I've had CAVA before when they first opened, and I remember thinking it was just ok. Well, years later, I was craving a salad, and there truly aren't that many good salad options around here, so I found myself back at CAVA. I'm not sure what changed, if anything, but I was really feeling my bowl this time around. I ordered through the app, which is a fun ordering experience if ordering can be fun haha. I love variety in my food, and CAVA fits the bill perfectly. As a non-meat eater, it can be hard to find protein options, so I love that they even have lentils as an option for the base. I opted for the half grains / half greens bowl with lentils and splendid greens. Even the options for the greens are plentiful. They have so many sauces to choose from, and only 1 contains dairy, which is amazing. I wasn't a fan of the Tahini caesar - it was pretty tangy. I liked the Lemon Herb Tahini and the garlic dressing. The food was so flavorful, I would've been fine without the sauces, too. Their whole menu has plenty of options if you're dairy free, soy free, vegan, vegetarian, etc. I can't wait to return! read more

The food here is so fresh, and so good!! Recommend this place for lunch. The service is also great and super fast!

OH MY CAVA!! As a UCI alumni it's been a minute since I've been in Irvine. But I had a friend to meet in the area and we decided to eat something healthy. Since Cava has been everything my vegetarian coworkers talk about, I suggested we eat here. Coming in I expected the food to be okay-ish and nothing spectacular. BOY WAS I IN FOR A MAJOR REVELATION. You order by building your own bowl here with either salad, grains or salad +grains. Then from there you get to pick your protein, dips (DELICIOUS), toppings (e.g tomato and onions, tabouleh), and sauces. Also GET THE PITA! I ordered a salad + grain base with arugula, lentils, chicken, red pepper hummus, tzatziki, and crazy feta among other toppings. My mouth was having a Mediterranean party with all the rich flavors I was eating. Also, the drinks here are amazing! My favorites were the strawberry citrus drink & Mexicane cola (made with real cane sugar like Mexican Coke)! Overall the wait to come here was so worth it and I'm definitely coming back again! read more

See all

Great options very fresh ingredients and chill vibes all around, free drink with yelp review

It was my first time trying CAVA, I went in as soon as they opened. Alysha was very friendly and helpful. Will definitely be coming again.

Do NOT come here unless you're willing to always wait 25+mins to get your food served. The staff here does not understand the importance of speed or multi tasking, always taking way longer at this cava location than any other the line cannot move any slower read more

I came in for lunch yesterday and witnessed a male employee wiping off a cooking utensil on the inside of a trashcan. Theres plenty of other reasons I was hesitant to come back here, but this seals the deal. Don't come here unless you want to get sick. read more

In the five years that I have been down here in Irvine, I have never tried CAVA till now and I have got to say that it is a great meal. I would say that the concept of ordering and choosing what to put into your bowl is similar in concept to Chipotle. I waited at least 10 minutes in line which I did not expect but I guess that goes into testimony as it being a place where there is a lot of demand. I really enjoyed my bowl as each ingredient was cooked well, fresh, and the flavors all meshed well together. Although I think I should have asked for a less amount of each sauce that I chose or order it on the side as I felt that it was too heavy. Overall this is a great place for a quick meal and everything is extremely healthy. read more

CAVA - Saffron Basmati Rice, Tzatziki, Crazy Feta, Red Pepper Hummus, Beef Meatballs, Tomatoes, Romaine, Corn, Garlic Dressing - Mediterranean Near Me - Irvine, California

Quality has slipped recently. Last issue was undercooked saffron rice. I think management needs to find a way to help things move more fluidly. These servers look disorganized, frantic, and tired. My coworkers and I used to come twice a month but we're rethinking it if things stay the same. read more

I loved having the option to pick and choose all of my toppings. They had about 8 sauces to pick from as well and the ones I tried were great. They had 2-3 vegetarian options. read more

CAVA - Mediterranean Near Me - Irvine, California

See all

The food is really great, it's always fresh. They also got really good customer service. Max was really helpful.

Really enjoyable. Like a Greek chipotle. The service was quick and friendly. Food tasted great.

Food is good but portions are stingy and the service is terrible. The people portioning out have such a bad attitude and stank face.

Great staff and service. Food is excellent, always love coming here. Special thanks to Max, Yeti and Luis.

Great food! Delicious flavors! This has been one of my new go-to spots. The line can get long sometimes because it's a popular spot.

Max is great! Very helpful!! He made my experience better!! I would definitely recommend

The workers were very stingy on the portions. My bowl was about half full and if you asked for extra it was a miniscule amount. I don't like fighting for portions when I go to eat at a place like this. read more

The first time I came to this cava, and first time trying it in general was great. This was my second time coming to this location and the experience was a complete 180. The line wasn't even long but the staff was running around all over the place trying to see if they still had certain items in stock just to say that most things were out of stock. Layan & Mac, helped us out. They were a bit of Debbie downers and seemed like they needed some holly jolly music in there to cheer them up a bit. Layan asked what kind of meat my friend wanted on her bowl and when my friend said chicken she looked at the empty bowl and walked right past the fresh bowl of chicken sitting right next to her. She then went and sat at the cash register talking to someone doing idk what and then proceeds to go to the other side of the store and scoops a tiny scoop of dried chicken that looks like it had been sitting there for a while just to come back and finally realize there was a fresh bowl of chicken. My friend then proceeded to ask if she could pay for extra chicken so she can have some that was fresh. They were out of so many toppings and sauces and it was only 8:00pm on a Friday night. I understand people have bad days sometimes but it was the whole staff that just looked miserable. Definitely kinda ruined the night for a bit. read more

The best place in Irvine! It's so yummy and healthy! All the workers are so nice and sweet

My daughter ordered greens and grains bowl with half lamb and half chicken and we were charged an extra $3.40. The portion of one full meat and a portion of half and half would be the same so I don't understand why $3.40 is necessary. Her bowl came out 11.75 plus 3.40 totaling 15.15. For the regular portion she got, this is wayyy overpriced. I would understand if she got full portion AND full portion of lamb and was charged extra $3.40. She got half chicken and half lamb and was charged full price of adding lamb which is incorrectly charged. My daughter didn't even know that she was being overcharged because the worker never told her she would be charged $3.40 extra. I looked at my receipt and we were both shocked at what happened. I told my daughter never to do half and half because she will be overcharged a lot. The employees were not clear about telling customers about the extra charge. Ok so from now on CAVA, if someone says half chicken and half lamb, TELL the customer we can't do that but what we can do is full amount of chicken as is and if you want lamb in the bowl, a full portion of lamb will be $3.40 extra. Tell the customer the cost cannot be the same for HALF chicken and HALF lamb, there is no such thing. Please train your employees to be clear to customers. Any time there is an extra charge, NOTIFY the customer what they will be charged. The portion in general should be larger. The employee gave me a very small scoop of rice so I asked her to put more. Also, she was unfriendly and I could barely hear her speak. Also, on their app, if you missed scanning at the register, then you should be able to scan manually just like other restaurants. They don't have this feature in their app. read more

CAVA - Mediterranean Near Me - Irvine, California

Está muy limpio el lugar y muy rica la comida. Se me hace una buena opción más saludable

I enjoy Mediterranean food and I like having CAVA as an option. The food is generally good, but they are a little heavy on the salt on all their food. I've had everything from wraps to bowls. I've had CAVA in Culver City and I don't remember it being too salty, so this might be because they are still working out all of their kinks as a new location. The juices are very good. The other thing they need to improve on is the take out service. At Chipotle or Sweetgreen, I can just grab my bag because my name is on it. They staff seems a little green and was a little oblivious to the fact that 4-5 people were grouping up around the bags. The staff finally realized that we all needed help picking up our orders because they face their receipts inward. I'm not sure if they have formalized what their pickup process is (management and staff). CAVA Woodbury has a lot of potential. If they could fix those two things, then I would give them a higher rating. read more

We used the restroom first before ordering and walked out after. Restrooms were disgusting look never cleaned. Employees use the restroom before handling food? read more

Got Cava for the first time yesterday and the food was great! The staff were very helpful as well. Definitely will be be coming back!

Cava Grill is a Mediterranean / Middle Eastern inspired restaurant located off Barranca and Culver, where Veggie Grill used to be. It's in the same outdoor complex with many other popular places like Urban Plates, Doner G, Capital Noodles. Cava is a build-your-own bowl concept, similar to Chipotle (ironically, located across the street). You start off by choosing a base: - Grains only (ie: rice, lentils) - Grains and salad - Just salad - Pita - Small pita with soup Meals that comes with a salad also get a small pita added The next station gives you dips and spreads, and you get to select 3 Choice were: Tzatziki, Eggplant + Red Pepper, Hummus, Rosted Red Pepper Hummus, Crazy Feta or Harissa. The latter 2 were deemed "spicy". Third step: add your protein. Chose if 1 full serving or 2 half serving. Choices were: Chicken, Falafel, Beef Meatballs, Vegetables. For an extra fee, you can also get Lamb or Lamb Meatballs, or just more protein. I chose the 1/2 chicken and 1/2 meatballs (which they gave 2). Finally, the unlimited toppings, choose as many as you like. The toppings ranted from tomatoes and cucumber, slaw, picked onions, banana peppers, olives, quinoa tabbouleh, crumbled feta, fresh mint, pita crisps. Depending on your bowl, the average price is about $9, before tax or a drink. Our 2 bowls with a fountain drink came to just over $26. I really liked the concept and the meal. It's definitely vegetarian friendly, and I was full all day. The only reason I cannot give it the 5 stars (it should) deserve is their beverage bar. If you're a diabetic or looking to cut calories on the sugary drinks, you may want to BYO drink. They have a plethora of unique drinks like a Blueberry Rosemary, Green Apple Fennel, and Pineapple Apple Mint, all made with Agave. They also have drinks by Maine Root, which offers natural sodas. Again, non diet option. They did offer ONE non sweetened tea, but provided pure cane sugar to sweeten the drink, no equal or splenda. Aside from water, there's no other drink choices for those looking for non sugary drinks. Aside from the lack of non sugary selection, the choice for food is very good. Service could have been a bit more helpful (especially if its your first time). Maybe the staff felt everyone has been to a Chipotle type place (I have never been inside a Chipotle)? It's a good place to go if you're looking for a healthy option of fresh food, and vegetarian (and possibly vegan) friendly. read more

See all

I usually love cava, but their service makes me not want to come back. One of the workers rolled her eyes when I politely asked for a side of pita... read more

Amazing staff. My friend did not have enough money to pay for her bowl, and Employee Sandra covered for her. GIVE THIS WOMAN A RAISE!

Shout out to max, great customer service and a phenomenal worker - only the highest praises for him

The food is mediocre. For Irvine its healthy. The line is incredibly long and slow around 12-2. The folks serving are super slow and incredibly sloppy. read more

CAVA - I've never seen a sloppier Cava. - Mediterranean Near Me - Irvine, California

See all

I didn't have a good experience today at the Cava Irvine location on Barranca. There hardly 5 people before me and the wait time was still over 45 mins! The person serving us dropped a recipe card on the floor and picked it up but didn't bother to change his gloves etc. The workers looked unenthusiastic and the wait time was way too high. Not worth a second visit even through the food tastes good. read more

I guess the meat prices have gone up because the portion size has become depressingly small... They took their time to meticulously measure out measley amounts of protein when I ordered half and half. Wagyu grill and chipotle are a much better bang for your buck. read more

Never had this before until my friend Jen suggested it. And my oh my, am I glad I listened to her. I love that you can customize your bowl, however you want. I haven't had a combination that I did not like. I love getting the harissa sauce; not too spicy but enough kick to add a bit of hotness to your bowl. Also, their portions are huuuuuuge -- you could prob split a bowl, but why would you want to? I honestly could eat here every day. We have done curbside pick up every time and everyone is always so polite and helpful. Highly recommend this place! Enjoy! read more

update: the sweet potato is AMAZING!! literally the best i've had and such a great addition to the bowl read more

CAVA - Mediterranean Near Me - Irvine, California

There was a power outage and rather than have me wait for their register to come online they gave me a bowl for free! They're also always pretty quick when theres a line, food os as you expect and courteous workers read more

This place is bomb! Super affordable less than $10 and really filling, fresh, quality food. I had the pita with lamb and another pita with chicken. It's similar to chipotle where you go down the line and pick what you want. They also have pretty good variety of homemade drinks. My favorite was the apple pear mint! They also sell their hummus at Whole Foods! read more

CAVA - Two pitas! - Mediterranean Near Me - Irvine, California

Ughhhh such a shame. I love the food here but I dread coming here. The service is slow as molasses and no one smiles. Ever. It's like they're annoyed you're here. Why does Chipotle pretty much have the same concept but are 5 times faster? read more

Great and fast service! Very generous for a bowl, always love Cava! Even with crowds, quick service!

Honestly The best cava in Irvine the associates are so nice Ana especially she made my experience great! And they always play great music and get there guest in and out not a long wait at all Definitely my go to cava spot now read more

Food and service was very good. Max the server was exceptional! Definitely recommend!

Great place to eat! Max is really helpful and the best worker there! Great place to eat! Max is really helpful and the best worker there!