Cava Restaurant

When we arrived at Cava around 6:30, we were the only guests in the place...which made our experience all the more interesting. It is a cute little location off of Preston and Royal. The patio outside looked darling, with little torches to keep things lit and a whole slew of beautiful flowers.


The inside was cute, too. They had all of the right elements. Our table even had fresh cut flowers in a vase, a candle holder, and nice crisp linens.


They immediately brought out hot popovers with garlic butter. You could smell the popover goodness from the basket. They bring one per person and then you can purchase extra if you please. Not a bad practice, as far as I'm concerned.


We did our usual sampling, the entrees all looked delicious, but we were just in a nibbling mood. Katie got the wild mushroom soup with truffle oil. I chose the cold avocado soup which was creamy and almost tasted carbonated it had such a bite to it. Both were a good start. However, we were the only patrons in the restaurant, and the waitress brought out the wrong soup. That seems kind of crazy. Write it down...I know I would need to. She was gracious about it and quickly switched it out, but she did it again later with the glass of wine I ordered.

Wild Mushroom Soup with Truffle Oil

Avocado Soup

Cava offers several traditional tapas, so for dinner Katie and I chose the Croquetas as well as the cream cheese mashed potatoes AND the applewood smoked bacon mashed potatoes.
The Croquetas were fried and delicious.
The applewood smoked bacon mashers were delicious - the bacon maintained the right amount of crispness for these dense taters. The cream cheese mashed potatoes were a let down, Katie detected absolutely no cream cheese.


(Applewood smoked bacon mashers in the back, cream cheese let down potatoes in the front)

We finished off our glasses of wine and then ordered the Cuatro Leches Cake. This was the saving grace of the meal. Despite being drenched in the yummy cuatro leches, the cake maintained it's firmness and the caramel swirls all over the plate were a nice touch.


At this point in the evening, we were very generously offering Cava a 5 out of 10. However, as we waited for the check (now there were two other tables to be dealt with), our patience plummeted, as did their numbers.

This is what we can say for Cava - they have some glitches that need to be worked out before they are going to meet with success. The food was decent, but not extraordinary. They need some wait staff help If you are dead set on trying this place, you might just order the cake and sit on the patio. :) 4 out of 10. Maybe.