CAVA — Restaurant in Town of Huntington

This place was so terrible I had to blow the dust off my google review account just to leave a detailed review of this trash location filled with clowns:

My girlfriend ordered 2 bowls with chicken and some other ingredients for pickup at 7:15pm.. the children that are incapable of simple household chores in the messy store were incapable of even acknowledging her presence for 10 minutes (because basic customer service is too difficult of a task for some people) she said when she made the order and what was ordered. Gave her name and all, the girl wasted more time doing who knows whatever on the pos system.. waiting… waiting… 20 minutes go by… waiting… “Is your name Julia?” (Not my girl’s name) She gave her name again, the girl leaves and comes back just to say theres no chicken left… mind you the place is set to close for 10pm but the manager says they’ll be closing at 8pm due to staffing issues and the children being of special needs or some nonsense like that. When asking for a refund the incompetent manager with barely any common customer service skills told her to contact support online for a refund… Now if I was there Im usually very calm in many situations, but after wasting that much time and $28 (that is now annoying apparently to get due to no confirmation number or receipt being given) I would’ve flipped out especially on the staff for not knowing how to even do their job properly or set the right expectations. I understand being underpaid and overworked, but from what I was told from the experience she had it sounds like they were all on their phones laughing and being unprofessional. Worst experience she’s had and shes worked in the food industry for years and was even a store manager.. Do better, it’s not as hard as you believe. AVOID online orders if you choose to go here but being perfectly honest we haven’t had a single problem with the Westbury location.. we’ve ordered here only twice and this 2nd time is definitely the last. Im not trying to appear like a male Karen and go viral at this store but I assure you somebody some day will and I’m taking their side. Fire the whole staff and start all over because this place sucks..

Tl;dr: This place sucks, the people suck, the service sucks, the manager sucks, they run out of chicken and close 2 hours early because the staff: Sucks. DO NOT ORDER ONLINE THEY CANT WORK OUT THEIR ONLINE ISSUES...

Overall, while the food from Kava is good, poor and slow service plus an expensive price tag makes this a place I can not recommend.

It took over 23 minutes start to finish just to order, which is generally not an issue for me... Except when the slow line is a result of poor staff training and a lack of urgency. A manager was present but wasn't doing much other than pacing around and slightly monitoring the workers. The workers did not seem trained enough to confidently do their jobs, and did not have answers to fairly simple questions like "Is the lettuce washed". Additionally, I was charged more for something on the menu because the worker did not understand the price of the item I added to my order was already included, etc... The blame for this has to fall on the management.

After paying for my meal, the person behind the counter did not tell me the total and when I asked she said she couldn't unless she printed the receipt. Which was just an odd thing to say, in my opinion just print the receipt so I can know what I paid for... So she didn't print the receipt, and instead used her calculator on her phone to figure out what she owed me back after paying in cash (Which is fine by the way!). She also did not include utensils on a specified to go order, the person who made our meals served me the wrong chicken... It's the fact that there isn't a robust and efficient manor in which the employees do things, which again suggests they just haven't been trained properly.

This is a shame, I never leave bad reviews and it generally takes a lot for me to do this. I do not want to dissuade people from coming to a place of business, but my experience with Cava sucked. So much so my girlfriend and I both decided we won't come back after her first visit there.

The cost of the food here is a lot, paying for something this expensive with all the mistakes and problems today is unacceptable. And it's especially awful because overall, the quality of food from Cava is generally good and favorable. But the service issues and quality control is not up to standard for what...

Horrible experience for an establishment I was excited to try for the first time. Upon arrival at 6:30pm on Sunday 7/9/23, We were greeted by an extremely slow and miserable looking staff that took 15-20 minutes to take our order, and we were only 2nd on line. The line behind us grew to over 10 people and the staff at Cava had no interest or urgency to take or prepare orders. When we finally had the opportunity to place the order, it seemed anything we asked for, could not be accommodated. We were placing an order for 2 different Cava Bowls, and 1 Greek Salad, from their menu. These weren't special orders or build your own meals. After trying to navigate the limited options we had to order from, we had no choice but to walk out and go elsewhere - Thankfully to a Chipotle about 1 mile down the road. This Cava location did not have White or Brown Rice, or Feta Cheese, or Tzatziki, or Avocado, or tomatoes and Cucumbers. No Pita Chips, and they barely had enough Protein to make any orders at all. How does a restaurant at Dinner time, and on a Weekend, not have the food or ingredients prepared and ready?? I am sure there were several other people who were on line behind us, had no choice but to leave as well. Where is the Management and Quality Control for this Cava Location in Melville?? If this type of poor service, miserable staff, and missing items were at my place of business, heads would roll and a full overhaul would be in order. I do not understand how this place is in business and how Corporate does not have checks in place to hold the branch manager accountable for such a poorly run business. I would not give Cava another opportunity after such a disappointment and failure. I am not one to leave bad reviews, or reviews at all, but if there is bad or poor service, I feel it is my responsibility to at least try to warn other patrons before they walk in to a disappointment and poorly run establishment. This location needs help in the worse way. You have been warned.... take your...