinking more coffee when you dine-​in, but they serve coffee in mugs. You need at least a couple mugs full to equal a large to-​go. Is it really necessary to charge 40 cents more for dine-​in coffee?
We will likely return to this place, because the atmosphere is very nice and quiet. The food is good, and the bakery has good items. Unfortunately, the advertising and charging gimmicks will probably remain in our minds when we return.

Great place for lunch and/​or a coffee break, if you’re in the area. I don’t typically frequent the businesses in Leisure World but on this particular day, we were nearby and looking for a bite to eat.
I split two sandwiches with my Mom. We got the Olive Turkey panini and the Club sandwich. The club was exceptional on their white sourdough bread which one of the employees recommended to us. Crispy toasted bread and a hearty piece of chicken and didn’t overdo it on the mayo. The olive turkey panini which was supposed to have olive tapenade, which I usually expect a pesto like consistency, just looked like bits of olive placed on the sandwich. Wasn’t terribly impressed with the sandwich or the tapenade, but it wasn’t bad by any means. Most of the other sandwiches on the menu sounded great.
I ordered a Potato Knish, which was not so great. It felt, tasted and burned my mouth as if it had been over-​nuked. It did not look like the picture showed it on the menu. However, when I put the leftovers in the oven later that night, it had a really nice flavor and ended up being pretty good.
The gentleman that helped us was very friendly but accidentally double charged us for a smoothie. He then made it a point to come back to us after the fact and hand us the cash for the double charge while we were waiting for our order. Point. We made it a little confusing for them given that we were taking everything to go and this is more of a sit down kind of place.
Overall it was a good experience and I would go back, I think its just got a little ways to go with the help of some constructive feedback. Definitely could be a great place to go for a coffee break or to do some work. They had a small stage setup for live music which I guess they do from time to time.

This wonderful café gives Starbucks a run for its money… personal service, great sandwiches (like «The Tommy», a cheese & tomato panini) not to be missed & served fresh, excellent coffees, gelato, regular & exotic pastries like bakalvas, plus wine & spirits, all excellent & at reasonable prices. The staff & owners are friendly, seating is spacious in an intimate setting. Even better, there’s a little stage where free local live acoustic acts can perform on weekends; Thursday night has karaōke & other special events take place during the week. It’s tucked away in the center of Leisure World Plaza & well worth a visit for the food alone.

I still want to like the place (mainly for its slight eccentricity and the fact that Chloe’s Coffee in Kentlands is long gone) but not sure if I’d come back during the morning hours. I had it insinuated to me that asking for refills of iced tea (free at most similar cafes) was amounting to gypping the company out of revenue. This comment came from the morning manager, from whom I’d previously gotten said refills from. I am assuming that because I was only drinking iced tea at the time that it seemed like I had no intention of ordering anything else at the café. I’m not sure if they charge for refills on all of their soft drinks but honestly, the markup on fountain drinks usually more than makes up for a person drinking a few glasses worth of syrup or brew.
The comment caused me to change my study spot as well as where I was grabbing lunch for the day. My guesses are the café wants to cater primarily to the older crowd (it is in leisure world plaza), and sees anyone else as someone passing through. I have been to the café more than a hand few of times in just the past month, alone and insisting on introducing friends to the café.
I still feel like the Kozi Café has a lot of potential for attracting a larger, more diverse clientele. Happy hour, a wider array of musical talent, perhaps adding things to differentiate themselves from a place like Starbucks or Carabou coffee (I’d like to say hookah, but I get the feeling the locals wouldn’t look fondly on it). The food is still pretty good, the staff is alright but hit or miss, sometimes overly attentive, others strangely passive, wether or not the café is busy (usually not). I hope they do well, especially since they are a pretty independent business, though that’s not a pass, and things like skimping on soft drink refills and not necessarily making customers feel legitimately welcomed does not exactly a cozy atmosphere make.
IW

I hesitate to leave a review because I don’t want my new secret study spot to get too popular, but this place deserves more traffic than it gets.
Kozi Café is a great little chill spot with coffee drinks, beer, and wine. The menu is mostly sandwiches and paninis. I have had the rueben and the brisket sandwiches, and both are really good. They also have decent matzo ball soup.
They have a limited breakfast menu, which includes pancakes and breakfast sandwiches.
I give it 5 stars because it is exactly what I need. Starbucks is always too crowded and noisy to be a decent study spot, and this place is a wonderful alternative. (Also, they have beer and wine. Did I already mention that?)
Also, free wifi!
Next time you are out and looking for a coffee shop to spend a couple hours, skip Starbucks and come here. You won’t regret it.

This place is pathetic, enough said.

A great restaurant for lunch today. You order and pay at the counter and the food is delivered to your table. It came out quickly and was fresh and delicous. I would definately recommend if you are in the area. They also have breakfast (all day) and dinner. Will definitely go back.