CAVA — Restaurant in Charleston

When I found out that there was a new CAVA location, I was thrilled. The mt pleasant location often has very long wait times and I had stopped going there for that exact reason. However, after my trip to this CAVA, I would gladly go to the mt pleasant CAVA over this one any day.

I had placed an online order because I assumed it would be busy. I arrived 15 minutes after the promised time (it was supposed to be ready at 1:15 and I got there at 1:30). I asked the cashier about it because it wasn’t super busy, and she said they were working on cooking more proteins. Strangely, the people in line who did not mobile order did not have to spend extra time waiting so I’m not sure what that was about.

I was trying to be understanding because I assume the staff were all new, but after an interaction with the man who was working on the mobile orders, I realized that this location had issues. I had been waiting for a while, so my boyfriend went up to see if we could get our drink to sip on while we were waiting. The man in the working on mobile orders then yelled that he was going as quickly as he could and that it was not his fault that it was taking so long (my boyfriend said nothing to him nor did he complain about the wait time, he simply asked for our drink).

After we finally got our order (35 minutes after the promised time), instead of saying excuse me to my boyfriend, the same man said, “Move out of the way. This is where I put my orders”. Mind you, there wasn’t much space to wait that wasn’t in front of where he put his orders because there were about 4 or 5 other people who were waiting that were promised their food at 1:15 as well. The other people waiting looked at him when he said that and seemed very shocked that he would be so rude. I know that it was probably because he was stressed, but you should never talk to a person, let alone a customer, that way.

I understand that it is likely the system that has this issue of incorrectly estimating how long a mobile order will take, but I will never go back to this location because of how rude that...

THIS IS THE ONLY NEGATIVE REVIEW IVE EVER MADE. THIS PLACE WAS HORRIBLE… Story time. I went to this location on 5/14 at 8:35 pm the manager on duty’s name was Michael. As I got into line (that was moving slow as molasses) the team member while making the persons food in front (whom ended up leaving) of me said in a barely audible voice “you getting sum or nah” very disrespectfully. When I asked if they had everything for my pita he said “uh huh” then proceeded to make my pita with half of the things that came with my order because the were out of half of the stuff on the menu I’m guessing due to poor preparation and supply, as it was not near busy enough to be out of that many things. As I approached the team member doing the toppings the gentleman in front of me asked for tatziki and was told “na you had to order it back there I don’t do that”. When it was my turn, he put half of the stuff in my order and slapped the few toppings available down, half of them hitting the floor anyway. wrapped my food up and handed it toward the register where no one was working anyways. This was due to the fact that in middle of all this the cashier exclaimed in front of the whole restaurant he wanted a break and clocked out. Michael whom I feel bad for because he was running around like a chicken with his head cut off because no one was doing there job, then rang me up. $20 for a cold pita with half of the things I paid for on it????? Pretty wild. Go somewhere else, go to chipotle, go to McDonald’s, go to the worst gas station you can think of, or just go pick something out of the garbage and eat it you will get a better customer experience that way. After all of this as we were leaving with our frigid Ice cold food Michael asked one of the workers to clean up the front line he just looked at him and ignored him. Please...

First, let me start by saying I love CAVA, and I rarely write negative reviews because I understand how challenging working in the service industry can be, and that some issues are out of the staff’s control. For example, the Mt. Pleasant location is fantastic.

I genuinely tried to give this new location the benefit of the doubt, knowing that new establishments often face growing pains. However, after repeated visits and numerous failed experiences, I feel compelled to share my feedback.

The staff here is consistently rude and unhelpful, making each visit unpleasant. Their attitude suggests they don’t care about providing good service or addressing customer concerns.

The restaurant itself is shockingly unclean. Tables are rarely wiped down, trash is left overflowing, and the drink and condiment stations are a mess. It’s clear that cleanliness and hygiene are not priorities at this location.

They also frequently run out of basic ingredients, and it's almost guaranteed they’ll mess up your order. Every single time, they’ve either left out over half of the ingredients I paid extra for or mixed up my order completely. It’s incredibly frustrating to spend money on a meal, only to receive something that doesn’t even resemble what you ordered.

This level of incompetence and lack of care is unacceptable. I’ve given this location multiple chances, but at this point, I cannot recommend it to anyone. Avoid this location and stick with others like Mt. Pleasant, where they...