CAVA — Restaurant in San Diego

The dining experience at the Cava Poway tonight was extremely poor, and I even felt humiliated by the staff.

According to the TV menu, I chose the $12.05 Grains Bowl. For the protein, since the Grilled Steak was sold out, I followed the store’s instructions and selected half spicy lamb meatballs and half braised lamb. Since half the lamb meatballs cost an additional $2.50/2, and half the braised lamb cost an additional $3.80/2, the total should have been $15.85 + tax.(check the attached picture)

However, when I went to pay, the cashier charged me between $18 and $19 (I can’t remember the exact amount). I asked her to explain why it was this amount, but she kept saying that the main protein was 1.5 portions, which I found unacceptable. I requested a new bowl, but she put me aside and started handling the next customer’s payment, leaving my bowl sitting at the register uncovered, while she swiped cards and interacted with customers directly over it.

I stood there for nearly ten minutes, feeling embarrassed for holding up the line over a price difference of just a couple of dollars, but at the same time, I didn’t want to be overcharged without a clear explanation. I repeatedly asked them to create a new order for me so that the bill could be clear. The cashier ignored me and called the manager. When the manager came over, they reiterated that they had given me 1.5 portions of protein. I told them I didn’t want 1.5 portions, just one portion was enough. The manager arrogantly said, “Fine, you can pay for just the spicy lamb meatballs according to the TV menu,” then added condescendingly, “Next time, you need to learn how to place your order.” This remark was incredibly hurtful.

To avoid holding up the customers behind me and to prevent further embarrassment, I reluctantly agreed to pay. In fact, I had hoped the manager would offer to make a new bowl for me. I didn’t want to accept their arrogant offer, nor did I want to feel like I was taking advantage of the store—I just wanted fairness. Furthermore, my bowl had been left uncovered for so long, and the cashier and manager were speaking and handling transactions directly over it. How could I be sure no saliva or dirt had gotten into it? But to avoid further awkwardness, I compromised and let it go.

This meal left me feeling deeply uncomfortable, both physically and emotionally. I felt a lump in my chest, and even over an hour after finishing the meal, I still felt something stuck in my throat.

I hope the Cava store in Poway learns to respect its customers. Not every location handles or humiliates customers like this. If such incidents continue to happen at the Poway location, people will choose to...

This was honestly disgusting!! I had placed an order for a scheduled pickup later in the day and assumed it would be made fresh around that time.

I happened to be in the area and popped in early because I actually wanted to ask if my order could be pushed to a later pickup so I could grab it after seeing a movie. Obviously that wasn’t possible because it had already been made over 70 minutes before the scheduled pickup!!! (and left sitting out on the shelf.)

My order had steak, chicken, roasted veggies, yogurt, cheese, sauces, and tomatoes…all items that should be kept fresh. When I looked inside, there were fruit flies inside the bag on the pita side and more swarming around it :) Completely disgusting.

If I hadn’t popped in, I would have picked it up as scheduled and eaten food that had been sitting out for close to an hour and a half, which could easily have made me sick.

When I brought it up, the manager acted like it was no big deal. She even said “so we made it a few minutes early” when in reality it was well over an hour early? That is disgusting.

And when I pointed out the flies, she didn’t even respond. She brushed me off with attitude, made excuses, and even walked away mid conversation rolling her eyes. When I asked for a refund, she flat out refused and was incredibly rude the entire time. I was told the only resolution was to remake it, and at this point I do not feel comfortable eating from a location that handles food this way.

I go to Cava ALL the time and usually love it, but this experience was seriously appalling. Food safety clearly isn’t being taken seriously here, and the way the manager treated me made it...

Steak was burnt to a crisp. Ruined the whole bowl. The place was packed, which is normal, but I really wasn’t it to take almost 30 minutes to stand in line and get my food. It seemed like there may have been someone in training on the resister which was adding to the extensively long wait. The staff was obviously stressed. Seemed like they were giving unnecessarily small portions too, to save the product for how many customers they had. While sitting down and eating my food I overheard a group of guys complaining that they have to wait so long to get their food. They had an online order placed. I arrived before them, and got my food before them. Really? They submit an order before I arrived and multiple people got their food before them? While standing in line I also saw muuuuuuultiple people give up, get out of line and walk out. I spent $20 to receive poor service, have unhappy customers all around me, and pick around burnt steak. I asked for cucumbers and the server gave me 3, which was all that was left. The fresh tomatoes I asked for ended up all being smushed, probably from the servers throwing the spoon back in the bin and trying to move as fast as they could, poor things. I really wanted to leave, but unfortunately because it took SOO long standing in line waiting, I couldn’t even go somewhere else and I was heading to work, and ending up being late to work. Terrible $20 bowl. Terrible experience. The free pita was...