CAVA — Restaurant in Merrifield

A few years, I ate at Cava Mezze in Clarendon, which is more Greek tapas-style, and didn't particularly care for it. So when Cava Mezze Grill opened in Mosaic, I didn't think much of it. Last night, prior to watching Jurassic World, I went here for a quick dinner. Cava Mezze Grill is basically a Mediterranean-style Chipotle, similar to how ShopHouse is an Asian-style Chipotle. But I'm okay with that. Why reinvent the wheel? Bring on Chipotle Mediterranean-style!

You start with a base - salad, rice bowl, greens + grains, pita, mini pitas, or minis + soup. I opted for a rice bowl with saffron basmati rice. Then, you choose your dips and spreads. There are six to choose from: eggplant and red pepper, hummus, tzatziki, harissa, crazy feta, and roasted red pepper hummus. I chose hummus and harissa, which a spicy dip made from tomatoes and red peppers. Next, pick your protein! Falafel, grilled chicken, spicy lamb meatballs, grilled meatballs, braised beef, and braised lamb. I chose chicken. Lamb is apparently an extra $2. Afterwards, you pick your toppings, like romaine, tomato + onion, pickled onions, kalamata olives, cabbage slaw, quinoa, cucumbers, pita crisps, mint, or feta. I opted for healthier options like tomato + onion, olives, romaine, cucumbers, and quinoa. Finally, you pick your dressing, although I decided against slathering on additional dressing.

First bite and I was hooked. It reminded me of the first time I tried Chipotle and immediately fell in love. Fast, convenient, fairly healthy,...

Poor Service- Not convenient- Probably Wont Be Returning

I ordered dinner for my family and chose curbside pick up hoping for a quick and easy dinner, but it took 30 minutes for my order to be ready. When I arrived with my 20 month old daughter, we parked in the curbside parking spot and I called, the woman who answered the phone took my information and said they'd have my order out to me quickly. 15 minutes later, when my food still hadn't arrived, I called again, and I was told they were looking for my food. They then kept me on the phone without telling me anything else about my order. Instead, I just heard background noises and chatter. After 7 minutes, they hung up on me. My daughter was hungry, sweaty and fussy after waiting in the car on a 90 degree day and so close to dinner time- something anyone with kids understands. So I decided to go into the store and grab the food myself. When I went up to the pick cashier to grab the food, she told me they were just finishing up putting my order without any apology or acknowledgment of how late my order was or that I had to call twice without any explanation of what was going on. When I pointed out how late the food was, the cashier just shrugged. I don't even know why it was so delayed because the restaurant itself wasn't incredibly busy, and they were fully staffed. I could've ordered in person and left in less time than it took for me to get my food. The food itself is fine, but the experience I had definitely turned me off to ordering from...

My first time at this location of Cava today, I did online ordering and you go to the front to pick up.

They were super busy during weekday lunch on Wednesday 01/29/2025, but the male worker in the front at the cashier was very helpful. He was so busy with orders, and checking customers out but he stopped to ask us waiting on the left what our online ordering names were. I did have to wait a little bit for my online ordering, but he generously let me get a fountain drink or juice while waiting.

He even noticed I was a little short on time (since I was on my lunch break), so he went above and beyond to go down the food assembly area, check if my ticket was in, and even grabbed my ticket order to expedite it, since the line of people walking in during lunch kept getting more and more busy.

I appreciated his organization, kindness, and hard work! I didn’t catch his name, but hope he gets the recognition he deserves for a good job managing the front end of the Cava in Mosiac, with his excellent customer service. He was very polite with other customers as well.

The ladies assembling the bowls were great, my bowl had a large portion of food and the ingredients felt fresh. Thank you, team at...