Cava Mezze Grill

I have been a loyal customer of Cava in Tenleytown for over a year. This semester, I have noticed a disturbing trend: smaller portions, same price. In addition to this, upon request for «more of» something, for instance crumbled feta or pita crisps, the workers seem disgruntled and stingy. In fact, this evening, a worker outright ignored my request for more yogurt dill sauce in addition to the miniscule amount she dabbed on my rice bowl. I had to ask her to remove the plastic top after several failed attempts, and with an angry look she did so.
Bottom line: Stop ripping me off, and train your workers better. I don’t care about profit margins, I care about being treated well and getting what I pay for. The way I’ve been treated by workers this past semester is the sort of thing that causes you to lose customers that would otherwise stick around for a very long time.
Edit: Manager reached out, great guy, very nice. Returned for free meal and the service was better. Thanks for listening, you guys are exceptional.

This place is hands down my favorite chain restaurant, and definitely one of the best fast casual restaurants in the DC area. I’d definitely recommend getting a bowl or salad — the portions are perfect for a filling but not too heavy meal. I normally go with the chicken or spicy lamb meatballs, as the falafel is normally a bit on the drier side for my liking. The seasonal vegetables are a must try as well. If you’re a fan of spicy, the harissa is a MUST but if not, they’ve got a good mix of other spreads and dips. The fountain drinks are expensive but well worth it if you’re into unique flavors and are willing to try each one of their many different season varieties.

Cava is a Mediterranean version of Chipotle: you get a bowl, choose your base, protein and toppings. There is a limit on the base (hummus, tzatziki, etc., you could get 3 of them without an extra charge) but their toppings are unlimited –and very delicious! My only complain is that few times the meatballs I had were uncooked inside. The company has to be more careful on that. The service is amazing –5 stars for the service! Employees are very respectful and seem happy all the time.

Love this place and the new addition of lentils make being a vegan easy. Falafel are great too!

Hands down my go to spot! My roommates and I go about once a week and we cannot get enough. The food and service are excellent. Sometimes there can be a long line, but definitely worth the wait.
Order a Salad & Grains bowl with chicken. You have to get the Crazy Feta!
Would recommend this to anyone!

Anyone who likes Chipotle will definitely like the food at Cava. The place is located at busy street and I would recommend going before 11.45am during lunch time. Healthy food and perfect for weight watchers.

The super green salad with chicken, two. Scoops of roasted red pepper humus and a scoop of Harissa with all the toppings except fried noodles finished off with the Greek olive oil dressing. Now that’s what I call a healthy salad. Shredded Brussels sprouts and kale. I have also added the falafel as a second protein when I’m super hungry. They should put one of these next to every Chipotle.

Great falafel sandwiches with flavorful toppings. Not nearly as many toppings as I would be able to choose from at Amsterdam Falafel, but enough to make the meal tasty. The staff is usually quick and I’m able to run there between classes.

Service and food are on that rock star level.
Waiting on the family to arrive, I decided to hang out on the deck. Ah, the breeze and city sounds took me away and made the wait so peaceful. My guess is that this deck can get packed. Today it was just me and another enjoying the beautiful weather.
So they arrived, and, uh, yeah, first visitors must look obvious. We just stood in front of the wall sized menu and gazed. Luckily, the server noticed our apparent rokieness and asked if this was our first time. Yes I replied… Captain obvious. And he went on to explain everything.
Once he was done, it was easy to decide. Thanks for that. I may have just rolled out to avoid the embarrassment. Nah, I would have figured something out. But good lookin.
I ordered the Pita with chicken, super salad, quinoa, tomato and onion, red pepper humus and tzatziki sauce. It was very fresh. It hit the spot. I would rather a little more seasoning on my chicken but it had plenty of flavor.
My son ordered the mini pita with eh red pepper humus, quinoa, tzatziki sauce, tomato and onion, tomato and cucumber and brazed lamb. This was very moist and delicious.
I would recommend this to my pickiest of foodie friends. They have a very good variety.
Love it!

Once again, the male workers putting my order together «pretended» to «get» my order, only to disregard very simple instructions. I ordered the mini pita option. I requested tzatziki sauce as one of the three sauces. He made a half-​attempt to put a normal-​sized helping of tzatsiki sauce on each pita bread. He actually only put barely a teaspoon on each pita!
He then proceeded to help the customer after me and willingly gave her extra plastic cups of sauces.
I continued to ask for more tzatziki sauce and he «nodded.» But then be blatantly went to work on the customer behind me. Just because I was one SINGLE person who is relatively petite, it doesn’t warrant such NEGLIGENT and MISLEADING treatment and lack of service.
The smiling lady who finished putting the toppings on my order told me she could add the tzatziki sauce from the plastic containers… but it didn’t contain cucumber. It’s rude and unfair for the man to AGREE to provide the sauce and then quickly HURRY my order along just so others behind me could be served. Don’t. Be. Greedy. I don’t care how BUSY you are.
This is not the ONLY time this CAVA has been outrageous in their service. I went in the winter to order the soup and pita option. The man thought I was stupid and gave a FULL serving of a pita wrap and a soup. He then proceeded to double charge me!
The only saving grace was that I asked to speak with the CAVA manager and she came over to provide a refund.
My communication skills are fine. Perhaps the male workers at this CAVA need to brush up on their listening comprehension skills. OR else this is ANOTHER example of how CAVA Tenleytown wants to get more money out of you. It’s rude, sleazy and I will NOT go to CAVA again.
The Chipotle nearby NEVER causes me to have these types of problems and yet they are also… if not BUSIER than this pretentious CAVA.

Cava, I eat here almost every other day. This branch also seems to do everything even better.

Writing this review from California because I miss this place and can’t wait to go back to the area to eat cava again. this is usually my first and last meal every time I leave and come back from DC. The food is always fresh and the combos you can do never leave you unsatisfied or bored. Unlike chipotle or a lot of other fast casual restaurants, cava gives you so many more options to play with!
Pro tip: get half salad half rice and you will get a mini pita on the side! You can also do halfsies with your protein!
This place also doesn’t leave you feeling guilty after you eat it too! So if you’re looking for a healthy quick lunch and you’re in the area I would recommend you come here:) this place can seriously satisfy everyone’s tastebuds! I’ve never heard Anypne say they don’t like cava

Yeah, it’s pretty good. Locally sourced ingredients! Great flavors, healthy and generous portions if requested.
Improvements? Price… $ 10 – 15 for lunch ain’t so cheap. Naan bread is premade and junky (the birds outside like it, though) Sometimes the lemon/​mint water is delicious, but sometimes it can also have that terrible chlorine tap water taste.

After working in Tenleytown /​DC for a couple of years, I can truly say this is one of the best Mediterranean healthy fast food («Chipotle») type spots, with high quality, DELICIOUS ingredients that have a lot of variety.
I recently discovered that I’m no longer allergic to Chickpeas /​hummus (after 10+ years), and find that the falafel is very well cooked here compared to other places (including the famed Amsterdam Falafel), and the healthy options & taste are not hindered by each other :)
The drinks are so delicious & fresh: creative juices, ranging from kale mango Apple, to simple flavored iced teas. Although, a little steep at $ 2 per (I’d guess) 12−16oz cup, but with free refills it’s not too bad.
P. S. A comparative falafel quality shop is Roti! Check that out too :)

Mediterranean chipotle, and so so delicious. The pickled onions set off any bowl. I got grilled chicken, falafel and they were both excellent. The sauces and humus with the crispy pita slices accompany the protein and rice well.

I went to this place on Wednesday in DC because I was seeking a salad to go with my recent healthy change in diet trying to shed my holiday muffin top, however I hate salad! I went here and I found such a variety of options, baskets full of varieties of different greens, many vegetarian options to add as well as meats. I built my custom salad and it was so good I am eager to go back to a closer location tomorrow!!! Look in the pics, I posted a photo! The banana peppers sealed the deal!!!
The only thing that struck me as strange is they did not have a vinegar dressing option. Otherwise, I’m absolutely in love with this place.

Good healthy lunch place. You pick a «base» that could be pita, bowl, etc… And add things like sauces, toppings and meats. I like that they have a variety of options for sauces and toppings. The quality of the food is superb and the lunch will be between «$ 10 to $ 14» dollars depending on what you add and a drink. The downfall is that the place does get crowded!!! So prepare to make a line and have trouble finding a seat. I liked that the manager was walking around asking people if their food was good! Will come back.

I like cava’s food however it took me a painful 15 minutes to order my food at this location simply because there was a huge language barrier. They had no idea what I was asking for and I ended up with something that I didn’t want to begin with because at that point I was tired of repeating myself over and over again.
I am afraid I will be back again to this location with caution.

My husband will be outraged that I didn’t give five stars because he is in love with Cava Mezze. I liked it a lot too but felt sick the next morning. Hopefully it was unrelated. Other reasoning for three stars would be the fact that I think the abundance of sauces and toppings is a little overwhelming. But the food was good and fresh — love the pickled onions and Harissa (spicy chili paste and quite possibly the reason I didn’t love it the next day).
This is Chipotle, Mediterranean style. I had a bowl which came with rice and I chose chicken for my topping. The rice was very good but I wasn’t a fan of the chicken. Seemed overcooked and under-​seasoned to me. As for toppings, I loved the finely diced cucumbers, the tomato and onion salad, and especially the pickled onions. The crazy feta was good as was the hummus. Overall, my initial opinion was mixed but good for the most part. I’ll definitely try again!
My husband got it to go and had a great experience ordering, and said the staff was super friendly and helpful, giving him advice about what to get as a first-​timer.

Cava was great and I can’t wait to go back! Its conveniently located about 7 minutes from the Tenleytown metro. There is outdoor seating, which I unfortunately couldn’t take advantage of my first time here since it was pouring! The inside décor is minimalistic and rustic. The booths are big and the tables are spaced enough where you don’t have to squeeze by strangers to sit.
I was able to have a super filling meal for around $ 9! I ordered the rice bowl with chicken, and tried a bunch of the sauces — the crazy feta and spicy harissa were my favorites. My only qualms with the bowl were that they barely gave any meat, and I was confused by the options for the sauces. You can get a blob of sauce before you pick your meat as well as a drizzle of dressing Immediately afterwards. So I ended up having a lot of flavors (which was awesome) but I don’t think that’s the intention.
Regardless, I really liked my bowl and will definitely return to this location for a meal!