CAVA — Restaurant in Dunwoody

This CAVA has a menu with all the different types of bowls you can choose. I get that. As I proceeded to the counter to give the young lady that asked me was I ready, I gave her my order. I asked for the super greens veggies, white rice, and grilled chicken. She gave me a heavy portion of the greens (which is what I am used to as a CAVA regular) and I would say a good amount of the Jasmin rice.

WHAT HAPPENED:

After she put the portion of meat on the rice, it looked like it was only a small spoon amount, I told her double meat. Not only did she look at me like she had an attitude I was asking, but the way she kind of dropped my bowl in that center part made me feel some kind of way. After she put my bowl in the middle part, she grabbed an "extra card" and placed it next to the bowl and then asked me did I want any of the toppings of which I said no then changed my mind before I got to the register and asked her for avocado and then cucumbers because at this point, I was already feeling that the customer service was not desirable. After that I moved forward waiting behind a couple to pay for my food.

There was a young lady standing behind me that the CAVA young lady begins to assist. I'm standing there watching her fix her bowl and when she gets to the proteins, the lady behind me says that she wants whatever the spicy grilled chicken is called. So, I'm watching her put the meat on that bowl, the young lady says, " Thanks girl!", and after she sits the bowl down in the middle and didn't put an "extra" card by it. I asked why she was charging me extra for my meat portion when the young lady's meat portion was the same amount as mine. She looked at both bowls and said she was not charging me for extra meat, only for the extra avocado. She said plus she got spicy chicken, and you didn't (I had no idea what that had to do with anything). Then she gives me this grudged stare and I stood there contemplating on leaving.

When the young man at the register gets ready to charge me, he says, " Extra meat and avocado" and I say now she said she was not charging me for extra meat. He turns around as she walks behind him and he says, " You said extra meat and avocado, right" she says " Yes" (after she told me in front of that lady that she was not charging me extra for the meat and only for the avocado). I then ask him why am I being charged extra when the lady's portion of meat behind me is the same as mine? He looks at both bowls and he give me that physical action of agreement but tells me that he had to charge me extra because they are only supposed to give two scoops of meat and any scoop after that is an extra charge. So, I say are you kidding. I'm paying extra for the labor it took her to scoop up another spoon of meat, and in the two scoops for the lady behind me she gave her the same amount of meat as me? He shrugged his shoulders and stated its simply because she had to do three scoops instead of two so that was considered extra.

MY ISSUE:

As I was walking out, I hear him say to the lady behind me " Hey, how you are doing today. You are starting to become one of our regulars, huh?" So, she was someone they were familiar with.

a. That is discontenting because since they are familiar with her, her dollar has more value than the dollar of a person who they don't recognize. Which, as a DEI practitioner (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) that would say that I am not equal to your regular, so I am penalized because of that? Or is it that I have to pay the additional amount for the labor it takes to do an extra hand scooping action?

As a consumer, I wholeheartedly want to be treated equitably (fairly) in any place that I am patronizing.

Is there a Corporate Governance policy at this restaurant? Does it include any DEI language for staff regarding how to treat patrons? See it's not about the meat, to me as a DEI practitioner, it was about feeling that my patronage and dollar was not as valuable as a regular customer. So, CAVA establishments value money and inequitable behavior over...

I really wanted to like this location as it is only 3 min from where I live but the last two times I’ve tried to patronize them and they failed miserably.

The first disappointment was when I went on a weekday around 8:30pm, mind you they don’t close until 10pm. I proceed to walk in and walk up to the counter and a woman asks me am I here to pick up an order? And I state that no, I want to place an order. She then says that I cannot place an order bc they are closing early bc they have ran out of majority of items on their menu. As disappointed as I was, I just walked out and accepted it as a mishap and kept it moving to find somwhere else to eat.

Ok, three days later, I decide to try this location out again. So last night I walked in around 8pm and there were two ladies behind the food counter, and the same lady from the last time asked me “Are you here to pick up an order?” to which I reply “No, I want to place one” she then tells the other woman standing beside firmly “This is the last order you take”. Judging by the lack of food that was in front of me they were, AGAIN having to close early bc they ran out of food! And instead of taking my order the girl tells me it’ll be a moment while she is putting together mobile/online orders in my face before taking my order and I am here in person, but I’m a fairly patient person so I wait for about 4 minutes, scroll through my phone, etc. I look up and she is still making other orders while I am being placed on the backburner. Then a mobile order driver comes in asking about an order and gets serviced before I can even place my order so I just decided to leave and NEVER come back to this location again! It’s a waste of your time and the fact that when I come they’re always closing two hours before they’re supposed to is extremely unprofessional and the place obviously needs better management skills bc you should NEVER be running out of food before you close! Let alone this has happened TWICE on my watch in the same week so this is an obvious problem that needs to be handled immediately by Corporate!

I leave immediately and as I am getting in my car the girl walks behind me to lock the doors TWO HOURS before they close, this is absolutely ridiculous! Just change your operation of business to close at 8pm or get it together in there!

I gladly went to the Cava location on Peachtree Blvd which is ten minutes away and had an EASY breezy experience. Great customer service and they hadn’t ran out of food and had plenty of people in line ready to take their orders! I will be patronizing this location from now on instead eventhough it’s a little further. The Perimeter Center location is now non-existent to me, and could learn a thing or two from the...

I frequent this location as its right down from my workplace. Today I had an unpleasant encounter with the “Manager” Tyra. They were rude and unprofessional. Their energy was completely off and should not have been at the front counter interacting with CAVAs customers.

What happened: I ordered a Harrissa bowl with half regular chicken. Well upon ordering I was told the location did not have Avocado. I still chose the bowl and was told I wouldn’t be charged the regular price due to not having avocado. The young lady starting the bowl explain that I should not be charged to full price as they were out of avocado to the manager who was taking over on the line. This is where the manager’s attitude kicked in with me, your customer who drove 2 other team members to eat here. Sidebar: manager was rude to one of them when they asked for a vinaigrette dressing that Im assuming you no longer carry.

At this point the manager Tyra took over finishing my bowl. When it was time to add veggies I asked for roasted. At this the manager said “Im charging extra for that”. As they did not address me, I did not respond. Again, the energy was off with them! Once the bowl was done they handed it to cashier and said charge her extra for the veggies. At this point I said I wont pay for extra veggies as I did not get extra. The 2 employees went back and forth about it in front of me. Manager kept saying I got extra meat so I cant have extra veggies. At this point I say, are you a manager? Tyra responds, yes I am. I advise them that I was in shock based on the lack of professionalism. And I explained that I wont argue with them. I let her know Ive always gotten my bowl prepared the same way and never had an issue so why today? Tyra explains that the store is about to so a audit of inventory and they are being forced to cut down on a lot. Imagine my shock at the explanation. I did not ask for extra, I was building my bowl!

Again, favorite location but not so much anymore! And, to top it off, when I read my receipt the cashier charged me for EXTRA CHICKEN instead of veggies!! Disappointed to...