Photo via Facebook

Photo via Facebook

Fast-casual chain Cava is celebrating the opening of its Navy Yard outpost today with free food for diners.

The Mediterranean spot’s customary free meal, which takes place for the opening of each new store, will run from 12 p.m. until 2 p.m., according to a release. New fall menu items include Greek Minestrone with Harissa, sweet and crunchy Carrots and Currants, and a line-up of house-made juices and teas.

Cava’s owners, three first-generation Greek American friends, began dishing out their bowls and salads in 2011. We featured the restaurant on our list of the best fast-casual offerings in D.C. last year.

The is the D.C.-based chain’s sixth location in the city. Last December, Cava opened a locale in Shaw that also serves as an “Innovation Kitchen” for testing new menu items and technology.

Since raising $30 million in new funding in March, the company announced that it will also opening one outpost on the H Street Corridor and another in Union Station this year, while breaking into new markets like Boston, New Jersey, and Connecticut, and expanding in states where it already has shops, like New York and California.

The chain will have at least 40 locations across the country by the end of the year.

The Navy Yard location, at 52 M Street SE, is now open daily from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m.