Cuisine: Mediterranean
The kids, they love the CAVA! Honestly, I watch them walking around the neighborhood with those fancy yellow bags and had no idea why so many women were buying shoes at lunchtime. Turns out CAVA is just a mediterranean Chipotle, and not, in fact, a high-end seller of footwear. The bags do seem a little extreme for a fast-casual takeout joint — and a bit wasteful — but I’m no marketing expert now am I? Nor am I an environmentalist. Regardless of the flashy paper products, the local worker bees line up to get their grains and their dips to bring back to their desks day after day. Because, hell, even the best of us need a break from the salad rut every once in a while.
I do wonder if there’s some info out there that is telling the youngsters that Mediterranean food is somehow healthier than faux Mexican grub (besides Google AI, that is)? That chickpeas in some way outstrip black beans for nutritional value. That feta makes cheddar a chump. That tzatziki trumps sour cream on the classy scale. Okay, maybe they win one there. But how else to explain the young ladies being cool with CAVA while leaving Chipotle to the laddish high school boys and young lads at heart. They’re essentially the same thing — bowls full of rice with a protein and a few toppings. Or maybe it’s the dainty little sherbet scoops CAVA uses to dole out said tzatziki and hummus? It’s adorable. A twee little dome of dip placed ever so in your bowl next to the grilled chicken, Persian cucumbers and pickled onions. A little more than a dollop, way less than a scoop. Hardly the manly avalanche of sour cream or backhoe of guacamole they whip into your lunch at that other place. But, hey, this is a civilized experience, so just relax.
Quite honestly, though, I felt a little intimidated on my first visit. There is no big board with instructions written for idiots like me. You know: first choose your base, then choose your protein, then choose two dips, then choose your toppings, then choose your dressing… All laid out all nicely with the available choices for each. Shopper marketing, people, get on board! Instead, I got through the line, was asked what I wanted and just kind of blurted, “chicken + rice!” Which is a bowl on the menu with all that stuff pre-picked for me. I went in ill-prepared and it showed. Granted, I did end up enjoying the items put in that bowl for me, so I don’t have any complaints, but I would have liked to be more pointed with my choices going in. I will study next time and order, green: romaine, grain: brown rice, dips + spreads: hummus & harrisa, mains: grilled chicken, toppings: pickled onions & cabbage slaw & Persian cucumber, dressing: tahini Caesar. There, perfect. Now I too can pretend that somehow this meal is less caloric and more enlightened than a burrito bowl and feel better about myself for surviving it.
350 Hudson St. (bet. King & Charlton St.)
332/222-6749
cava.com
