Cava Bistro

Meh is right. We had reservations before a play at the Alley, although they weren’t needed since the place was pretty empty. It was early, 6pm, but on a Saturday, I expected SOME people. What was most annoying was the temperature. It was cold outside and they had the AC on. When I mentioned it, he said «yeah it’s on because sometimes it really heats up in here». Umm, heat is a good thing in Dec!
We were seated in a nice booth and offered water, while we looked at the wine list. Then our waiter disappeared. We had to stop one guy to ask him to place our drink and appetizer order.
Seated directly behind us, was a woman with a baby. I think she was related to or knew the owner or manager because some of the waitstaff kept stopping by to visit with her. I’m a mom and I loooove babies. But this one was tired (or probably cold!) and kept fussing. On a Sat date night restaurant, I really wasn’t in the mood for that.
They brought out bread and a weird taco-​flavored dip. Yuck. Our drinks were good and the baked Brie appetizer was delicious! The entress seemed to all have spinach in them, so the chef must be a big fan or something. I had the stuffed chicken and hubby had the seafood pasta. Both were just ok.
Also, throughout the meal, the waitstaff congregated at the end of the bar to stop, wait and chat. This meant that their butts were in our faces and we could hear their entire conversation. With the whole place pretty empty, I wish they would have stood somewhere else.

Why did they move!!! My first experience at Cava was exceptional. The food was excellent and the atmosphere was comfortable and cozy with subtle lighting, intimate tables, and servers with perfect timing. Great for a romantic evening.
Then, they relocated. The new place is cramped, noisy, and impersonal. The meal was just okay– nothing like the first experience. It’s off my list of places to visit.

I love the interior of this bar. Gastro-​pub? Red, plush, but not elitist. Well «elitism» depends on the narrator’s mood, I suppose.
On a tour through old Downtown (what I call the Market Square/​former City Hall and shopping district), during a recent Market Square Celebration, my cohort and I stopped here for a glass of vino. We sat at the bar naturally, and spoke to the bartenders when they weren’t being harangued by the Corvosier Brothers Stand Up Comedy Act. So called because they were apparently between sets, slamming back Buds, and teasing the bartenders about ordering Corvosier. Think, «oh we’re in some fancy diggs, drunk out of our minds, lets repeatedly ask the poor boys behind the bar for a glass of brandy.» I tried my best to listen to two conversations, the one I was having with cohort, and the mildly amusing one that the patron next to my cohort was having with the bartender.
Sadly, when it appeared that Corvosier Brother #1 looked like he may try to include me in his comedy routine, I left. It would have been entertaining for all of five seconds.
The wine list was good and decent, yet broadly-​priced. $ 7-​$ 14 per glass. The service and décor remind me of a neo-​1950s haven along Main Street. I almost felt as if I should have just finished shopping at the Downtown Foley’s, wearing my shirt dress, pearls, heals, and gloves, and popped in for a quick Martini and/​or Sidecar and snack before driving my Chevy Bel-​Air home to the Heights.
Thank goodness for the 21^st amendment!

The BF decided that he wanted to celebrate his B-​Day lunch at Cava Bistro, so off we went.
Upon arriving (12:30ish) the place was basically empty which should have been a forewarning to me, that and the less than stellar Unilocal reviews.
Our waiter brought out some warm bread and dipping sauce which
had a significant Chipotle flavor to it, and I wondered if they had meant
to serve that to one of the diners in Cielo rather than us. The more I ate the more disgusting it was.
I ordered the Sea Scallop appetizer and was informed approximately
15 minutes later that they could not serve me the scallops, as said scallops were not fit for human consumption at this time. Well thank God for letting me know, and not giving me food poison!!!
For my entrée I ordered the New York Strip: Peppercorn crusted strip
loin in a green peppercorn Pinot Noir sauce served with pommes frites. (I opted for fresh veggies instead of the fries).
Now my steak was cooked perfectly. Exactly Medium as I had
requested it, but that piece of meat was so TOUGH that I now wonder if that is just a crappy cut of meat to be avoided from now on???
For dessert I ordered the Chocolate Eruption which was described by our waiter as a dense soufflé-​type cake with a coffee & *something* reduction, and ice cream on top.
It was horrible. The BF even said «This is terrible!» I don’t know what
the hell it was, but it was worse than a microwave Duncan Hines and the ‘reduction’ sauce was not as described, but I could not identify
what it was.
~~~After we left, the BF said «I am hungry and want something decent, like maybe a hamburger»…and he was serious.

Cava was my go-​to restaurant for a great date night. I have been a huge Cava fan since 2006– when it was across the street and felt like you were in a wine cellar or cave and it was super romantic.
I have been several times since it moved to its new location and the food and service was always wonderful. It saddens me to say that the service has gone so far downhill.
My husband and I were going to Anthony Bourdain at 8:00 PM. We arrived at 6:30 and ordered a glass of wine and a I ordered a dirty martini with olives and we ordered the appetizer brie.
After 10 minutes he brought my martini and apologized for no olives, but the martini was not dirty and I can’t drink vodka straight. I told him that I had asked for dirty and he replied «If there are no olives one would think there would be no olive… juice…» ok… well no problem, sir. If there was no olive juice let me know and I will order something else. He then remembered that he did have olive juice so he fixed it. Why not just make it right the first time?
By 7:00 we had not received the appetizer and he had not taken our food order. There was no way we could have made it to the show in time, given the extremely slow service. Management really needs to get more than 1 server in the restaurant, even on a Monday!
We left and saw the new Niko Niko’s in the park (across from Cabo) and the night ended up wonderful!
I may eventually give Cava another chance because the food is normally so wonderful, but we were so sad our favorite place is not what it used to be!

I just wanted to note that this HRW reservation was CONFIRMED by the restaurant’s own system, but when I arrived at the restaurant, it was CLOSED. The option should not have been available if the restaurant is not open for lunch on Saturdays.
As there was nothing else in the immediate area that was open other than Cielo, we opted to eat there since it’s a shared kitchen. To her credit, the server offered us the Cava menu, but only the dinner menu was available. Once again, she accommodated us by giving us the full 4 course dinner menu at the lunch price. I was also a little baffled at the fact that there was no white wine available (I’m guessing none chilled, since there was a huge wine display in the middle of the restaurant) — lost revenue from me for sure. Otherwise the meal itself was fine, but nothing to rave about.
Sea Scallops
Grilled And Served With Spinach And Shiitake Mushrooms In A Puff Pastry Shell With Roasted Bell Pepper Sauce — scallops slightly overcooked, those were button mushrooms, not shitakes! Bottom of puff pastry became very soggy from the sauce.
Roasted Corn Bisque — decent mild flavor, a little thinner than I expected.
Pork Tenderloin
Grilled With Wild Mushrooms In A Red Wine Reduction Served With Mashed Potatoes — This was the best dish. Grilled pork had just enough grill flavor and was not dry. Sweet potato chips were very crisp.
Crème brûlée — a little too dense and sweet for me.
No return trip from me, especially considering the vast array of options in the city. Getting the lunch pricing did help make the experience better though :)

Cava Bistro is about 3 blocks from my office, so on days a few of us feel like walking past the Sambuca-​Azuma-​Little Napoli spread, we on occasion pop down Main St and duck into Cava for lunch. What of this décor? It comfortable, deep red walls, dark woods, loud paint aside, it is truly a more quaint and quiet lunch spot.
Most of the times I have been in here have been after the initial lunch rush – closer to 1pm.
So onto the food. Its a bistro, lots of entrée salads, sandwiches, a soup here and there, the basics for sure, however, theres also a great list of entrees chicken, salmon, gnocchi, all with subtle italian undertones. Last time I went with the ahi tuna sandwich with wasabi aioli – it was delish. After you order they bring out bread and a tomato based sauce. But not your basic red sauce, definitely heavy on the cumin influence – think more of a chili-​taste, almost bolognese. Its great, a welcome difference to the typical marinara.
The ahi was med-​rare, perfect, as an entrée I would normally lean more towards rare, but in a sandwich, trust me you’d rather have it a little warm, it just seems right. My coworker ordered the Thai salad and while she couldn’t come close to finishing it, she loved how it tasted.
The prices were very reasonable, I think we got out of there for under $ 30 with a tip for the two of us. If you find yourself downtown, closer to Main St, head on over and give them a try.

There were little gnats flying around my food and it’s pretty cold outside so I don’t think they came in from outside.
Being the good food loving, hidden fat girl that I am, I usually just pick hair off food, brush the dirt off or shoo the flies away and continue to eat so I guess I should continue to review.
The rolls were warm and the dipping sauce was pretty delicious. I had the oriental chicken salad which left a lot to be desired. It had way too many noodles and not enough salad involved. The chicken was fried and had a little bit of sesame but more breading than sesame seeds. It also was on the dry side. I was not impressed.

First of all, I went for lunch. The prices at lunch are great.
Yes the service is slow, but the food is great. If you are going to a restaurant to be waited on during lunch, budget enough time for a 1 and a half hour lunch, relax and enjoy it.
If you don’t have time for this go to a Café, line up and get your own refills.
You will see unique things and combinations of food on this menu that you probably won’t see in this same price range at other places. Again, I am talking about the lunch menu only!
It’s certainly worth visiting this place if you haven’t been there yet.

I read the reviews. I read the reviews BEFORE I went. I am very disappointed. If this restaurant was good, I am afraid to see what would be considered bad. Our menu consisted of the following
Charmula and bread
Triple onion soup
Chicken breast stuffed with Brie, sun-​dried tomato and spinach with mashed potatoes blended with arugala and bread crumb crusted cauliflower
The charmula arrived first with what appeared to be rolls. The rolls were hard; as they arrived warm, I can only assume that they were intentionally created this way. The charmula — explained as a Moroccan accompaniment — was a red-​bell pepper and tomato purée with spices (cayenne, garlic, cumin) with cheese and olive oil placed on top of the purée. Unlike most restaurants that I have visited, the ingredients were moderately balanced — the use of cumin was still a bit heavy handed and so masked the other subtler flavors that would have melded well otherwise.
As we were sampling the charmula, the triple onion soup arrived. It appeared as a French Onion Soup or Onion Au Gratin Soup. This was THE WORST onion soup I have ever eaten; and I have eaten a lot of onion soups. The onions were undercooked, the broth was sweet while being devoid of any other flavor; the croutons and cheese on top both flavorless. This soup was made in a hurry and it showed.
The main entrée arrived soon after completion of the soup. I decided to try the disparate parts one at a time. A question for everyone: Have you ever eaten a Marie Paul’s fish stick? One of the fish sticks from the freezer? Well, the encrusted cauliflower had the same exact texture and flavor. How is this possible? I moved on to the mashed potatos and found the flavor to be quite good. The potatoes were smooth, but not beaten to the point where they are paste. My only issue was the inclusion of the arugala; it didn’t belong in those potatos. The potatoes are not cement in need of an arugala aggragate. I moved on to the stuffed chicken breast. The server had told me that the chicken had been marinated in a cilantro vinaigrette; the meat was unseasoned. As I came upon the stuffing, I found that I was unimpressed with the lack-​luster ingredients were used. Brie and sun-​dried tomatoes are known for the vivid and pungent flavors. Neither made my palate dance. I have had jarred sun-​dried tomatoes from a supermarket that were more flavorful than the ones in the chicken breast.
The waitstaff was very pleasant through out the entire meal. Extremely helpful and very gracious. I wish that I could give more weight to their service, but this is a restaurant and one patronizes for the food more so than the service.
I do NOT understand my fellow Unilocalers reviews at all. Is this an Allegory-​of-​the-​Cave moment?

Went here for our last «date night» along with a show before getting married and then again for our 1^st anniversary.
The food was both times really great, and we personally got great service too. The first time especially, our server was great and asked us about why we were going out, and we got free dessert to share.
the last time we went my husband got the steak special which was great, it was topped with a portobello mushroom that was topped with some blue cheese and pine nuts and broiled (I tried to recreate this at home after this!)
I had the crab cake which was SOOO meaty!
Cocktails and wine and dessert too.
Prices are reasonable considering.
I’m still surprised about this review of bad service, I’ve been very happy with my overall experience!

Great place. Located right off the rail down town a little past Preston station.
The ambiance really nails the European style. The only problem was that when I went on a Friday night at 8:00 it was empty (3 – 4 tables in the entire place), which was sad because this is a great place. The service was right on. The waitress attended to our needs but was not too intrusive.
The food was awesome. I had salmon that was seasoned perfectly. If I had any complaints it would be that it was a little heavy on the butter but I guess that is more an issue of personal taste. My date had some sort of streak dish (I forget which) and thought it was great.
Overall a great evening, just a shame it was not more hopping on a Friday night.

I have said this before and I will say it every time I head to a Houston restuarant… dont expect good service. I really have a difficult time tampering down my expectations and would like to sit with a bullhorn to get the waiters attention. Strangely enough, the tip percentage expectations are the same.
I went here with several coworkers as some have sworn for this place. A few basic issues. No beer. Sure, its a bistro and we should be drinking wine, but the beer selection was either 1 bottle of Budweiser, 3 bottles of Heineken, or 4 bottle of MGD. Be consistent.
I ordered the steak. The quality and consistency of the meat was comparable to a vegas buffet, except a lot colder. Its as if the meat was sitting on the counter while the waiter smoked his gitane outside.
Nothing else was really to write home about. Definitely not good enough to write to Unilocal about.

Excellent food for prepping for Opening Day Astros game. I had the Ahi Tuna sandwich, medium rare with some kind of Wasabi sauce. I had sautéed vegetables on the side. The sandwich was tasty with an awesome bun. I assume they bake their own. It was very fresh. Vegetables were excellent with a touch of a buttery sauce. The coffee was good.
We ate at the bar. the atmosphere was nice. Most of the diners looked like business types taking a nice lunch. This is not a Sports Bar, but a Bistro. We found it because it was next to the «Preston» train stop, on our route to the game. Overall a good experience. Servers were friendly and attentive.

Have been meaning to give this Main Street bistro a try for sometime now… and on the occasion of my wife’s birthday we gave it a go. Not dissapointed.
I expected it to be fine… but my expectations were exceeded…
There are a lot of places in Houston that serve great food, this is a great restaurant city. My favorite spots are where really good food comes together with great atmosphere and great service. Cava gets high marks on all three counts.
Cava is located in a 19^th century office building on main street and looks out on all the downtown activity. The interior architecture is very nice and cozy… like a candlelit wine cellar.
They knew it was Meri’s birthday and greeted her with a complimentary glass of champagne… a simple but nice touch.
Waiters were very nice… giving service without being servile… attentive without being too attentive.
Chef Fidel Perez has created a menu that doesn’t overreach but really delivers.
We started with the Ahi Tuna with a wasabi aioli… the tuna balanced on a bed of thin cool noodles… it rocked.
She had the blackened snapper special… I had the tenderloin with a port wine reduction and gorgonzola… we enjoyed both thoroughly…
The couple at the next table was celebrating their anniversary… live in a downtown loft and apparently spend a lot of time at Cava… they were happy even after multiple visits.
General Manager Jeff Verberg checked on us a couple of times, made us feel very welcome… and dropped a complimentary desert on us for the birthday celebration.
A great experience… Highly recommended…
The menu does not overreach… executions are nice.

3.6 Stars — Reluctantly Rounded Up.
I came here with a group from work last night. There were 8 of us and we were comfortably seated back towards the kitchen. As a group, we had a very nice time, enjoyed each others company, and learned some interesting things about each other.
AMBIANCE — Interesting, yet cozy and intimate faux cave interior with a wine emphasis and dark woods. Both casual and dressy would be fine here.
ALCOHOL — I had a very nice Chilean Malbec and one of the most watered down mixed drinks in long memory.
SERVICE — Uneven. Our waiter was friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable, but didn’t return much to see how the group was doing or whether anything else was needed. And it took a long time for both the main courses and desert to come out.
FOOD — My flounder with chipolte and spinach risotto was tasty, yet overwhelming spice-​wise to the point of crowding out the taste of the food. On the other hand, my chocolate pecan tart for desert was excellent. The dishes themselves were handsomely presented.
PRICES — Pretty reasonable.
In summary, there is a lot to like about Cava and I would love to take Gayle here on a return trip for the romantic atmosphere, the cuisine, and the wine. Yet, in this group setting, the uneven service and over-​seasoned food gave me pause.

weak, slow, inconsistent. After a very positive start with excellent apps, thee main courses were tired and not hot enough. Maybe they changed cooks between 8P and 8:30. Reasonable prices. Nothing sucked, but nothing was special.

Superb! The best restaurant I’ve found yet in Houston! A cozy/​European-​style ambiance, healthy, fresh & interesting salads (I’m finding these are rare on the menu in Houston — very unlike San Francisco!), delicious wines, and enticing seafood & steak options. I will most definitely be returning!

I have been to Cava Bistro several times and have always been pleased with the experience. I took my team here for an appreciation lunch, and we received attentive service from Lucas. Jeff, the owner, greeted us at the start of our meal, which really added a welcoming personal touch.
We had a party of 11 and everyone raved about the food. The menu at Cava Bistro is diverse and inviting; we had several dietary restrictions at the table, but everyone was able to find something appetizing without having to request many modifications.
The food is consistently excellent. Most recently, I went for the red snapper special, topped with artichoke hearts and jumbo lump crab meat in lemon butter sauce, accompanied by vegetables and roasted potatoes. The fish was perfectly cooked, and the roasted potatoes were exceptional. I also favor the potato gnocchi and the crab cake off the regular menu.
Since every good meal must end with dessert, we all gave in to the sweeter side. I didn’t see a single plate that wasn’t licked clean, so clearly you can’t go wrong with the white chocolate mousse cheesecake, the crème brûlée or the chocolate pecan tart. I personally had the white and dark chocolate mousse crêpe. Talk about yum … it was so rich and delicious, I could only finish half of it and packed the other half to scarf down later in the comfort of my own home.
The atmosphere at Cava Bistro is classy and cozy, with architecturally interesting details. I have entertained senior executives from New York here, and have always been complimented on my selection of restaurant. Cava Bistro is a gem amongst the other Main Street establishments in downtown.

I went here for my Birthday with my mom when she came to visit and everybody was impressed. The building this restaurant is in is one of the oldest and coolest buildings Downtown. The «American» cuisine was excellent. It was a bit expensive but not too bad considering it was fancier than my usual student type of place. I think the meals cost between $ 15 and $ 30. I had an excellent surf and turf (steak and shrimp). I don’t remember the menu too well, but I know that everybody enjoyed their food. Another point in its favor is that its right outside of Preston Station so it’s easy to get to on the Metro Rail!