Roti Mediterranean Bowls. Salads. Pitas. — Restaurant in Washington

Solid Mediterranean bowls, salads, and pitas topped with a variety of fresh ingredients and perfect for a relatively tasty, quick, and affordable meal. The concept is pretty similar to CAVA -- you can either build your own by choosing a base, main, and toppings, or you can pick from one of their chef-curated options. I usually opt to build my own with their salmon fillet or roasted butternut squash over kale, and topped with all the veggies and hummus. All of their veggies are super fresh, and their sauces all pack a ton of flavor (watch out for the spicy ones -- they actually are quite spicy). Their salmon fillets tend to be very small and a touch dry, as I assume they've been sitting under the heat lamp for a while, but they still pack a good flavor.

Although the food is solid, it's generally not my first choice for fast-casual Mediterranean fare, as (1) they're not always aware of which allergens are in their food, and (2) despite being a fast-casual spot, service can often be quite delayed.

Starting with the first -- the staff is wonderful at handling dietary restrictions; they'll put on new gloves, make sure your order is on a clean service (i.e., new foil or bowl), and avoid working on other orders at the same time as yours. However, I'm worried they haven't been told what all the allergens are in all of their ingredients. For example, I've received their gluten-free falafel pita box at several catered office lunches, and, unfortunately, ended up feeling pretty sick afterwards. Although I appreciate that they have a gluten-free pita (although it does taste pretty dismal) and that they have gluten-free options for desserts and sides, I don't believe their falafel is gluten-free (or maybe it's something in the rice or one of the toppings...I'm not entirely sure what it is or if there's just some cross-contamination, but something in those boxes definitely isn't sitting right with me).

Beyond dietary restrictions, the only other drawback to Roti is that it's not always as speedy as advertised, which is not at all the fault of the employees. Every time I go in, there are usually only 1-2 people working the entire restaurant, fielding a slew of both in-person and mobile orders. This naturally creates a delay in getting out all orders; for example, I'll sometimes wait upwards of 30+ min. for a line of five or so in-person customers because the staff is so swamped with mobile orders. On the flip side, if you get a mobile order, definitely go to pick it up instead of using their delivery service (which includes third-party apps like UberEats, as Roti opts to use their own drivers for those services). I usually have to wait over 45 min. for a delivery order, despite the quoted wait time of 15 min. and that my apartment is less than 2 miles away from the restaurant.

All in all, I think Roti is a solid place for fresh, flavor-packed Mediterranean bowls, salads, and pitas. However, I would recommend caution if you have dietary restrictions or if you're in...

Recently: first time visiting this location which is the closest to my residence. The service was...sufficient I guess, but the demeanor to go along with it, not so much. I guess my server was so focused on rushing to provide my order so that she could be done cleaning before closing that she didn't pay full attention to what I wanted to order. So much so, despite me responding "No" when she thought she was stating what I wanted, I still had to repeat myself twice before she looked at me to pay attention. I was distinctly asking for flatbread then pizza and told her not a wrap & that I had not said pita. After all of that, I paid for my order and was still at the register she began to interact with who turned out to be the last customer who entered after me even though she wasn't creating his order. I noticed that she exhibited differential treatment telling him "thank you, have a good night". And he exited the restaurant before I did because I had to stop and get napkins. Then a guy came out from the rear and was talking about how the day went, and all of a sudden all became quiet; like somebody 'shushed' him - just before I walked out of the door. Still, I heard not even 'good night'.

As far as my order: the lamb meatballs were pretty stiff and a little dry. My bowl was overall bland in flavor, maybe because I didn't ask for olives since I didn't see them out.... or due to the energy of the person who created my order? It so happens I visited another Roti a few days prior and the overall experience including food taste was like night and day...

Delicious fast casual Mediterranean food bursting with flavor, better than Cava! While Cava is good, Roti has higher quality and better ingredients with more manageable portions. The turmeric rice is very flavorful and love to the fire roasted veggies. It's nice to not have to choose my protein between falafel or veggies. I can get both at Roti with a scoop of veggies without getting skimped on the falafel. At Cava, I would always have to choose between the two or get skimped on something! The fluffy cous cous and crispy falafel are quite tasty. All the sides and hummus, garlic lemon and spicy roasted red pepper dressings are flavorful. It's hard to go wrong!

The chocolate chip cookies are a hit/miss depending on the location and time of day. If you can catch a freshly baked cookie out of the oven, they are hands-down the best cookies in DC with a a crispy shell and soft and goey inside. However if they've been packaged for hours, they taste stale and need to warm them up - not a fan. These sadly were stale!

Sad to see many Roti locations temporarily closed including the one in my area in Vienna. Please reopen them soon! Worth a trip into DC...