I've never been to a Cava before, but I've always heard great things - besides it being more on the pricier side. Think of Cava like a Chipotle, but with meditteranean options. My husband and I decided to stop by on a Wedneday night around 5pm. We probably waited for about 30-40 minutes. I think Cava can be improved in so many ways. Since customers are waiting for 30+ minutes, I think there should be all the food options on the walls where its visible to customers - instead of just in small signs right by the food. I feel like the line moves so slow, but people have to wait until they get to the first worker before they know what their actual options are for grains, green, proteins, toppings, sauces, and dressing. Since they also just opened up, I know that timing definitely needs to be worked on.
My husband and I wanted to be proactive, so I went on their site so we could check what we would want in our own bowls. We made our decisions, so we can just order quickly and move through the line. However, there were so many things that they ran out of .. mind you, this is at the start of dinner time on a week day night. It was a little frustrating, but we wanted to be understanding and just go with whatever they had available. They ran out of both the spicy lamb meatballs and braised lamb, which were the two proteins that my husband wanted. They gave what little of the last remnants of the braised lamb (it was kind of dry), and he ordered the falafel instead which was actually pretty good. We asked if we could try the sauce of the spicy lamb meatball (there was a super tiny piece). After trying it, it was a blessing in disguise that we didn't get it because it was super salty. The falafel was the better choice.
Luckily, I just wanted the harissa honey chicken, which they had. The pieces were pretty charred, dry, and small. I wanted to do a greens and grains bowl, so I picked the super greens and basmati rice option. My husband went for the romaine lettuce and lentil beans. The super greens were cool, but the basmati rice was all lumped together. It didn't seem like it was cooked properly. You're allowed to choose 3 dips each, so I chose the crazy feta, tzatziki, and red pepper hummus. . My husband got the roasted eggplant dip, traditional hummus, and the harissa. Out of all the choices, we liked the red pepper hummus, tzatziki, and the crazy feta. For toppings, I wanted the corn, pickled onions, cucumbers, avocado and pita chips. They ran out of corn! I got so sad, so I just replaced the corn with salted brined pickles which is definitely not the same. The avocado is nearly $3 for a quarter of a small avocado (so not worth it). My husband got the tomato+cucumbers, pickled onions, pita chips, and feta. For our dressing, I did the hot harissa vinagarette which I regret. Definitely pass on this .. while my husband ordered the lemon herb tahini, which is a definitely better option. We also wanted to try the garlic dressing and the skhug dressing. We definitely preferred the garlic dressing with the falafel, and the skhug with the chicken. For our drink, we shared the cucumber lemon mint which tasted watered down.
Overall, service was sadly really slow for the dinner time. I know that they probably just need more time. There's plenty of seating available. I'd probably come back, or probably just order for pick up next time. It seems like pick-up orders get more priority over in-person orders (especially when it comes to things that run out). I'm really sad that this was our first experience with Cava. But it is what it is. read more