CAVA — Restaurant in Irvine

I love this place! A Paleo friendly, Vegan friendly, whole food plant based friendly, quick service, low prices and convenient. It can't be topped. I had this in Washington DC and wished it was in California and now we have it going on 5 years. I love it! There are many great savory and spicy options which keep it fresh and new every visit.

Your base: has multiple options, lentils, white basmati rice, brown basmati rice, arugula, romaine, baby spinach, super greens mix, mesclun mix. There's no place that has as many quality leafy green options to choose from. They allow you to mix and match. My favorite is the super greens with kale brussel sprouts, broccoli, chicory, and cabbage.

The dips: They give you 3 sides to choose from out of 6 options: Hummus , a roasted red pepper hummus , tzaziki, eggplant and red pepper, crazy feta, harrisa. In my opinion, all the options taste good. When I say they taste good, I don't mean ok. Compared to other foods of this kind, they excel. As a vegan, I always go with the eggplant and the roasted red pepper hummus.

Meat: Choose 1 from 6 options. They do have a veggie option for vegetarians. I tried the lamb meat balls and chicken before I was vegan. Both tasted great. The chicken was the best. The meat balls were a little dry, but that's not uncommon with this style. As a vegan, I now get roasted vegetables as my favorite, but also enjoy the sweet potatoes. The sweet potatoes almost tasted as sweet as fried banana.

Dressing/Topping: My favorite is lemon herb tahini because it's savory with a bit of sour and complements the other ingredients very well. They have skuhg which is made with cilantro. I like cilantro but the flavor over powered the other pleasant flavors too much and didn't pair well.

Bonus: They have pleasant service here. Washington DC isn't known for its service where this chain has many of...

Well, as far as the food I have no complaints but the overall management (or lack there of) is pretty appalling. If you go to the register to purchase a drink you will not be acknowledged what so ever. You will be left waiting there and waiting there as if you do not exist, leaving other customers to yell loudly asking for a drink just to help you. I couldn't help but notice while all this took place that it looks as if the register area has not been cleaned in weeks (and this is not the first time). The register area is filthy, covered in food, grease and dusty dirt. It's an obvious accumulation of "stuff". Then after that ordeal I decided to enjoy the cool air and enjoy my drink (which was so hard to get) to find there was not one clean area to sit in the entire restaurant, not one. I can assure you that at this moment there is literally 6 people in here, including myself. Absolutely no one in line with absolutely no excuse for this. I see a man up front who looks to be a manager, and if I can offer any advice it's this . You seem like a nice person, maybe too nice..you need to learn how to oversee your staff and lead. When a person walks in obviously waiting to be welcomed and helped, show them how to triage the situation and jump in. If it's slow, send your staff out to clean and make them learn to do it on their own. And....put the cleaning of the register area on a daily cleaning checklist for goodness sakes! This looks awful for a food place to be seen so dirty. Yuck This is in a nutshell, poor management. I can say that with many years of overseeing staff and working on an executive level for the last decade. The bar tops also need some minor maintenance, which would go a long way on the perception of this place. Hope this can be taken as constructive criticism as th food is great..hope to see these changes in the immediate...

I've noticed that Cava is continuing to give less and less even though they've raised prices. Even the unlimited items, you have to keep asking for more because they give very little. I will not order online because you have to watch them and constantly ask for more. It's a big difference from when they first opened.

I could understand if they kept prices the same and gave less but, they increased prices and are giving way less.

I like the good but, am starting to question whether this place is worth it if they keep cutting back especially, on the low cost items like salad, rice, lentils, cucumbers, etc. If the item is unlimited, STOP being so stingy!!!!

This is an updated review based on my experience today.

I placed my order online for pickup. I ordered the Greens and Grains but when I got home and mixed everything in the bowl, I noticed it BARELY had any greens.

I was so upset that I got back in my car and drove all the way back to complain. The representative added a small amount to the bowl.

My issue is the fact that they BARELY put any greens in initially. When I say "barely," I mean I could only find about a fork full. This is a pathetic way to rob a business. I understand food costs have gone up but, so have the prices off the bowls so, don't try skimping and ripping off customers with a fork full of greens.

What makes this even worse is that since I ordered online, I didn't realize they put so little in until I got all the way home.

I still like their food but definitely won't be ordering online anymore. I need to watch them when they are making the bowls.

Love the flavors of the food here. I've had the bowls and the mini pitas which are absolutely delicious.

The greens and grains are great too. Large bowl of food and delicious.

Highly...