40 minute wait. Out of most of the toppings. Nobody prepped anything earlier (this is a Saturday night, mind you). 3 people working. One doing doordash orders, one cooking, and one person left - with absolutely no sense of urgently (completely aloof) to help 25 people in line. Indifferent, obviously frustrated staff. Sticky tables, no napkins or forks and bathrooms were a mess. Ownership/"management" should be ashamed of themselves. Will never return. read more

First time but for sure not my last. Delicious food. Love being able to configure my bowl my way!

Sophia and Irma and Victoria provided fantastic and attentive service! The restaurant was clean and the food was delicious.

Love this location!! Great service and fast Food is fresh and staff is friendly :) Go! read more

Delicious, healthy and big portions. Food is always fresh and the restaurant seems clean.

I have been a long time fan of Cava and I love this location in Encinitas! It is always super clean and well taken care of with such friendly staff. Saylor and Charles were super attentive and helpful when making our bowls and the manager Aaron was super nice! We definitely recommend this place as we love it! Delicious food and wonderful staff! read more

They are very generous with their portions and the staff is super kind! Chipotle could never

Just picked up my online order on my lunch break for me and my coworker. The food was ready for me at my desired time. When I took it back to the office to eat we both opened our bowls and were disappointed to see the smaller portions. We have been going to CAVA for years and this is the first time experiencing this. Not sure if there is new staff or they are cutting back on the portion size but this was defiantly underwhelming as I was treating my coworker to birthday lunch. Birthday bummer :( read more

Love going to grab food at CAVA. Not only is the staff super friendly & kind but the food is always good!!! (:

After 5 visits, I'm not going back. Interesting concept and tasty food but service is terrible. Long waits and they're always out of multiple main things. read more

The food is awesome and healthy just a learning curve when it's your first time ordering! Totally would have given 5 stars if there was more direction. read more

Amazing food, great ambiance, and outstanding customer service from the crew and Antonio! Thank you!

Just came here and took 10 minutes to be helped. Then I received the worst portioned bowl I have ever seen. Will never come back to this location again with awful service. read more

Matthew, Karen, and Leslie made ordering so fun! Food was amazing and fresh! customer service was outstanding. 10/10!!!

Don't support businesses that do not accept cash as a form of payment. They accept cash tips, but not cash to pay for your food. Make that make sense. I'll take my business other places that support all forms of payment. read more

Great food that's seasoned well, great people, great atmosphere, I always come to this place

First review: Costa Mesa location, somehow review went under Encinitas. Business brainstorming session: "Chipotle, but Mediterranean!" Id bet almost every dollar I have this is how Cava came to be. It was good. Not great. Wouldn't rush back. Had the spicy lamb meatballs. As a Kiwi living in the US, I take every chance I can get to eat lamb. Theirs was ok, nothing to write home about, but solid. I'd probably rate this close to 3.5/5, but closer to 4 than 3. Take that as you will. Good, not great, will return, but nothing too special. 2nd review: On Second try at the Encinitas location: really not impressed tbh. Got the braised lamb (+$1.75) after someone PMd me on here HIGHLY recommending it. It's whatever, like a 4.5/10. Do not recommend, not very good. By far the GREASIEST protein you will ever find anywhere in your life. Literally comes soaking wet and produces 3-4fl oz of grease, all over your hands, plate, tray, everywhere. De-grease that shit bro. I promise it will still be plenty moist. Do not get in a pita, especially if you are taking it to go. I ate in, but can only imagine the disappointment if I took it to go. It would be soaking wet and wouldn't travel well at all. The pita is actually good, but extremely tough. The lamb is soaking wet in yellow fat / grease. Literally needed 15-20 napkins to even tackle this grease my burrito looking thing, and I try to be super low waste on napkins. I'll use one at chipotle and be fine. Will not attempt again. Oh, and $2.75 for a SMALL soda. Actually couldn't believe it and double checked with the cashier to confirm. "Yeah, they're specialty handmade or something." Had to vote with my dollar and tel him to cancel the soda, honestly the most ridiculous price I've heard for a soda in my life. No thanks, probably won't be back, which is a shame because it's a cool concept, but it's mainly a sauce and spread parade with a single pita. In fairness, it was a pretty generous portion of greased lamb, and the staff hooked up a beef meatball to try. Just save yourself the headache and go with those, they're pretty good. read more

CAVA - Mediterranean Near Me - Encinitas, California

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LOVE this place. I have already eaten here at least 5 times. The food is fresh and delicious and the portions are great. They are very accommodating when you want to add or change or have half and half of something. They also have some really cool drinks (different healthy teas and lemonades that are made from scratch). This is my go to place when I come home late from work and want something healthy, delicious and easy. Also, the prices are fantastic. You get a huge portion of food for an incredibly reasonable price. My only complaint: their takeout bowls are much, much bigger than their eat in bowls. I have noticed that this has caused people to always ask for the to go bowls even when eating in. read more

great food, great pricing, and the service from the staff was great. Joe was very nice and knew what to recommend! will be back every week!

I love cava! Xander is the best!!! His customer service and work ethic is outstanding!!! Anyone would be lucky to work with him! I'm a regular! It's my fav and I eat there at least once a week!!! Always consistent! read more

Great food and great service by Sophia!!! You have to live a healthy choice in todays world of takeout food.

Seriously hands down best service staff!!! My new favorite place! Luckily I was visiting but love love . Love the concept. It's like build your own bowl but the possibilities are endless. You'd never get bored. Sorry Chipotle new KING is here to dethrone you! Healthy Mediterranean and plant based foods. You get all your minerals and proteins and delicious refreshing aguas frescas. Amazing job team CAVA! May you open a lot more stores closer to home! read more

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The idea of a healthy delicious option for lunch/dinner is fantastic. This place has the potential to be my family's go to option for lunch/dinner. Unfortunately they are having a difficult time preparing their meat/chicken products. We are all very tired of biting into chunks of fat in the chicken/steak. All it will take is the food preparer to better sort the meat/chicken and toss the inedible pieces in the trash and not on my plate. It's really disgusting and is a deterrent to go back to what could be the best quick dinner option out there. The rest of their products are top notch - for now I may return but it will be the vegetarian version, which is a shame I need to go that route read more

Half a star would be too kind. They advertise a full bowl ours was half empty it cost $30 and then they had the nerve not to even half 1/2 cup of rice. Added on proteins and they were missing. Not worth it. Notice the advertised picture and think about the bowl we received was 3/4 empty. read more

CAVA - As pictured but not delivered. Skimpy portions. - Mediterranean Near Me - Encinitas, California

Great service. Sophia was excellent! The food here is always fresh and on time. Get your cava fix!!! You won't be disappointed!!

Not too bad. Came here during my lunch and the ordering was quite confusing at first. Definitely not like any other Mediterranean place I've been to before. Its basically like a chipotle version. You choose what type of style you want, then you choose the protein and then the additional toppings. I think if it wasn't so busy, I would of enjoyed it. But, I felt so rushed to get my order through that I didn't really know what I was adding, I was just trying not to hold the line up. The moment I took an extra second, the counter people were annoyed. I got the braised lamb, which they said was the best item but to me I thought it tasted really gamey, but I guess lamb just always has a stronger taste than other meats. Its a unique style, but I think I will stick with what I know. read more

Went here for lunch and the food was FIRE! The employee who helped me was named Ference (I think?) and he was so helpful and had some awesome suggestions and absolutely made our time here better!!! read more

This place has been on my bookmark for forever. I was delivering instacart and it led me to Encinitas. I got a grains n greens bowl, totally amazing. So much flavor and I love the unlimited toppings. Def tops my list of Greek places. read more

Absolute awful service. After ordering from Cava through a delivery service, our order arrived with zero protein, which as we all know costs a small fortune these days. We decided to go directly to the store so the issue could be corrected. After asking the "manager", Trey, if they could kindly offer some sort of discount for the inconvenience, he not only said "he already gave you the protein" with an attitude, but took no accountability, saying it was the delivery service's problem and to complain to corporate. He also continued to raise his voice at us saying "leave my store" countless times and threatened to call the cops on us. We were accused of speaking poorly to the staff and were not given a simple "sorry for the trouble". Trey was so rude, clearly doesn't understand what being in customer service means, nor how to take accountability for a mistake his store caused, while making us feel like it was our mistake. Customer service is what keeps people going back to any restaurant. After being treated the way we were, we will not be going back. read more

40 minute wait for 1 bowl, they finished another order before mine and they were rude. Wild experience tbh. All food tastes bad with such terrible customer service. Only cava nearby such a bummer read more

Such fantastic food! However, both times I've been here the line has been wrapped around the store, with limited staff working, plus they're all moving so so slow. Honestly I did not notice one employee show the slightest sense of urgency to speed up the wait. I waited for my food the second time, but I will certainly drive to the Del Mar location to a Void that wait in the future. read more

I'm giving this place 2 stars based on my experience today. This has nothing to do with the food because it's delicious. Tonight I was picking up my online order inside and as I was entering, I saw a man carrying a Cava labeled bag back inside. As I enter, I hear this man saying that this isn't his order and notice one of your employees take this bag and place it back on the shelf. You do realize this bag of food was in someone else's possession, outside the store, during COVID ??? I go and look at this bag and it's my order. I tell them I'm here to pick up this bag and immediately another employee, not the one that placed the bag there, tells me that he will remake it, but only after I asked him to. If I didn't come in at the same time as the gentlemen bringing that bag in and didn't know that it left the store then I would have been giving this bag of food. Shame on that employee for putting the food back on the shelf and not taking the initiative to remake it. read more

Workers here are super nice & the environment is really clean! They stay on top of things here & I would definitely come back to this location! read more

They pushed through a big line efficiently, Customer service was great. Food was great!

Didn't get to take a picture of my bowl but they really skimped on the portions. I got like a teaspoon of hummus, the bowl was half filled, and even the cucumbers and corn were measly. Expected more for $10 and didnt get to check until we got home since we placed online order and picked up. Was delicious and the garlic sauce was really good but had to take stars away for the portions. Even though it's covid, I mean we are all trying to save money and at least supporting the business. The least we could get is a normal sized portion that better fits the price read more

Came in to get dinner for my family on a Thursday evening while my daughter was at soccer practice.All the people working there were friendly and attentive but Xander went above and beyond! I asked for several dressings on the side and changed a few things but he was cheerful and friendly and unfazed. Thanks, Xander! read more

savannah at the front was great and helpful but we feel bad they are constantly understaffed. seems like she was the only person working while the rest of the staff stood around doing nothing. every time we come in, they are short staffed and one girl is left in the front to make food and manage the line. food is always great though! read more

I was excited to see an Eastern Mediterranean style restaurant opening up in New Encinitas. I am a big fan of the flavors and ingredients of the region (see my review of Ara in San Marcos)--never mind the fact that almost every people in the region claim that they are the originators of various dishes! My wife and I actually ran into some of the managers overseeing its opening about 2 weeks before. They informed me that they would be having a soft opening on the 30th of September and between 11-2 and 5-7 the food would be free as their introduction to the community. They'd be asking for charitable donations, which I thought showed a lot of good civc responsibility. So on the 30th, I showed up around 11:30 in the morning and the place, as one might imagine, was packed. The line was simply a bit too long for me, although I eyeballed what people were eating and even got an aroma coming out of CAVA, and I decided to do some shopping and check back later. I arrived at 1:50 and there were no lines and only a few customers remained in the place. Great, I thought--I can get a taste of the place. I entered and was quickly informed by a beaming manager that they weren't serving anymore and that they'd reopen at 5:00. I am tolerably sure that 1:50 comes before 2:00, but there it is. I was not able to get to the evening meal, so I opted to go on a quiet Tuesday night. The space is fashionably minimalistic and pleasant enough, but too cavernous to be really called inviting. I was greeted by the bit too friendly staff, explained how one built one's own meal and went about ordering. The bowl style serving seems to be an increasingly ubiquitous (and unfortunate) means of serving any trendy food these days, but I forebode comment. I opted for a grains and salad base (mixed greens and black lentils); 3 dips of crazy feta, eggplant and red pepper, and harissa; braised lamb; and cucumbers and tomatoes and pickled onions toppings. Surprisingly, while they had a mint choice, there was no basil (both are Greek, btw). I had the seasonal red pepper chickpea dressing and the bowl was served with a mini pita on the side. I was told by the young man who made my bowl and the cashier with a slightly Moonie-like enthusiasm about how great the food is and how much I would enjoy it. The bowl itself was reasonably good. Although the dips were a touch small, I did like the harissa immensely (properly spicy). The braised lamb was also very well done, although it was barely braised; it was closer to a consistency and texture of carnitas. All in all, despite a somewhat Spartan bowl at a slightly steep price (about $12 excluding taxes), it was perfectly edible. What was shockingly disappointing, however, was the pita. Again, I was assured by the staff that their mini pitas were one of their signature offerings. Quite apart from the fact that it was cold, it had a distinctively artificial, almost synthetic taste. I took two bites and decided it was simply inedible. I almost asked for another pita, but I am pretty sure that it would possess the same flavor. So all in all, I would call this a strictly average addition to the food scene in North County. I am giving CAVA three stars, although the entire experience left a slightly bad taste in my mouth (pun intended). A well-meant word of advice to the managers: let the food do the talking for you. Better to have people talk up your food than you. And for Pete's sake, do something about those pitas. read more

Great service.. food is delicious. It's our favorite spot for lunch. Shout out to Fevenc for being a genuinely nice person and very easy to talk to. read more

Ok the concept is amazing, staff is good and the food was kinda just ok - lacking flavor. The only reason my meal tasted good was the green sauce they gave me to try. The hummus needed something - it was as if someone just threw chickpeas in a blender and added nothing else. The lentils were a tad under uncooked/no flavor and the lemon dressing was bland. Also I watched one employee snap at another employee and speak down to her in front of customers. I believe it was a manager - she yelled at the women helping me because she was telling the cashier what I ordered. It may have not been their flow but she handled it so weird. I'm giving this a 4 because - it's clean, so much potential, and I want this to be my fav place! I love Mediterranean food so please step up! read more