Anonymous wrote:Tl;dr

Yes I like it for a fast meal

It’s really filing

I have many vegan friends/family that come in from out of town. It’s convienirnt.

Yeah, totally I don't think there is another pace like that that can make so many people happy, vegans, gluten free, vegetarians and standart dieters..

Anonymous wrote:Imagine having so much free time you posted this thread

yeah, fighting cold. all the time in the world.

Anonymous wrote:I walk by them all the time in DC but have never been. What would be good to try for the first time? (I'd prefer ordering one dish of pre-assembled ingredients rather than pick this and that, which is how I assume it works.)

Have you ever been at Chipotle? The same idea of service.. you go along the countertop and tell them what and how much to put in..
You move along the following and pick or not..

Starters:
either grains like rice or lentil

or letuces all kinds.. you don't need rice

Proteins:
all kinds of things meat or rosted veggies

then you can add meditarenian saladdy things like cucumbers with tomatoes or just cucumbers or just tomatoes,
also olives, feta etc..

and then all kinds of other things..

just take a look here and place with order page, it is fun and look gorageous like their food at the place.
https://order.cava.com/stores/2/menu

Tl;dr

Yes I like it for a fast meal

It’s really filing

I have many vegan friends/family that come in from out of town. It’s convienirnt.

Anonymous wrote:Imagine having so much free time you posted this thread

It’s like 50 paragraphs long too.

Imagine having so much free time you posted this thread

Anonymous wrote:I walk by them all the time in DC but have never been. What would be good to try for the first time? (I'd prefer ordering one dish of pre-assembled ingredients rather than pick this and that, which is how I assume it works.)

there isn't one pre-set. You could just ask them to do one that gives you a flavor of everything, but I would just grab one of their menus and get a sense of what you like.

I walk by them all the time in DC but have never been. What would be good to try for the first time? (I'd prefer ordering one dish of pre-assembled ingredients rather than pick this and that, which is how I assume it works.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why can’t you eat the meatballs first? I do not understand. Use your fork and move them.

Because when they dump all the cold salads and letuces and cucumbers and dressing, by the time you get to the table, meat is positively cold.
I just sometimes forget to ask them to put on the top because if you are buying five dishes or more for kids and people at the table then you might just forget this little thing so then I am sentenced to cold lamb.

Lamb is not dangerous cold. that's just stupid. stop being a drama queen and remember to order them on top.

Anonymous wrote:“but in general, eating cold lamb is not that safe because the melting point of the fat is higher then the body temperature so it does not get nicely assimilated by the body.”

No. Tomfoolery.

seriously, horrible taste in your mouth when you are eating cold lamb fat. yaaaack.. meee.. baaa..

Anonymous wrote:Why can’t you eat the meatballs first? I do not understand. Use your fork and move them.

Because when they dump all the cold salads and letuces and cucumbers and dressing, by the time you get to the table, meat is positively cold.
I just sometimes forget to ask them to put on the top because if you are buying five dishes or more for kids and people at the table then you might just forget this little thing so then I am sentenced to cold lamb.

OP, oh, one more major point they score on my board is - they are fantastic choice for someone who has to avoid gluten for this reason or another. Unlike other places that offer gluten free dieshes by substituting flour for something else.. they simply offer so many things that are naturally gluten free. AND they make sure that there is tons of them.
So all their bases are gluten free, grains, lettuce and greens.
All their meat options and grill veggies are gluten free including meatballs, minus the shwarma balls. Still tons to choose from.
And their salads greek style topings all gluten free.
And their dressings, all Gluten Free..

For gluten lovers they have their fabulous freshly homestyle made pita bread . so not all bad news for the rest of the world .

So that is fantastic news for all of you Gluten avoiders out there .

“but in general, eating cold lamb is not that safe because the melting point of the fat is higher then the body temperature so it does not get nicely assimilated by the body.”

No. Tomfoolery.

Why can’t you eat the meatballs first? I do not understand. Use your fork and move them.

Overall I like it, it is a great alternative to Chipotle style, as far as the concept of free building a meal and has all Mediterranean foods and is pretty hip, I did not know they are so big in LA area considering they started with one place in Rockville.

However there is few things I would change if I could, what do you think?...
- They should offer smaller bowl to begin with because their starter bowl size and price is almost 10 bucks so once you add proteins you end up paying 12 bucks. So that is spensive. I would love if they would offer small bowl for some bucks that with proteins you would end up somewhere at 8.50 area. That would be more doable and I would eat there more often. I just don't need this bathtub of stuff .. that of course I can put less in however I still pay for the full size.

- I would REALLY appreciate if they could rearrange their order of things. I love their lamb meatballs but the way it works now.. if you start with rice or lettuce and add proteins.. then by the time everything is swamped with cold cucumbers, tomatoes and likes of them.. by the time
you are ready to eat, the meatballs are cold. I think there are few things that taste worse then a cold lamb because any amount of lamb fat that gets cold it gets also immediately granulated and is not as nicely tasting in your mouth. This is wrong. I think they should put the proteins on the top. Again, I know I can request it but in general, eating cold lamb is not that safe because the melting point of the fat is higher then the body temperature so it does not get nicely assimilated by the body. So that would be a big plus.

- Having meat looking like meat would be awesome too.. kind of like Baja fresh does it, their chicken look slike chicken and beef steak cut pieces do also look like steak. I twould be awesome to have that as opposed to some chopped smush… that is some sort of meat.
Of course you have also meatballs and God bless them they are gluten free, that is awesome, except fro Shwarma.. but
considering how sour their beef meatablls are I am only left with the lamb options so mo nice meat would be great.

Other then that great place and awesome options! Great to see CAVAs popping in new places. Love their concept. And they are such a clean modern minimalistic place that one is sure to come back to.