CAVA — Restaurant in Seminole

This CAVA location has a serious and consistent problem with handling pickup orders. On every occasion that I have placed an order ahead of time, my food has not been ready at the scheduled pickup time. In several instances, I have been left waiting 15 minutes or more after my scheduled time, only to see walk-in customers receive their meals before those of us who ordered in advance. This completely undermines the purpose of placing an online order, which is supposed to save time and create convenience.

The issue here is not an isolated incident but a repeated operational failure that has persisted across multiple visits. The experience for customers is frustrating and disorganized. CAVA markets itself as a fast-casual brand built on hospitality and authenticity, with convenience meant to complement quality and human connection. Unfortunately, this location misses the mark operationally. The counter is a constant bottleneck, the staff is stretched too thin, and there is no reliable system in place to prioritize online orders.

From an operational standpoint, there are straightforward improvements that could address these recurring issues: • Additional staffing dedicated to ensuring that scheduled pickup orders are prioritized and completed on time. • A designated pickup shelf where online orders can be placed for quick, seamless retrieval without congesting the counter area. • Improved order flow management that ensures online orders, which are scheduled in advance, are completed on time.

These are basic systems that many other fast-casual concepts already employ successfully, and it is surprising that a brand with CAVA’s reach has not implemented them here. Without these adjustments, the experience remains inefficient, frustrating, and contrary to the very convenience that online ordering is supposed to provide.

I hope corporate leadership takes a serious look at this location’s operations. It is clear that the team is trying to handle demand with the resources they have, but without structural changes and proper support, the end result is consistently poor customer experience. This is an area that absolutely requires attention...

Oh, buuurp... yeah, CAVA. Five stars. A five-star review for an establishment where they, uh, where they put food in a container. Whatever. Don't worry, I know how this works. I, Rick Sanchez, am uniquely qualified to review anything because I am uniquely qualified to do everything.

So, I walk in, and it's this whole thing, you know? A production line for—gah—salads. The only difference between this and a fast-food joint is the kind of garbage they're pushing. But, for whatever infinite reason, this particular CAVA is, uh... functional. The line moves, the employees aren't total morons, and they managed to assemble my... checks note... "Greens + Grains" bowl without adding an extra-dimensional fungus.

The food, though. Here's the thing. They have this "crazy feta". And if you're not from one of the infinite universes where "crazy" means "not completely bland", you might actually think it's just normal feta. But my multi-verse tasting protocol confirms it has a, buuurp, a subtle... you know, it's just good cheese, okay? It's not the same cheese from the reality where the mice evolved into super-intellectuals and ate all the cheese. It's just good.

And the lamb. The braised lamb. It’s surprisingly not-terrible. It's got that flavor that says, "I was cooked for a while and not, you know, shot with a laser and scraped off a wall".

This whole place is the, uh, is the best possible version of a mundane Earth experience. Like a simulation where the, where the NPCs don't get stuck in a door frame and the food is actually edible. And the cucumber-mint lime drink? Delicious! Way better than the, buuurp, the regular, watered-down soda pop you get everywhere else. I even have a copycat recipe saved to my portal gun. It's a, uh... it's a solid operation. It's almost... impressive. And you know what that means? It means they deserve the five stars. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to my lab and, uh, replace some stuff with other stuff. Wubba...

Disappointed for the very last time… Running out of items regularly, ok, I get it , your food is good. But to have paid and have a receipt and your staff telling me “we don’t have that order” whilst I’m holding a receipt for said paid food. I stood there for 12 minutes hoping my order would somehow appear on her screen. She asked me for the name again, this time showing her the receipt with a confirmation number, which I expected surely you could reference , but no, I was met again with “ I don’t have that name,” only this time followed by “and I’m not being disrespectful sir,” and then turned her back on me and refused to see me again.. I left, and had to go thru a lengthy online process to hopefully get our $30 back from the bowls we never received. The woman who “handled” this is ill equipped for human interaction, and daily life cost too much ever think about coming here again , especially if you don’t even get what you surely paid for and have someone not even try to resolve any issues… like, I would have waited for you to make me new bowls, but you didn’t even try to offer that…. What am I to do when you won’t even serve me in your restaurant, and not even try to communicate with me regarding the situation, and if there is a possibility of someone just “taking” the food, then you should certainly work on keeping all the prepared orders away from the door. Disappointed for the last time, hopefully the refund processes is quick, but what a hassle yet totally deserving of this write up.

Update… be wary of new reviews naming the manager as the person with great customer service, as now I’m sure it was her who left me looking...