Tried CAVA recently and I get the hype. It's basically Mediterranean Chipotle--but better in a lot of ways. The build-your-own bowls are super customizable, and everything tastes fresh. The spicy lamb meatballs and harissa are standouts, and the dips (especially the hummus and crazy feta) are actually flavorful, not bland. Portion sizes are solid for the price, though it can get a little expensive if you load up on extras. Service is usually quick, but peak hours can be hectic. Overall: a great option if you want something healthier than typical fast food without sacrificing taste. Definitely worth trying if you haven't yet. read more

Dined there 8/23/26 2:24pm. Firstly, get rid of your Gen Z staff. They are not welcoming at all. The young girl seemed to be annoyed while we were trying to decide what you want to order and what toppings. I felt very rushed. Then I discover that I paid $3.75 for half of a steak upgrade Why would I pay the same prices for half of an upgrade when I'm already getting less chicken. The upgrade for a steak bowl is $3.75. How does it make sense to charge me $3.75 when I got half steak?? I asked the guy who I assumed was the manager. He said that's how it's set up to charge. He didn't even care that was not happy about it Lastly, the lemonade drinks seemed watered down not the usual taste. Definitely won't be coming back to that location. read more

Very disappointing experience -- poor food quality, cleanliness, and customer service Today Saturday August 22, 2026 at 12:30 PM, we had lunch at this CAVA location in Laguna Niguel today with my wife and our 7-year-old son, and unfortunately, the experience was awful. There appeared to be plenty of employees working, but the food in the display trays was extremely dry and unappetizing. Several of the trays were also nearly empty or completely empty, with no effort being made to refill them while customers were waiting. The customer service was equally disappointing. The attitude of the staff was not welcoming, and the overall experience felt like no one really cared about the customers. But the worst part was the cleanliness of the dining area. Virtually all of the tables were filthy. There were also several benches that appeared to have been walked on repeatedly, with a thick layer of dirt and residue covering them. Unfortunately, I sat on one of the benches without realizing how dirty it was. I was wearing shorts, and the residue got all over my legs. I literally had to go home and take a shower afterward. I asked to speak with the store manager and explained everything to her, including showing her the condition of the tables and benches. Her response was extremely disappointing. She showed little to no concern, did not appear interested in addressing the issues, and simply walked away. I took several photos of the conditions and am attaching them to this review so customers can see for themselves. CAVA is supposed to be a place where you can get fresh, healthy food in a clean environment. Unfortunately, based on our experience today, this location fell far short on food quality, cleanliness, and customer service. I hope CAVA management takes this seriously and addresses these issues with the store. read more

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i opened my takeout and the pita bread had what looks like mold on it. i was excited to eat and instantly lost my appetite. how does food leave the kitchen looking like this?? this isn't just gross, it's a health issue. someone seriously needs to pay attention before serving food because this should've never made it into a customer's hands. read more

CAVA - Mediterranean Near Me - Laguna Niguel, California

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This CAVA location is newer and better than most of them. It wasn't super busy when we came but the line started to get longer after we got our foods and sat down. There were only five people ahead of us but the line moved very slowly. I got the bowl with two green choices and half non-spicy and half spicy chicken. Their greens were clean and everything was super fresh and delicious. Be careful of the red spicy sauce though. That was really spicy. And they forgot to give me my piece of pita! I just realized that when I got home. Hubby had the pita bread with the regular non-spicy chicken and he thought it was very good too. Service was good. Staff were polite and respectful. read more

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I had a really upsetting experience with Cava, which is frustrating because I actually like their food. I'm writing this hoping they take feedback seriously and improve. We placed an online pick-up order for 9 people, totaling $155 -- which honestly should have been closer to about $90 worth of food given what we received. The biggest issue was portion size. When you order in person, Cava bowls are usually filled to the brim because you're standing there watching them scoop everything in. But our online order bowls were underfilled by at least 2 inches. I attached a photo of my bowl, and unfortunately it represents almost all 9 bowls we received. Ironically, the only bowl that was filled all the way was the vegetarian bowl, but that's not saying much because it was mostly romaine lettuce, which is obviously very voluminous. To make matters worse, romaine wasn't even one of the requested ingredients, so they got that order wrong as well. I can't confirm whether the other bowls were accurate since I wasn't the one eating them, but my own bowl had clear issues. I ordered roasted broccoli, yet there were no actual broccoli florets -- just a few tiny green wisps. It barely looked like broccoli was added at all. To be fair, the quality of the food itself was good. The steak was tasty and well cooked. But while the quality was excellent, the quantity was dead last. I don't normally get angry about food, but this felt outright disrespectful, especially given the price we paid. Several colleagues who saw the bowls immediately said they've had the exact same experience ordering online -- bowls are skimpy -- while in-person orders are filled properly. That inconsistency is a huge problem. Cava, if you're reading this: Please train your staff to be consistent whether the order is online or in person. Just because customers aren't physically watching the food being scooped doesn't mean they should receive less. This is a big concerns--if this is happening in plain sight with the food, it makes people wonder what else might be happening behind the scenes. I genuinely want to come back, because the food is good. But after this experience, you'll need to earn my trust again. read more

What a crappy experience that was. I tried to order a Kids plate like I've done 30 times before. I don't do carbs I always order it with just salad- no rice. Healthy option which you would think Cava is trying to promote. The person helping me, who was supposedly the manager, said oh we can only do a grain hence rice on the kids plate. I let him know that that's interesting the other 20 times I've been to this location I've never been told that. He of course says oh sorry about that. Here's the stupid part lettuce is less expensive than rice. Would they be losing anything to assist my needs? NO What a stupid decision on his part and now has lost a customer forever I hope this makes it up to corporate so they can see how stupid this decision was BTW I'm a soccer coach and often bring in 10-15 girls to dine I'm not going to promote that any more read more

I feel like if a place bombed and I had to leave a bad review and I ended up going back and things improved, I update my review. Redemption is a good thing. This time around the food was good. Service was friendly and on point. Everything was in proper order. No complaints. Well done. Hope to be back soon. read more

Amazing! Great customer service. Jessica was such a doll and super patient with me. She gave me recommendations and suggestions. Definitely will be back! read more

DO NOT ORDER THROUGH UBER EATS!!! Every time we order from this location not only are the portion sizes laughably small, but there are always a ton of missing ingredients and order items. For the price of the food, plus the taxes and surcharges Uber adds to every order there's absolutely ZERO value ordering from this place. Cava needs to train its staff better to achieve consistency between in store dining and online orders. read more

Horrible customer service, I love cava but the worker serving me just made me uncomfortable with her gloomy attitude. I also work in customer service so i understand that some people have bad days but the girl working just made me want to leave, horrible attitude and looked so pissed off. read more

ordered a FULL portion grains bowl and what i recieved was ridiculous. i wouldnt even consider it halfway filled. I should NOT be paying 15$ for this. Im so dissapointed considering I come here regularly. IT JUST GETS BETTER in my other bowl i ordered half sweet potato and half falafel to my surprise theres no sweet potato OR pickled onions. not sure if the incompetent workers cant read or whats going on but considering every item i ordered is wrong i am furious. read more

CAVA - Mediterranean Near Me - Laguna Niguel, California

Sat waiting for my to go order to be placed on the to go shelf. Apparently they don't put them there anymore, so my food just sat there getting cold behind the counter. The guy that I spoke with was not friendly and didnt seem to care about this discrepancy. I asked for utensils and none were in the bag. read more

The workers here are just the absolute best! Ordered my signature pita bread, steak, tzatziki sauce, lettuce, avocado, and garlic sauce, and the food was just cooked to perfection! I believe Sydney and Rosa helped me out with my order and it was just spectacular. Sydney and Rosa brought so much joy and happiness whilst taking my order. I felt as though I were talking to my friends! Had a fun experience, will come back again and love the food and the people as well. read more

CAVA - Sydney taking my order - Mediterranean Near Me - Laguna Niguel, California

I came in to pick up an order my friend placed for us, about $50 worth of food. Simple pickup, or so I thought. I check the order and it's clearly wrong and missing items. I politely point this out, and instead of fixing it, the employee opens the bowl in front of me, dumps the avocado out, and says, "I don't see what's wrong with this bowl." Oh. So we're doing performance art today. She hands it off to the manager, who watches this happen and then tells me I can just take the food as is. I explain, again calmly, that the order is incorrect and needs to be remade. I get my friend on the phone since she placed the order. The manager refuses to fix it, so I hand him the phone... and he literally takes my phone and walks to the back of the store with it. At that point I'm like, great, now I'm chasing my food and my phone. Meanwhile, one of the employees quietly says to me, "I'm so sorry this is happening." I said, "Girl... you're stuck here with him." That told me everything I needed to know. He then tells my friend to come inside. She shows up with her two kids, and suddenly his tone changes to "How can I help you ma'am?" as if none of this just happened. Once she explains she's the one he was just arguing with, he brings the food out, drops it on the table, and starts digging through it with his bare hands to "prove" everything is there. Then he holds the pita up close to her face like he's presenting evidence in court. At that point we're like... no. You've touched everything, already said you weren't remaking it, and now you're arguing over it like it's a personal mission. Somewhere along the way it turned into a full performance of a grown man trying to square up over a bowl of hummus... with a mom and her kids. Very bold choice. He keeps saying he "doesn't have time for this," while actively spending all the time in the world not fixing the problem. Eventually, after all of that, he remakes the order anyway. Which is exactly what could have been done in the first 60 seconds. Also worth noting, the original bowls were barely filled. Like... blink and you'll miss it portions. This wasn't just bad service, it was weirdly hostile, unnecessarily dramatic, and honestly kind of embarrassing to watch. read more

I ordered two build your own bowls. The portion of the protein on both bowls was extremely MINIMAL. $34 on two bowls that hardly any protein is a robbery. The staff can also work on being more friendly and checking on customers and less always talking to each other in groups. *There's more protein on a mouse trap*. Go to the Cava off of Crown Valley in Mission Viejo where the portions are fair for your hard earned money. read more

I ordered the braised lamb bowl. It was fresh and delicious! Don't forget to try their different drinks! Delicious and refreshing! The food here is clean and healthy! Great service! read more

I am so upset that you guys got rid of the sweet potato option!! That was literally the only reason I would come back every time! I'm unbelievably disappointed and appalled. Sorry, but you've lost 4 customers in this house! BRING BACK SWEET POTATO!! read more

Visited: 4/15/26, 1 pm Ordered: Grains bowl w/chicken, white rice, pickled onions, corn, tomato/cucumber, yogurt dill sauce. After seeing the 1 star reviews due to small portion size when ordered online, I decided to go inside to place my order. Portion: The portion did seem small because the bowl was slightly more than half filled. However, I realized after finishing the entire bowl, that the portion size left me satisfied and full. I even ate the entire pita bread it came with. To compare, the Costa Mesa location gives much larger portions; and I would usually have leftovers and unable to eat the pita. Taste: Food isn't hot and barely warm, but still tasted good. read more

Came into Cava on a Sunday and there was no line! The indoor space is modern and spacious. And they have a lovely outdoor patio. Made an amazing fresh tasting bowl. Love cava and the options! read more

CAVA - Mediterranean Near Me - Laguna Niguel, California

Cava cravings are a real thing... and it happens at least once a week for me. Hit or miss with this location, sometimes they're staffed and stocked... and sometimes it's short staffed and out of stuff. Lol. It also really depends on who's scooping. Decent sized dining area. There is a nice patio as well. I like the BYOB... build your own bowl. I love that arugula is an option for the greens. Your choice of grains, 3 scoops of whatever dips (my fave is the crazy feta). I love their falafels & the grilled chicken. I go crazy with the toppings. The pickled red onions is a must. Don't forget to ask for their garlic sauce because it is soo soo good. My husband's go to is their chicken pita with the spicy harissa and eggplant & all the trimmings. It is huge enough to split into 2 meals. I love all the options, you can make it as healthy or unhealthy as you want. I love Cava! read more

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Went back 2 more times, same issue as first time with small portions. I have come to the conclusion that this location must have a training issue when half the staff give proper portions and the other half give small portions. read more

Great food great service, my server ethan do was fantastic, will be eating there again, love you to death kid.

Honestly one of the worser Cava establishments I've been in. The vibe was off and the food was average at best. Their saving grace was they did have good service. Shout out to Ethan he was such a well spoken individual and helped accommodate my specific needs after having to deal with the confusing female manager. read more

The food tasted great here and the workers who helped me Julia and Jessica were so kind!

Got here about an hour before closing. Thanks to the friendly staff member that helped me out as she made my first experience trying this chain a positive one ! Appreciate the generosity of portions as well. Although there were some dressing options that ran out, thank you for providing recommendations of possible combinations that could work well together. Ambiance was chill with instrumental and hip hop music playing in the background. read more

CAVA - Build your own bowl - Mediterranean Near Me - Laguna Niguel, California

The food and the services was great a worker named Ethan served our food quickly and precisely.

Julia was super helpful! Great food. The drinks at the soda machine taste so good in my opinion.

Great service!! Cassidy was super friendly, quick, and helpful. My order was made perfectly and everything tasted fresh. The experience was smooth and I'll definitely be coming back again. read more

CAVA - Mediterranean Near Me - Laguna Niguel, California

Great Cava! Sophia, Ember, and Sydney helped me out! Love this place and friendly staff

I love cava. Leah and sophie were amazing and took care of my bowl. they were so nice and were super helpful, props to them read more

CAVA - Mediterranean Near Me - Laguna Niguel, California

I really like CAVA but this location disappoints. It really needs a thorough cleaning and some TLC. Most other locations have fresh lettuces and food generally appears fresh but not at this location. Lettuce was old and not appetizing. Servers don't seem to care about customer service. There seems to be a reason this location doesn't get much foot traffic. read more

Soooo delicious!!!! My favorite fast casual cafeteria style restaurant ever. Way better than Chipotle cause there are so many options for toppings meats. The opportunities are endless Wooh! read more

CAVA - Mediterranean Near Me - Laguna Niguel, California

This is the best cava way better than crown valley Crown Valley is so busy that they are rushing your order and they don't wanna make too big of portions. They get very small ones at this other location. They get a very fair portions and are much more patient when you're talking to them, whoever the staff was in today great job they killed it made me and my girlfriend's bowl and we're just very polite. Good to see in a fast paced environment. read more

Over the summer I've gone to CAVA 3 times. There have been very warm days during these months when I don't feel like cooking. To me, CAVA represents one of the better alternatives to cooking. Their fast casual take on Mediterranean cuisine is good on many levels. The menu has both custom bowls, build your own bowls, Pitas, and a kid's meal. If going for the first time, and you know you cannot handle spice, I suggest you look at the menu ahead of time. Some of the menu items have sauces which are described as spicy. In terms of my favorite order as of late, the Greek salad bowl with chicken (600 calories as of 8/26/24*) is the one. The chicken was moist, well seasoned but not spicy, and the bowl had ingredients I welcomed: hummus, tzatziki, feta, cucumber, tomato, Kalamata olives, romaine lettuce, arugula, and vinaigrette dressing. Another choice, the Crispy Falafel pita (955 calories as of 8/26/24*), was the most disappointing to me; all I have to say is: My first taste of falafel was in New York and everything else I've tried has paled in comparison). So - my expectations for falafel may be unreasonable. On a more positive note, one of the drinks made in-house, the Blueberry Lavender, (190 calories as of 8/26/24*) are refreshing. I have only ordered it once because although I like it, the amount of sugar for it isn't listed on the website. With the way CAVA's pay system is set up, my opinion is the service is fine. Currently when paying by credit or debit card, there is no option to select a gratuity and I didn't spot a tip jar anywhere in the restaurant. They've been good, all things considered. Seating is available indoors and outdoors. * In terms of the calorie counts I've written; I sincerely hope no one is triggered. I have those details in my review because some of my friends have told me losing weight and maintaining weight loss is not easy. Had more places shown calorie counts of meals and drinks, perhaps things would have been easier. Since the online menu has the information (many places don't), I thought the inclusion could be helpful. read more

I absolutely love cava! The ingredients are always so fresh, staff is friendly, and I feel it's fairly priced for having a healthy lunch. One thing is... they almost always forget the pita bread. They usually ask if you want it and when they do they don't forget it. When they don't ask, I get caught up in ordering the bowls and paying while they bag it up that most of the time I get home and there's no pita bread which is a bummer. So one tip is to make sure you check or ask for it if you want it cause it does come with your bowl! read more

Frozen lettuce, soggy veggies, stale rice, and 3 meatballs when im paying extra for them? Support a small locally owned mediterranean/middle eastern business if you want this kind of food because you'll get double or triple the portion for the same price read more

I love finding healthy food spots, but recently I've noticed how understaffed they've been. I walk in: music is blaring, and the workers should work on their service. I was waiting to get my order taken but the guy was in the back and was unenthusiastic/unprepared to help me :( read more

Came here yesterday and Angel gave me a great recommendation on what to get and he recommended the Shawarma Bowl. The food was tasty and the service was great! Store was clean and quiet. Will differently come back again! read more

CAVA - Opening Day! - Mediterranean Near Me - Laguna Niguel, California

This is not CAVA that ive seen at other locations. The place smells sour like dirty diapers. The high school students serve the customers and are always on their phone meanwhile the place is a slop pen. I can't come back here - ever. This was a second chance and both I knew better. read more