CAVA — Restaurant in Arlington

Disappointing. Do I need to say more? No, but I will. I have seen Cava in different locations, but it wasn’t until recently that I decided to try their food and that first time was about 2 months ago, in Woodbridge (Stonebridge). The food there was well prepared and tasted good. A few weeks later, a friend wanted to go to Cava near Annapolis. The menu was a little different but was still good. At both locations, I had food left over for the next day. I’m not talking about dishes with a lot of meats but a dish with only vegetables.

This location, in Ballston, deserves 0 stars. It’s a rip off for what you get for your money. I spent about $11.54 for what is in the picture. It wasn’t even worth that. I paid for a little bit of food (vegetables) and bad customer service.

I like falafels and have had it, along with the sweet potatoes at the other locations. Both tasted good. Cava @ Stonebridge has a dish with falafel that can be customized and made to order. Cava @ Annapolis has an assembly line.

But Cava @ Ballston, after giving me a little bit of food and charging me almost $12, said I had to pay .55 each for a falafel!!! How outrageous!!! If that wasn’t bad enough, the potatoes were hard (not cooked). If I had the time, I would have brought it back and gotten back my money. Cava @ Ballston is horrible!!! When I explained to the cashier that I only have half the order, and asked why should I be charged for a few falafels, she said that I should have asked for half & half. What the …?!!! I already have half!!!

So, I am going to save my money and time and only go to restaurants where my patronage is appreciated. Cava @ Ballston is the absolute worst!!! At this point, I will not be spending my money with Cava @ Ballston. They need to stop taking for granted people who choose to eat at their establishment because we...

I usually never have bad experiences with any Cava but this specific location has ben something. I don’t understand if im unlucky or what. I’ve only ever had one decent order where everything is cooked and nothing is missing. It feels like this location has been increasingly getting sloppier and sloppier. I spend around 20 dollars on my lunch break salads and my order is never right. There’s always something missing or something is wrong and I have to stand there like an idiot at the pickup center waiting for someone available to correct it. Every time I get lentils they’re never fully cooked which absolutely ruins the whole entire salad, it’s the direct equivalent of chewing on a load of rocks. Completely inedible, I always end up throwing it away. Today I went and grabbed my bag from pickup center. as im walking back to my office, i notice something is literally dripping from the bag. I don’t even know what it was, i didn’t order nò drinks. Just a salad bowl with only creamy dressings, not any liquid dressings. After that clown show and embarrassingly cleaning myself up at the office, i finally sit down to eat and it’s the tiniest scrawny portion of salad ever, i fear my jaw actually DROPPED. I hate writing negative reviews but y’all genuinely keep pissing me off. I get this is a busy location, especially during lunch hour but please get it together. Total...

Dining is just fine.(?)When your order for delivery or take out however, it’s a different story…almost as if if you’re not present when placing your order, those preparing your order have carte blanche authority to do whatever they want. As is consistent with previous orders, even if you specify what you want on your meal, you will ultimately get what you get and it will not be a full order when it arrives. More likely it will be 1/2 to 3/4 full. Ultimately your experience at this location will scratch that itch because we both know that if you’re coming here, you’re just settling for something mediocre. As previously stated, if you’re ordering from this place, you get what you get with little to no recourse.

I propose normalizing the behavior when ordering in person, and when your order does not meet your satisfaction, simply walking out without paying. The waste of resources, and with no income to account for the loss, is surely (hopefully) enough for the management to take action and to actually adopt some semblance of standards for...