CAVA — Restaurant in Reston

As noted in other reviews, the staff here are extremely rude and unprofessional. I came here during 6PM on a weekday, and it was very slow. The person serving me pulled the last two old meatballs that had clearly been sitting in the hot-hold for way too long and then proceeds to look at me and asks me if I want half and half since they don't have any more meatballs. (all the other proteins were also old and dried up) I politely said no, do you not have more? They reluctantly go into the back and say it will be 6 minutes to cook more. (as if it's okay for them to just be missing major proteins during dinner time when it isn't even busy in the first place..?) I wait about 15 minutes for them to be made. The same employee proceeds to try to serve the new/fresh meatballs on the rice that had been sitting out from the previous bowl for 15+ minutes as if it was okay to serve me cold food. Then when I asked for a new bowl to be made they put the meatballs on new rice throw it on the counter and walk away rather than finishing the order while there is someone else getting 5+ customized items letting my food get cold once again. This entire time the restaurant is clearly staffed with plenty of employees, all of which are either on their phone or moving very slow. After waiting another five minutes after all of this, I wave down the employee to come back since they are in the back not actually doing anything. I previously have enjoyed CAVA as a quick meal but I will never...

CHECK YOUR MOBILE ORDER BEFORE YOU LEAVE!!! The food at this location is very good, but my order is often missing items or incorrect. Typically it's just a missing dressing, pita, or pita chips. I typically place mobile orders for pickup when I'm on my way home from work, especially now during the COVID-19 pandemic, so I'm not actually in the restaurant to watch them prepare my food. This evening I placed a mobile order for curbside pick up. When I got home I found out that I received the wrong food, even though the receipt at the top was correct. I drove all the way back to return it and have the restaurant correct my order. The person preparing my new bowl was very stingy and still forgot items on the receipt (I had to remind her that I ordered harissa). The bowl was roughly half full of food which I know is atypical because I order from this restaurant very often and the portions are typically very plentiful, like the incorrect bowl I was originally given. I was too exhausted and hungry to say anything about it so I just left with my half bowl of food. I was very dissatisfied with this order and disappointed with the service this...

The food at Cava is always delicious with plenty of options to customise it the way you like. When ordering in person, sometimes the queue feels rushed so you may not have time to fully consider all the options. It may be worth checking out the menu online (especially if you like to take your time when making decisions).

My go-to is the greens and grains bowl with falafel. The skhug (spicy green sauce) and the garlic sauce are both essential. And the other toppings are unlimited so go crazy.

Heads up, the portion sizes are not what they used to be pre-pandemic. Generally the bowls are packed full, the lids can barely close, and you can easily stretch it to two meals if you wanted. Right now, I assume that they are trying to control portion sizes to keep food costs down (understandable from their point of view, if that’s the case). My bowl last night felt like it was half the usual quantity. It’s definitely not the same value for money, but still great quality. Hopefully they go back to their ungodly...