CAVA — Restaurant in Fletcher

First time ever eating at Cava on Airport Road. The windows are tinted but there was only 1 car parked in the parking lot and it looked closed. They need to invest in a bright OPEN sign so people know they’re open! It smelt & looked fresh & clean. However, with it being our first time there, there’s no where telling you where to order or what to do, so once again, they need to invest in ORDER HERE/PAY HERE signs… the servers behind the bar just stood there and looked at us like we were dumb - they weren’t helpful at all. The girl who was taking orders, she spoke so quiet (if you’re gonna work in a restaurant, you have to speak up).. we couldn’t understand anything she said. On the bar, there aren’t any labels saying what everything is and when I asked the girl taking my order, I couldn’t hear her and when I said: “I’m sorry I didn’t hear what you said” she just stared at me dumbfounded. So I said nevermind and she still just stared. It was frustrating. When I went to get my drink, there were several different kinds of beverages, some I’d never heard of, so I poured just enough to try the blueberry lavender and it was okay but I didn’t want to drink it with my meal but a guy came over as I was about to pour it out and said, you can’t pour that out into the drain. I said it’s not a lot and I wanted to try the other ones. He just stared. I said if you had some mini cups, people could try the many flavors you have. Once again, he just stared at me, looking confused on what I said. I said forget it, I’ll just drink this until I’m out and try something else. He said, that’s the point.

I love Cava! This was the first time visiting the Airport rd location and miss having the Biltmore Village location and wish them all the best on the recovery. I have been a fan since my first visit and never had a problem. In fact, I have had a couple occasions where the staff have been extra courteous and wonderful. Unfortunately, this was not the case this time around. It was also my first time using the digital drive thru which I thought would be pretty easy. Not true. I pulled up and an employee walked by the window, made eye contact and I raised my hand to wave when they walked away. I assumed they were preparing my order or finding it. I sat there for 3 minutes waiting, and the same employee walked back over and as soon as they came into of the window they physically backed up. I gave the benefit of the doubt and the same employee then stood opposite of the window with their back to me with no customers in front of them after over 5 total minutes had passed. As I was getting ready to pull up and walk in, another employee went walking by the window and as soon as they noticed me, they immediately stopped, popped the window open and asked what my name was for the order. The same employee that ignored me just stood there watching. I could only deduce that they were not trained to complete the transaction not knowing what all was involved. Come to find out, it was pretty straight forward to ask for a name and match the name to an order. I was honestly not in a head space to ask for a manager to talk through the interaction because I knew I would have been overreacting as it is not super serious, but simply rude and unprofessional. Very disappointed. I know Cava has a focus on customer service as I have friends that manage and work in their company. They still have my business; my only hope is they take reviews seriously and follow up to ensure they can give opportunities for their...

Very friendly staff, very quick and efficient for a neo-fast-casual model. I had a Falafel Crunch Bowl, which was quite excellent and the food quality was much better than average with a good variety of toppings and dips and sauces, but I was left wishing for a vegetarian protein option, like tofu, and additional base options such as new roasted potatoes or lentils or roasted cauliflower. Pricing was ... Average? I guess? ... $36 for two bowls, a water, and a fountain drink (which to their credit, at least wasn't a Pepsi or Coke product and other enticing non-carbonated options were also available. I mean to be fair, they did throw in a nice side of pita bread for each entree -- which was both relevant to the theme / appropriate and actually was seasoned quite nicely and was pretty tasty... Well, it's a whole new world post-pandemic, isn't it? $40 for two at a fast casual (no desserts, no extras) seems pretty high for what it was, but also fresh quality food does cost money, and so do good people to make it happen, and so does the rent in a high traffic location... I get it. I suppose the challenging part for me, at least, would be "what about the whole experience makes it 'special' enough to potentially compete for my attention with other local go-to favorite options in roughly the same price range offering similar health-conscious options in the fresh-fast space? Hmmm. Additional ahem research, will be needed. Next time I'll try another menu offering -- a proper pita pocket! Btw this is no reflection on the staff, which I will say again, were all great, and the whole place was...