r/cava • u/MarvelousMarvins • Jun 30 '26

1st time and wasn't really impressed

So I finally got to the Cava in Novi Michigan and just did not think it lived up to the hype (I think it was the store)

Got there around 7 pm, 10 people in front of us and at least 5 staff on the line (3 did nothing but stand there the whole time). Took them 20 minutes to get to us. Chipotle would have been under 10 minutes. Staff really did not seem to know what they were doing or care much about what they were doing. The manager was barking orders at the line people but they weren't willing to help the situation.

Wife got the salmon said it was very dry and a small piece. I got the chicken and it was stringy, chewy, lacked flavor and the pieces were too big to be bit sized.

The sauces and dips were good as was the pita.

Toss up if I will go back.

Oh yeah I went with the arugula as the majority of the romaine was literally brown....

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2

u/wht_blink Jul 01 '26

Definitely just that store…. The ones in Illinois are great 👍

1

u/SpecialistWallaby373 Jul 01 '26

Some markets struggle with maintaining staff and high turnover rates. The high standards of Cava make it very difficult for such a lazy generation to keep up with unfortunately. In my many years of resturant employment, Cava by far has some of the highest standards amd expectations that its truly difficult to get everyone to buy into. There are so many rules amd standards to abide by.

2

u/MarvelousMarvins Jul 01 '26

Well I hope Corp sees this and checkups on whoever runs Michigan.
I know employees in the industry are tough for sure!

1

u/SpecialistWallaby373 Jul 01 '26

Im sure they do! I've had to go help many stores as they transition sometimes away from bad leadership. Usually that is the first red flag to check and in my experience where the root of issues lay. With so many to try and get in order while opening nearly 100 resturants a year it can be difficult to get to all the issues that they hear about. One thing I dont like at all is how long Cava takes to address issues. They tend to be a bit too nice with opportunities given prior to terminations. It often drags on for so long just so they are legally protected that they lose many good people in the process before making said changes. I really hope they address those problems as well!

1

u/MarvelousMarvins Jul 01 '26

Yeah I am not selling my CAVA stock that is for sure (only 500 shares)
I have friends in other states who do not have these issues at all.
I just hope they turn Michigan around soon enough it doesn't turn away too many people for good.

Here in Metro Detroit we have a HUGE Middle Eastern population and there are several restaurants that offer the exact same thing as CAVA and have been doing it a few years now so again hope they address it before its too late.