Cava Mezze Grill

They have so many good veggies that you can choose from, you’ll be convinced you can be a vegetarian for the rest of your life.
CAVA is my favorite place to eat. Chipotle? Bye.
Get their app so you can rack up points to get a free meal. Granted, you get points quite slowly and one meal is pretty expensive on its own. But if you are patient enough and you like CAVA enough, you’ll get there.
Highly recommend — I bring all my friends to CAVA.

Another reviewer wrote that Cava Mezze is a Mediterranean Chipotle.
I beg to differ.
Roti is a Mediterranean Chipotle.
Roti, which used to be literally steps away from the Montgomery Mall food court, is no more. Yet Cava Mezze lives.
Why?
Answer: the freshest ingredients. The friendly service. The healthy combinations. The local sourcing. The convenience to the mall, the other food court offerings, and the Arclight cinema.
I am not a mall person, I shop at Montgomery Mall maybe once or twice a year, if that. But I do enjoy movies, and Arclight cinema is my current favorite. And when you go to the movies with your significant other, you often want a meal before or after. Thus the Montgomery Mall food court, with its dozens of choices.
I am a non-​meat eater, I am trying to lose weight, and I prefer to eat healthy when I can. Put it all together and suddenly you are down to only a few choices. The best of those: Cava Mezze Grill.
The basics: choose a sandwich, a salad, or many other combinations. On this past dining instance, I had a salad: super greens (kale and other healthy stuff), black lentils, falafel balls, baba ghanoush, harissa, hummus, tomato salsa, sliced kalamata olives, sliced pickled banana peppers, with a lemon tehina dressing. Incredibly good and very healthy. It comes with a small pita bread which I declined (see weight issue above).
Like Sweetgreen, they post the names of their local/​regional sources of meat and produce. The taste is super fresh and healthy, I felt like I was giving a gift to my body and that I should eat this every day.
And they serve beer, in my case a delicious DC Brau IPA (Corruption). I could have gladly downed more of these all evening. OK, so I do make compromises on my weight loss, I never said I was consistent!
Back to my original point. This to me is anything but Chipotle. Note the current troubles that Chipotle is having because of their national supply chain. The more you standardize and try to get the same ingredients nationwide and year round, the more energy you consume and the more risk you take for bacteria and other bad stuff to happen. The result: a large carbon footprint and environmental impact, and the bigger the risk of people getting sick. I happen to love Chipotle, but right now I’m staying away.
I also happen to love Roti. Their falafel sandwiches are delicious.
Neither compares to Cava Mezze. Even in a shopping mall food court.

I’m officially addicted! I treat myself to Cava every time I’m at Montgomery Mall, even when I have something else in mind that I want to try. It is consistently delicious, filling and satisfying. I usually order greens and grains bowl with chicken (and more toppings and spreads than I can remember) and a side pita. Their juices are also very fresh and delicious. The line can get a little long, and sometimes moves slowly but it’s always worth the wait. I went there earlier today and I’m already thinking of when I can get back!

The lines here are insane and the staff is very bad at keeping it moving. The staff is unhelpful and comments about customers aren’t acceptable in any language…
If you get the pitas you will only get a fraction of the delicious spreads, nowhere near the scoops you get on a bowl. The food however is awesome. Be prepared to eat your very yummy, but loosely wrapped, pita out of the bag — plates and trays are not provided.

This is one of the few places that I actually really miss whenever I’m in the city. It’s surprising how delicious food can be in a mall food court, but Cava hits the spot every time. The price is also very reasonable (my chicken bowl has never hit over $ 10) and I love that I can pay with my app, which gives me a discount after every 8 bowls. It’s basically a chipotle-​style concept, but so much better than chipotle imo.

I eat Cava a lot, sometimes three times a week.
Today the falafel I was served was tragically over cooked, borderline completely burnt.
On top of that… it was cold.
The manager was such a jerk to me when I told him about it. He was brash and kept talking over me. Then he asked me «What do you want me to do about it.» I told him to just do better next time and he got upset, pressuring me to allow him to prepare another one.
Unbelievable. Worst customer service approach ever.

As far as mall food court food, this place is top of the line. Admittedly, I only ordered a child’s meal for my son because it was the only healthy option for him in the mall. It came with a pita bread, hummus (or any spread of your choice), rice (brown or white), and choice of one topping (I chose tomatoes).
My little one used to eat anything but is reaching the picky years and he loved it. He’s a very heavy eater for his size and I still got two meals out of it even after I ate some as well.
The best part… the plethora of over priced juices. It’s almost $ 3 for a cup which I guess isn’t horrible for what they’re offering, and they are delicious. Lemonade with the cucumber juice and a very small sprinkle of the lemon lime soda will take you into overpriced drink bliss.
I went there two days in a row because my little one got grumpy and needed a snack. I bought the hummus and pita bread and it was over $ 4 which is also overpriced but it is a hearty, healthy snack and they give you a good amount of hummus.
–1 star for outrageous food court prices; but considering the health value of what you can purchase, that’s probably unfair.

I love the food, love the customer service but the only annoying things that are in every single cava is that there is no label. Every single food there should have a label telling the name and it its spicy or not.

Nice spicy little dish to enjoy outside at a local park. I think I might be getting hooked!

A great place for a quick meal. I liked that they have healthy options (brown rice, salad greens, savory dips and many veggie toppings). They now offer black lentils, soup and seasonal veggies. Their grilled chicken and falafels are my faves.

Food 4.5 stars.
My problem is the attitudes that I get when we order here. Excuse me for not memorizing all your sauces. My gf asked for rice with her salad and the lady took a big il handful of salad out. Then when she asked for black lentils the mean big girl responded «2.75 $» extra. She said ok that’s fine. Then again similar snickering across the line when we didn’t know how many of each we get.
.The food is good just wish the help would be more helpful.

First time eating at Cava Mezze Grill. The food was phenomenal and fresh. I will definately come back.

I LOVE Cava. It’s healthy, it’s fresh and it’s delicious. I love how many options there are for customization and that their veggies are super fresh. The chicken is amazing and the food really fills you up. Yes it’s a little more expensive, but you’re not paying for mall food, you’re paying for Cava. That means quality ingredients without the grease and MSG of nearby options.
I’ve never tried their juices but would love to in the future! If it were slightly cheaper I’d eat Cava more often. My only complaint is that some of the employees working on the line really skimp on the rice and don’t speak much English. This makes it hard to communicate that you want just a little sauce (for example). You just have to point and you get the amount they put on. Other than that I love this place!

Actually part of what I like about this place may have been due to an accident, as I ordered a rice bowl with meatballs, and I think, judging from the taste, that I was given the «spicy lamb meatballs» instead of the ordinary meatballs. (But I was not charged the extra $ 1.50 that was supposed to be added for the spicy lamb meatballs.) And they were really good. But in any case, the whole bowl was at least as good as what I’ve gotten at Mezeh or Roti, the two places most comparable. With all three doing Chipotle-​style assembly-​line serving of Middle-​eastern food, I wonder if there is room for all three companies! But I think this is the best of the three.
Like &pizza and (to an extent) MOD Pizza, they have house-​made specialty beverages. (I’ve only tried one, a blueberry soda, but of course I love anything blueberry flavored, so I’m prejudiced.) This makes it a cut above the two competing chains, though Mezeh at least has the mega-​variety soda machines that are sprouting all over. (But Mezeh does not let you refill at will!)
I really enjoyed my lunch. What more can I say?

Delicious with tons of healthy options and fresh juices! Always the best food selection at Montgomery mall
My fav combo:
Green and grains bowl (best of both worlds!)
–with chicken (so flavorful!)
–hummus and yogurt spreads
–tomatoes/​cucumber, cucumber alone, and quinoa toppings
–no dressing (too rich! I use the spreads instead!)
–pita bread on the side for dipping!
All for $ 9, Healthy and delicious!

I love the salad that I got here. It would get 5 stars except that I find the process somehow more complex than say Chipotle. Why? Because nothing is clearly labelled, the ppl dishing out the food had heavy accents plus the noise of the food court made it so I wasn’t sure what I was ordering. The ppl behind me were annoyed that I was asking questions which was embarrassing especially since I kept saying «what is that again?». –_​–
Anyway, if you don’t want to experience the stress I did, feel free to order what I highlighted. It was delicious.

First, they have done a great job fixing up the food court at the mall. A lot of the places have been changed over to higher end fast food like Cava, and the finishes and lighting are much improved.
Ive been to the Tyson’s location several times, which was good since they don’t have the menu board up yet. They really need to get that installed, since the staff seemed to struggle communicating with the customers, many of whom were trying Cava for the first time and had no idea what some of the items were. There were a handful of paper menus at the front of the line, but most people didn’t see them.
That said, the food is on par with Tyson’s location. Its a great mix of Mediterranean choices, and everything tastes fairly fresh. Its nice to have a good option like this available, but they have some work to do still.

This is a terrible service line each time I come thru I get the same item and charged different amounts!
Make sure you repeat more then once and point at what you want.
I bring my daughter all the time for lunch to this location.
I spoken to the supervisor on duty and they say no mini pita included with salads? Since when?
I Love the Cava guys and there food. But whoever is training these service line needs to get better.
Jessie who says she was the Supervisor was just a bad and rude Cashier!
You see me pick up food almost three times a week and over a mini pita your going to argue with me???
Who do you think you are? I’ll buy you a pallet of pita don’t embarrass yourself in front of my kid!
Then after your employees tell you your wrong you want to give me free food after i pay with my phone!
I don’t go anywhere to eat for free! Lost my appetite to eat my lunch!
Just a terrible experience for a slow lunch line. The mini pita was Grand Theft?
What was your issue Jessie??? why every time I come you give me issues over the same issues!!!
I know you are not what the Cava brand is about get trained before you are dealing with customers and money!
Maybe your prior employers let you work with your attitude.
Don’t ever grab customers food after you haven’t washed your hands from dealing with money and Credit cards.
I’ll still support Cava’s. But not any I ever see you working at!

So you enter this location from the Montgomery Mall food court, grab a menu (there are little pockets in the wall) and decide on what you want to eat. It is set up like Chipotle or ShopHouse Kitchen style as far as ordering.
First you start with your base — Rice, Pita, Salad, then you add some Dip or Spread to it — Tzatziki, Hummus or Crazy Feta to name a few. Need some Protein — Chicken, Grilled Meatballs, Braised Lamb or Beef (there are others), add some toppings and there are several to choose from like tomato + cucumber, fresh mint, shredded romaine, then you add your dressing like Greek Vinaigrette or Yogurt Dill to name a few and voila, you have a meal.
You can add to it by getting one of their juices or teas — Fresh Lemonade Apple Cider, Honey Basil Green Tea, Black Tea, Blackberry Sage Juice or Cucumber Mint Lime Juice — get a cup and try all — you will end up with favorites. They also offer fountain sodas (Maine Root — that’s a brand of the sodas).
On this visit, it was my 2^nd time visiting a Cava Mezze Gril in two weeks (my first being the Community Day at Kentlands in Gaithersburg). Their food was delicious. I had something similar to what I had from my first visit — Rice Bowl (Saffron Basmati Rice) with Tzatziki spread, Grilled Meatballs (seems to burnt here too), Braised Lamb, Tomato + Cucumber and Crumbled Feta toppings and I forgot to add the dressing (I could taste that something was missing).
Anyways, there are a few things I learned on this visit:
** The place serves both Mediterranean and Greek Food
** If you order 2 proteins or more, they charge for each meat. If you only order 1 of these proteins (Chicken, Falafel, or Grilled Meatballs), then it is included in the «Build it» price and is not going to be extra (I am still trying to understand this one even after a staff member explained it to me)
**The Cucumber Mint Lime Juice is so delicious. Nuff Said!!!

I pretty much love anything Cava so I was beyond excited for my tastebuds when I learned the grill was coming to Montgomery Mall. My wallet on the hand was not as excited. Either way, today is opening day and they didn’t disappoint! Since it is opening day, my lunch was free (woohoo). I ordered a salad with a blend of lettuces (super green and romaine), chicken, tzatziki, and a double scoop of crazy feta. Seriously, who doesn’t love crazy feta!!! A few other toppings and I was ready to go. Even with the crazy line due to the freebies, the line moved fairly quickly as they were well staffed and very prepared for the crowds. I tried the cucumber mint lime juice for the first time and it was delicious! Very light and refreshing.
My biggest problem right now is that it is way to convenient to stop by on the way home… uh oh!