Cava Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Southington

COMPELTE DISAPPOINTMENT!! I made reservations for my boyfriends bday because I heard so many great reviews, however, I am by far disappointed in our experience. During my booking, I expressed how I would prefer being seated in either the fireplace room or near the bar. I knew they had a beauty and the beast theme room and I did not want to be seated in that area because we were celebrating his 59th bday and did not have any children with us so I wanted an area more fitting for the occasion. I was told because I had standard seating I was unable to request any of the rooms as I will be given whatever room is available and the only rooms that can be reserved is the beauty and the beast and the rooftop, which I was perfectly fine with because per the pictures on the website each room looked amazing. The day of my reservation I hit some traffic and decided to give the restaurant a courtesy call to let them know I might be late but I was on my way. Since It was a 2 hour drive to the restaurant, I wanted to be sure they wouldn't give my seats away. After calling 4 times, finally a women answered and mid conversation, she hung up on me. I figured maybe the called dropped so I called right back and once again got no answer. Once we arrived to the restaurant, we were greeted by a hostess who had a very nasty approach. I stated i had reservations for 2 at 7:15pm and mid conversation she called out for another group of 2 and walked away, leaving me and my bf waiting for someone else to check us in. When another hostess came we were checked in and seated us in no other then the BEAUTY & THE BEAST ROOM. As pretty as the room was, it was not what I requested and immediately felt uncomfortable as we were placed in the dead center of the restaurant with no space to move without bumping into the next table over. I was told there was a dress code and instantly regretted dressing up as the majority of people in the restaurant were dressed in shorts, hats, sneakers, sweat pants, etc. After being seated for about 5 minutes, I got up and made my way to the hostess, explained the situation and got our seats changed near the bar. After about 30 mins. our waitress finally came and took our orders, we ordered Six Cheese Garlic Bread, which was a bread roll that was burnt on the outside and soggy in the middle due to being drenched with oil, the cheese was cold and quickly peeled off. We also ordered Polpetti, which was meatballs that tasted like it was frozen and quickly warmed then drenched in Ragu pasta sauce from the jar to cover the bitter taste. Since these were appetizers, I tried my hardest to brush it off and not make a big deal. However, once we received our entrees, I was beyond upset. We ordered Chicken Parmigiana & Cajun Ahi Tuna, and once again the food was cold, tasted as it was sitting out for some time and had a odd refrigerated tasted. As upset as I was I refused to bring it to the attention of the waitress as I knew it was not her fault but for the price that those dishes were I was truly hoping for better quality food. Unfortunately, after a few bites we decided to not eat the food as we did not want to get sick with food poisoning. When the waitress made her round, she knew something was wrong since our plates were still full and barely touched. She asked if everything was ok and if we would like the food packed, which we responded with no thanks, just the check. She asked if we wanted dessert, but after the appetizer and entree disaster, I refused to find out what the desert tasted like. After reviewing the bill, I was so disappointed that $170.00 dollars, including a $30.00 tip got us the worst food we had in a long time. I will never recommend this restaurant to anyone!!! I have been trying to contact the restaurant to speak to a manager and...

10/10 experience!!!!! Went on a very busy Sunday night. We were sat on time in the “Christmas in Dubai” room. I wish I knew our servers name, but she was FANTASTIC. We had tons of awesome conversation with her about the restaurant, as it was our first visit. She told us all about how the staff themselves all pitch in to help decorate for about 6 weeks leading up to the holidays. Then she said “after we get all settled with your orders, I would be more than happy to take you around and show you the different rooms”. WOW I didn’t see anyone else’s server escorting them around so maybe we just got super lucky? But I thought it was super smart actually, because they know the customers are going to go walk around anyways so why not actually escort them and guide them (this helps keep the customers out of the staffs way as well if they are escorted by another staff)!? Then she offered to take photos for us in the best photo spots!!!!! SO AMAZING we got the best pictures thanks to her!!!!!!! Even the restroom was decorated insane!!!! You can tell that despite the ugly attitudes of some of the high maintenance clientele they get in there, they genuinely ENJOY working there. It radiates from their host stand to their top notch service. They know that especially during a pandemic they NEED to turn their tables over quickly, and honestly the customer should understand that even more so walking in. They are trying to allow as many people to enjoy their restaurant as possible while still adhering to Covid regulations. Anyone giving a poor review to a restaurant like this during a pandemic should seriously reset their moral compass. The food was DELICIOUS. We got the smaller seafood tower as an app, and the calamari salad was so unique and delicious! For dinner all 4 of us could not resist the 20oz ribeye. HOLY S*IT you guys GET THE RIBEYE it’s worth every single penny!!!!!!! Just trust me don’t order anything else. Yes it’s the most expensive thing on the menu but JUST DO IT. The cauliflower purée was DIVINE and even better than the actual mashed potatoes!!!! I need to know their recipe!!!! I’ve never had a better steak dinner anywhere in my life. The desserts looked incredible but after all that food we just couldn’t fit it. Instead we opted for dessert cocktails, the Irish coffee was perfect as was the espresso martini (they have an espresso machine so I always order one in cases where they have an espresso machine)!!!! I highly recommend this top notch establishment and was extremely impressed with the service, food, atmosphere and felt extremely safe with respect to Covid. If you’re reading this far into my review, just one more thing, GET THE RIBEYE!!!!! :-) And lastly, be kind and understanding!!!! My personal experience was a 10/10 but some of these other reviews I just can’t wrap my head around. For example, The server clearly tells you how many lobster raviolis you get in the surf and turf (3) and then you have people on here complaining that they ordered it anyways and then complain they were still hungry. Or If you’re expecting a family style portion of chicken parm, maybe go to a family style restaurant, not a fine dining establishment. Or maybe ask your server, “I’m super starving, and I can eat a lot.... what do you recommend that will be a generous sized meal to fill me up?” To which I can assure you the server will point you to, you guessed it, THE RIBEYE!!!!...

I originally made a reservation for 3 people but only 2 of us made it out that night and I let them know when I got there so we were seated at a two seater where my chair was against a wall. I couldn’t even pull my chair out to put my coat on it if I wanted to and the table was so small we couldn’t even put our small clutches on the table. I went back to the front desk and asked where were they going to seat us prior for our reservation of 3 if we all showed up and she said it was already changed in the computer so they couldn’t do anything about it. When our waitress came to our table my friend asked if our table could be changed and she said she would check and I asked if we could sit at the bar. The bar was much more spacious and at the time no one was sitting there. I couldn’t believe that the restaurant packed people on top of each other the way they did. The bar tender suggested some drinks that were really good and he was very friendly. I noticed the female bartender that was not servicing us had a sour look on her face and kept looking to the right of me. When I looked another server was over there and it seems as though they had their own conversation going on pertaining to my friend and I which made me feel even more unwelcome for it being my 1st time at the restaurant. Another server came up to us to let us know another table was ready for us. I was somewhat hesitant about moving considering I was enjoying the space at the bar more. The female bartender let us know we had to pay for our drinks before going to our table. We asked if we could just carry the tab over to our dinner table or if we could order our food at the bar instead to have it on one bill and she told us no which didn’t seem right to me. We were placed in another room where my back was now to a Christmas tree and my friend couldn’t even pull her chair out to sit due to another customers chair that was behind her. I had to move the table more towards the Christmas tree to give her some space. Ironically the table next to us was a table for 3 with only 2 people seated there. At least we had a little window sill that we were able to place our purses. My friend asked the waitress if she could close the door next to me because a cold draft was coming in that was bothering her. I had to get up so the waitress could push my chair in to get to the door to close it. We heard dishes break at least 3 times while we were there. There is just not enough room to maneuver around. Honestly if I was there by myself and not with someone else I would have left. I don’t see myself going back there and I would suggest sitting at the bar if they wanted space if it’s not busy there. My drink, salad, entree, and dessert was really good. I did enjoy how they displayed their desserts on a tray for you to see them all to choose. I didn’t even care for the decorations once I saw how crowded it was inside. Almost felt like I didn’t have room to breathe. The quality of the place is not worth what you...