Cava restaurant will make you forget you’re eating fast food

BY MADELON DAVIS @madelondavis

There is a new fast-food place in town. Cava, which has three locations, opened in early March in Baton Rouge. One store is in Perkins Rowe, one is off Corporate Boulevard and the other is near Blue Bayou.

The new locations replaced former Zoe’s Kitchen establishments after Cava acquired the Zoe’s Kitchen franchise for $300 million in 2018, according to 225 Magazine.

Cava is a Mediterranean fastfood restaurant that is similar in style to Chipotle. You can choose from a pre-made list of wraps and bowls or make your own. The pre-made list is called the chefcurated pitas and bowls. These range from $10 to $13. The premade bowls and pitas come with meat and vegetarian options.

Cava also has a “build your own” option. You can make either a pita wrap or a bowl and this is where it’s similar in style to Chipotle. You go down the line choosing your base, rice, protein, toppings and sauces. These prices start at $10.35, but it has a kid’s option that starts at $6.20.

When building your own you have the option of bases. It has an array of lettuce options and multiple rice options. I started my bowl with arugula and brown rice. The brown rice was seasoned well.

Cava also offers black lentils and saffron basmati rice as well as different greens like baby spinach and romaine.

Next you choose your dips. When building your own you can get three sauces. I tried the tzatziki which is smooth with a strong garlic flavor. I also tried the crazy feta which was fluffy with a kick of spice. It also offers a traditional hummus, red pepper hummus, harissa and roasted eggplant. If you want an extra dip, there is a small upcharge.

After that is your protein options. You can either get a full scoop of one or split it up into half and half of two different proteins. I did the half and half with the grilled chicken, which was well seasoned and juicy, and the spicy lamb meatballs.

The meatballs were amazing.

They were a good size and flavorful, but not too spicy. The meatballs were an upcharge of $2.20. The other options were harissa honey chicken, which is an upcharge of $1.25, braised lamb for an up-charge of $3.30, roasted white sweet potato, falafel and roasted vegetables.

When you’re close to the finish line you get to choose your toppings. You can choose as many toppings as you want. It has fire-roasted corn, Persian cucumbers, crumbled feta, lentil tabbouleh, Kalamata olives, pita crips, shredded romaine and avocado. The only up-charge is with the avocado for $2.30.

Lastly are the dressings. I tried the garlic dressing and the lemon herb tahini. Both were delicious and full of flavor. It also offers yogurt dill, Greek vinaigrette, skhug, tahini caesar, hot harissa vinaigrette and balsamic date vinaigrette. You can choose up to two sauces.

It has a lot of drink options, but not your normal sodas. Cava has in-house options like classic lemonade, blueberry lavender, cucumber mint lime, pineapple apple mint, sweet tea and unsweetened black tea. It also has in-house drink options.

Maine Root beverages which has an array of carbonated options. I mixed the classic lemonade and the cucumber mint lime. These two blended well together and tasted like the perfect summer

MADELON DAVIS / The Reveille drink.

Overall, Cava is a great addition to Baton Rouge’s many options of fast-food restaurants. Cava will make you feel like you’re not even eating fast food.