CAVA — Restaurant in Austin

My family eats here a few times a month. We can place and customize our order through the app. The pick-up doesn’t require waiting in line, so it is fast and easy. The veggies are always fresh and the flavors are delicious. That’s not why I’m giving a 5-star review though.

Earlier this week, for whatever reason, our order was messed up. None of the bowls were correct. There was tzatziki sauce in bowls that were supposed to have no sauce and missing from the bowls that were supposed to have it. Falafel missing from my wife’s order bowl. Corn and pickled onions in my daughter’s bowl, when it should not have been, and was missing from mine. Not one of the customized orders was correct. One bowl was missing entirely. Some of the sides were missing.

My wife places the order and I pick it up. Usually that works flawlessly. I didn’t know that anything was wrong until I was already home and the food was being put out on the table. To her credit, my daughter handled it the best. The rest of us, not so much. The mixups made the dishes inedible for our various dietary restrictions and we weren’t able to find a way to switch to meet the other’s needs. Most of the order went uneaten and, unfortunately, my son the garbage disposal was away from home for the week. It was a complete waste.

The reason I’m writing this 5-star review is for what happened next. I called the store and explained the situation. I wasn’t cursing or name calling, but I was clearly angry. I was hungry, my wife was upset, and it was about all I could handle. The manager I spoke with listened patiently and as soon as I stopped speaking said “I’m sorry” then gave me options on how he could try to remedy the situation. I choose the option to come into the store another time and have them remake the entire order. He took my information, apologized again, and we hung up. I was still hungry, but I wasn’t angry anymore.

Today, I went to claim that offer to redo the entire order. I asked to speak with a manager, but the employee said she wasn’t immediately available and asked if it was something he could help me with. I explained the situation and he said, “No problem, I can get that started for you.” He was sincere, polite, and cheerful. He put me at ease and got to work right away. Shortly afterwards, Lala, the manager came and spoke with me. I briefly explained the situation again. Meanwhile the first guy was making fresh falafel for my wife’s bowl. Then she joined in to help complete the order.

At every step of the way each of the employees I interacted with were polite, sincere, and very obviously trying their best to fix the situation. That’s why I am giving a 5 star review.

Typically, I will not give more than 4 stars. Even if the place/person/service was great, because I think 5 stars should represent something beyond great - something special. Two managers and one employee. Nary an eye roll, nor scoff, nor anything except for a genuine friendly demeanor and a willingness to try their best to help me. That is something special and I truly appreciate what they did. All three of them. Thank...

This is from online pick ups. I've picked up food for my roommate 8 times from here. I can say that regardless of whether they are busy or not, the cashiers are always blasé at best and downright rude at worst. Also, the parking is atrocious. I've had to walk from Modern Market (on the other side of the lot) parking more than once. Unless you're using handicapped parking, don't ever expect a front row spot. Expect to wait if you're picking up an order. Of the 8 times I've been there, only once did they actually have the order ready and waiting at the pick-up time. When I went in yesterday, there were 5 other people waiting and there is no designated area to wait so we had to hang around the area where customers exit the line and get drinks. We are in Stage 5 now and very few people in there (staff included) were wearing masks so it was extremely uncomfortable waiting for the food. We all kind of shuffled around each time someone would come through but there was no way to keep socially distanced with 5 people and people cutting through the roughly 6' x 8' rectangle by the pick up area. When my order was ready, I watched the cashier put the bowl in the bag and stick the little sticker on it. She didn't even look at the receipt to see if it had anything else. So when she handed me the bag, I politely asked if the cookie that was ordered was in there. The girl (really wish I had gotten a look at her name tag), looked at the receipt, ROLLED HER EYES like it was the most inconvenient thing to make sure my order was correct, reached over to the cookie basket and shoved the cookie in the bag. I was handed the bag without a word. 10 minutes past when it was supposed to be done with no apology or anything. I told the girl to have a nice day, to which she scoffed and turned back to the register. I understand that it sucks when things get busy. I've worked in food service and kitchens for 15 years now. But if any of my bosses had seen me treat a customer like that, I would have been written up or possibly fired on the spot (depending on the boss). I can't wait until they open up the new location in Sunset Valley. I'll tell my roommate to just order from there. Hopefully, they'll train their cashiers to handle the stress of being busy...

here is what you need to know before coming here:

extremely strategic location doesn't look big from the outside but actually has plenty of seating outside and inside with handicap accessibility and easy access to to-go orders as well

also the restrooms which there were two shared were absolutely spotless and perfect for a quick pit stop if you're coming eastward on Bee's cave road.

plenty of convenient parking in this shared parking lot and very friendly customer service was greeted treated like family welcome to warmly and I got through my order and they're very timely fashion

they also have super stable Wi-Fi here with surprising high download speeds

did not see her there any outlets though so just keep that in mind of coming here to work

I got the spicy meatballs with a vegetable kale superfoods base trying there Caesar special pepper sauce on some fiery hummus and I can definitely say I'm a huge fan of their pickled onion and fiery broccoli shredded mix

also for the drinks let me point out if you join the app and the rewards program and build up points you can use points actually to a free drink which I did

and their drinks do come with free refills and what makes this place very different is they have main root sodas including the black cherry soda immediately fell in love with that I have not seen anywhere else before

later refilled up and got their homemade in-house blueberry lavender juice which was absolutely magnificent not too sweet balanced I'm a huge fan of blueberry and lavender and this hit the spot for me

highly recommend this place and thankfully for those who are handicapped easily accessible with many options inside...