CAVA — Restaurant in Austin

I went sometime ago. I’d heard so many rave reviews about the food from friends and coworkers.

I went in about an hour after they had opened. When I looked into the bins I noticed that they were pretty empty and thought “great, they’re going to refill with fresh items” WRONG! The girl behind the counter asked me what I wanted. I told her I’d never been there and I need to look at the options. She was not very friendly but rather blank faced, very quiet and seemed annoyed at my lack of education of their menu. Ok, whatever, to each his own maybe she’s in her thoughts or not feeling well. I told her what I wanted and to my shock she took her little scoop and SCRAPED the sides of the containers clean and put the fluff in my to go container. I said those don’t look like they have much food in them. She said that the scoop was full and that I’d be charged extra for more. IT WAS FILLED WITH FLUFF SCRAPINGS! We went down the line only to experience the same thing. I think I had three maybe four teeny tiny pieces of chicken. All put together maybe they were a full bite. In the end the serving of scrapings looked like a messy little pancake. I was very hungry and didn’t have the energy to argue with someone who obviously did not care to notice or care to care. I was charged full price and left angry and felt robbed.

When I got home I pushed the little heap to one side that could have passed as a snack serving of leftovers. It was no more than five bites.

While there at Cava I figured what’s the point in complaining or bringing it to someone’s attention. These days it seems that asking for assistance or God forbid a managers assistance that will only pin you as a Karen and then they find your social media and publicly shame you and try ruin your life and your livelihood when all you wanted was to eat what everyone was raving about . And you weren’t rude or nasty or yelled or caused a scene or insulted anyone. You were quiet, paid your dang near 20.00 and left. But it’s okay if you get stiffed on a product that wasn’t as advertised or expected and you had to pay with your hard earned money. Take your gruel, Oliver and be grateful. Now go peasant!

A week later a coworker came in to the breakroom with a container from Cava. It was FILLED to the top and sides. I asked if she had to pay extra for all that. She laughed with a confused look on her face and said “No. they always come this way”. I was saddened and angry all over again and told her what happened. She was confused and saddened by the service I got.

I’d like to try Cava again. Maybe not at the one on the Drag. But I’m not in a hurry to receive the same treatment. I would have given more stars if I have had more food to taste than the dried fluff particles I was given.

Also, seeing that there are ZERO replies from the company only shows that they don’t care. Why should they? Just cause you had a bad experience doesn’t mean...

I normally go to the Cava's Bee Cave location, but I tried this one yesterday and it was also equally as amazing. The thing about this location is that its right across from UT Austin so its normally really crowded but so is Bee Cave so I think that this might just be a popular place to eat. I always go with a grains bowl and try to keep it as low calorie as possible which isn't that hard since they have a nutrition calculator that can help add up all the calories for everything that you choose. The staff here were super friendly and made me feel really welcome even though they were really busy. Also, someone after me ordered Pita and the man serving him pulled out the pita and didn't like it's freshness so he wen't and grabbed fresh pitas which I thought was really nice because he went out of his way to grab fresher food although they did have other options available. Another thing I liked was how quickly I got my food despite the long line. There were like 10 people in front of me so I thought that I would have to wait awhile but after the initial hold up due to one customer, everything else moved efficiently. I will definitely be a regular at this location from now on because I love how health-conscious you can be while getting great food for a good price. The interior space is also really nice and roomy so its great for...

Ok so first and foremost, the food at ANY Cava is absolutely amazing! My review is for this specific location. I've ordered through door dash a couple of times and have been overwhelmingly disappointed every. Single. Time. They barely put anything in your bowl if you order it ahead of time either for pick up or delivery, so I wouldn't recommend that. The company itself made it right with me though. Due to this, I decided to go there and actually order in person. The staff appear to absolutely hate their job holy moly. They greet you, but they don't actually want a friendly greeting back, they just want you to shut up and order. I was rushed along to be served exactly 3 olives and 4 broccoli. 🙄 I am so sick of this location already I don't plan to ever come back. I've just had nothing but issues! I'll go try the others. This is my favorite restaurant. I get so excited because the one back home is almost an hour away, this one is 11 minutes from my work and I only come to Austin twice a month. I pay almost $20 for a bowl of food thrown together sloppily and they barely give you anything and they're just so unfriendly! Ya'll please work on your work culture at this location. You serve a great product that we love, don't make us dread...