CAVA — Restaurant in Fredericksburg

I was here on 1 August for "Community Day" to shoot pictures of the inside and outside of the building since I knew there would not be so many people here. While I was there I also talked to the manager and some of the employees of CAVA from other locations around the area to help open the place.

This is the first time I have been to a CAVA Restaurant to eat It was around 13:00 when we went there and it was a little bit crowded in there with about 20 people in line to place their order. Had a talk with a couple of the employees that worked there and one said this crowed is nothing weekends are really crowded. Also got a tip from Eric from North Carolina to try the Crazy Feta Dip if I like it a little Spicy!

Today my wife and I went there to have lunch. So my wife picked the Grain Bowl and Spicy Lamb Meatballs and Tzatziki dip with Tomato + Onion and Crumbled Feta with the Seasonal Dressing. I decided to have the Salad and told the counter person to toss in the salad a little bit of all the greens I also had Tzatziki, Roasted Red Pepper Hummus and Crazy Feta (spicy!) as a dip. I also picked the Grilled Meatballs and for my toppings I had Tomato + Cucumber, Kalamata Olives, Cabbage Slaw with the Greek Vinaigrette as the dressing and a Mini Pita. They also have an interesting variety of fountain sodas and Seasonal Juices + Teas.. like Mexicane Cola, Blueberry Soda, Jasmine Tea and Watermelon Mint. I decided to quick try a little bit of all of them so I picked Strawberry Citrus.

I found that items that I picked were pretty good and that the Crazy Feta was really good to pair with the Grilled Meatballs. I also tried my wife's Spicy Lamb Meatballs (never had them before) and found that they were pretty good and yes spicy but no that bad. I ate everything that I asked for even considering some of those items I never ate before. Yes I would recommend this place as choice for a good place to eat.

One thing would be to lessen the amount of plastics used for take out including plastic straws and find a better solution for this...

To accurately review the Fredericksburg Cava, I need you to know what brought me there. On Saturday, at 10pm, I began a drive to Ocracoke Island with my family. We arrived there after 12+ hours, deeply sleep deprived, but eager for our vacation. That night, having unpacked and only begun to enjoy the island, we received a mandatory evacuation order. Hurricane Erin: in her growing power, she would be sending flooding and waves and rip currents our way. Less than 24 hours after arrival, we began our departure from the island at 7am. Another 12hr+ drive stood between us and home. This brings us to Cava, on Monday afternoon. Over 9 hours in the car and many more still to go, the caffeine and gas station junk food that had carried us in our travels would take us no further. With two vegans in the car, where along our route might we stop? Cava is more than a fast casual Mediterranean restaurant—it is now my oasis, my beacon, my port in the storm. The fresh ingredients, the flavor, the variety, the life that Cava offers, brought us back from the brink. I made my own bowl, with a base of spinach, white rice, and black lentils, topped with hummus, falafel, corn, broccoli, and a Greek vinaigrette. Some of my family enjoyed Falafel Crunch Bowls (both with minor adjustments) and my fiancé savored the Chicken Harissa bowl. I drank a humble soda fountain root beer, and another of our crew ordered the Blueberry Lavender drink (and appreciated the perfect level of sweetness). The meal was ideal—was everything we needed, and even more we didn’t know to need. We fell into silence as we descended on our bowls and crunched on pita, and we left better people, ready to extend kindness to one another and ourselves amidst the chaos of our unexpected return home. While I am still devastated at the loss of our vacation, I thank the turns of fate that could at least bring us to Cava, and the secret angels working there who brought us back to life.

PS—don’t forget there is a second floor! Very quiet, spacious, and with double...

Today was my first time ever trying cava I had heard that it was like a mediterranean chipotle. But that they had pre made bowls so I went with the steak bowl and the lamb with avocado bowl. Two drinks which I loved the cucumber mint lime hands down. And that is what I believe is why i am rating this place 3 stars. So let’s start with the actual food the steak bowl had great flavors but the rice was a bit undercooked to the point it had something crispy that at first could not identify until I had a bite of just rice and was really hard … the lamb and avocado bowl the lamb was definitely dry, and the flavors of it together were good but not impressive. Now let’s talk about the portions…. On the steak bowl I felt like it was decent but not worth about $14 almost $15. And the lamb avocado bowl was what it looked like half an avocado which I guess it isn’t too bad but only 3 and a half lamb balls… for almost $17.

Okay that was just the food now let’s talk about service. Which is honestly the biggest reasons on not going back. First no greeting was made as I came in plus after informing the first person taking the order it was my first time and wasn’t sure what to order . Kinda looked annoyed that I asked if the harissa was spicy( I’m Hispanic and I have very little tolerance for spicy ) even though I was able to try the chicken (thanked her for that because it was spicy for me my husband didn’t think it was spicy) once I took the order no genuine customer service kinda like okay next. The one serving my food or making my bowls is the only one that smiled at me. The person on the register no smile no confirmation on my order, to the point she asked you want a bag I stated yes and she gave me the total and then I paid and she gave me the bag just to realize she only charged me for one bowl 2 drinks. So when I went back no apology (not that I wanted an apology but not even a my bad) just a oh… that’s going to be $$ here you go, gave me the impression that I inconvenienced her by...