Cava Restaurant

Overpriced, service mediocre, bones in overcooked fish, overcooked chicken. Next time we’ll go for a drink in the very nicely decorated bar but skip the food.

Absolutely beautiful décor and the food was fantastic! Definitely get the Caesar salad! Service was pretty good considering it was Valentines day as well.

Beautiful Interior and great ambiance for Valetine’s Day but horrible food. Meat was order Medium Rare and sent back three times and either over cooked (medium to Well) or Basically raw and cold in the middle. Lobster was rubbery and not good My husband finished his meal before I even got the third attempt meal. We had heard the Italian food is good here however had to order from special V Day menu. Food from special menu was overpriced and not good. Small intimate restaurant would recommend reservations. Offer Coat Check and take Credit Cards

Went on Valenties day and the décor was beautuful. Risotto balls were awesome! Great service too!

Fabulous night out! Went to Cava’s last week and everything was fantastic. I had the best Zuppa de Pesce I’ve ever had. The sauce was just right… didn’t overpower the fish but still full of flavor. Delicious. The portions were large enough that I took home leftovers. I forgot to ask for the salad dressing «on the side» (because some restaurants drench the salad with dressing) but the house dressing arrived in a special little bowl beside the salad. Thoughtful presentation.
My husband had the lambchops and they were perfectly cooked.
But the best part was the spectacular décor. Well worth a visit just for the ambience. The bar crystals are Swarovski!
Can’t wait to go back.

Received a gift card for Christmas and went for lunch on Saturday. WRONG… No lunch on Saturday… only dinner. The prices are crazy for what you get. My husband had the pasta with two meatballs (no salad) and I had a Greek salad and it cost $ 37. The décor was over the top with an over abundance of left over Christmas decorations hanging EVERYWHERE! VERY, VERY GAWDY… with giant Xmas balls and white feathers and icycles hanging from the ceiling. TOO MUCH. Are you paying overpriced meals for the décor??? Each to their own. I like a good meal in a pleasant setting with reasonable prices. NOT HERE MY FRIENDS.

I have to say that we have been here before and it was very nice and good food however last night was the 2^nd time that we made reservations ahead of time but I hen we got there, our reservation had not been recorded in their book so they didn’t have a table for us.
We decided to go hang out in the bar but since it is so tiny and there were no seats available, the waiters and waitresses were pushing through with food trays saying excuse me every 30 seconds.
We are really disappointed so we left. They did apologize but not sincerely at all. Almost like they think it makes them look cool to turn people away.

Not worth it.
Food: not good and over priced
— I don’t mind paying high prices for dining but I expect the food and service should be quality.
My wife ordered the eggplant rollatini. The eggplant was tuff and chewy and just tasted like it was made a long time ago In a factory far far away. She took one bite and sent it back — and they still charged us for it. Bad business.
Décor: Tacky
The owners care more about looks than food quality and service.
Avoid this place

My wife and I went Tuesday evening. As recommended for the décor which is a 5 star extravaganza. High end and done with total class. A must see for first timers. Unfortunately that’s where the 5 star rating ends. Food, at best middle road low end quality. Wine by the glass limited and pricey. Service is very weak, more because of uniformed and over stretched staff than ignorance. Bar is an uncomfortable sit.

Went with my wife and another couple last week. The decorations are AMAZING for Christmas, a must see.
Service was ok, maybe a bit slow but we were out for the night and enjoying the company so it was ok.
Food was great. The Espanate was excellent with good sized portions.

Rude staff and even worse management. I had no problem but overheard the manager treating customers like garbage. I would recommend any of the other Italian places in Southington or Bristol.

Cava is one of my favorite resturants. The food is always amazing and the staff is always pleasent and accommodating. The décor is always amazing and festive! Great food, great service and great atmosphere!

The hostess was extremely rude & arrogant from the secound we walked in. The place is a little tacky but i guess it would be a nice place to bring grandma… The food was subpar & overpriced. This may be the 1^st ever one star rating I’ve given, that’s how bad it was

I was meeting my wife and daughter for a drink around 4:30 this afternoon, to get information and menu choices for a 90^th birthday party next month. When they arrived the bar was busy but the rest of the restaurant was quiet. Since there were no seats available around the bar they asked if they could have their drinks at an empty table in the bar room.
The bartender was very courteous but had to ask the manager is this was ok. Unfortunately since we weren’t having dinner this evening the manager thought it was a wise policy to enforce and said NO. Can’t imagine all tables would have filled up in the half hour we would have been drinking. Bad move folks. My wife called me not to bother showing up and they left. We went to another restaurant, had cocktails, stayed for dinner, and made the party reservations. Not only did you lose the birthday party but you lost our business forever.

Literally the worst.
First we waited forever for the hostess to greet us and seat us. Then, we waiting over 10 minutes to receive drinks.
I had the chicken Melananse and it was absolutely disgusting. It was soggy and the linguini that it was served with was mushy.
Definitely not going back.

Can’t say enough about Cava. The food is always on point as well as the service. The décor is unbelievable. Do yourself a favor and visit Cava around the holidays. Each room has a different theme and the decorations are well planned out and better than any I’ve seen. When I want to impress family, friends and business associates, Cava is always first on my list. It will always be my go to restaurant here in Connecticut.

I do have to give a grand shout out to the folks here who helped make my girl friend feel super-​duper special on her birthday. I called ahead and advised that us gals would be celebrating over lunch; a lovely birthday card with hand-​written wishes awaited our arrival at the table. Lovely.
The service was also, well, lovely!
The food, as most are reporting, is okaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay, and the price is a bit steep for what you get.
But really-​on to the stuff I want to review… which is… the DECOR.
What goes on with the tree trunks lining the walls all lit up with holiday lights? We were there at the start of September, so I know this isn’t getting ready for the festivities this winter…
Also, I do believe there is a swag of gold lame (that’s la-​may, not «lame») surrounding the chandelier… very interesting. Ornate candelabras, a long dining table that could seat 12 easy as if you were hosting in the estate of your Italian grandmother. Large booths available to tuck away your pasta and your secret love affairs, maybe.
I felt like we should be attending a work function or a reception of some sort when I first arrived… all dark and, well, holiday cozy inside… but then as my eyes adjusted I got used to it and I think I get where they were going.
Sort of.

The food is delicious!
This was my first time here, and I was part of a large party that had the back room to ourselves, and a prixe fixe menu. Therefore I can’t speak to «normal» wait service, as I know that’s something that’s appeared in many other reviews. I’m not sure if we were treated differently because we were a large party and had assigned waitstaff, but they were attentive and friendly, even if they came off as a little inexperienced.
The hors d’oeuvres were great! We had jumbo shrimp, calamari, bruschetta, and clams with bacon. There was a pasta course, with very tasty sauce, and a salad course with a great dressing. For my entrée I ordered the surf and turf-​a stuffed lobster tail and filet mignon. Incredible! The steak was perfectly cooked, rare and tender and tasty. The lobster was cooked perfectly as well, and the stuffing was delicious. I couldn’t come close to finishing the meat.
Dessert was a cannoli, which was the perfect way to cap the meal.
All of the décor I saw was beautiful– pure elegance. I would absolutely come back here, and would consider hosting a party here as well. I’ll have to come back for a regular dinner and see if my experience holds up!

I came here for the first (and last) time ever back in April 2014. My mom and I were treating my aunt to a late lunch and decided to try this place because it was close by.
We got there at around 3:30 on a weekday. We were literally the only customers in the restaurant. The one and only waiter told us to sit anywhere, but right from the start he came off as smug, arrogant, and just plain rude. We sat at the table and he said he’d be right back with a menu. Five minutes later, he arrives to bring us a menu. Then he asks if we want something to drink. We ask for water to start and we each ordered wine. I asked for lemon in my water. Another five minutes later, he arrives with water. No lemon. I gently remind him about the lemon. We decide to order. Mom orders basic spaghetti and meat sauce another FIVE minutes later, he arrives with lemon wedges and says our drinks and bread will be out shortly. (Total time since sitting down= 15 minutes and we only have water).
This whole five minute nonsense continues even though NO ONE else comes in to eat. When the food finally came, it was disappointing. Either the portions are too small or the prices are too high… Or both. Either way the quality was just plain embarrassing. I left the lowest tip I’ve ever left for a restaurant ($ 6 for an $ 80 meal) but I shouldn’t have left anything.
The one good thing I can say about this place was that the décor was beautiful. I loved the crystals dangling from the ceiling. Unfortunately, you can only admire the ambiance for so long before you realize you are starving and being treated like garbage. I will never ever go back to that place again. Shame on them!

I’m so surprised by all the low reviews Cava gets. I haven’t tried any other Italian restaurants in Connecticut since I don’t live in this state, but wow. Maybe CT Unilocalers are a lot more refined in their pallet than those of us in CA. Maybe we’ve burned our tongues out on Mexican food and don’t really know how anything tastes?
I was in town for business and was recommended to Cava by the check-​in lady at my hotel. As people have said in their reviews, the way they decorate for Christmas is really charming. Did this influence my taste buds? Maybe! I started with the Bruschetta which came piled high in tomato topping. The topping itself was really good, though the bread it was on was just a tad hard. I chose the Eleni which I thought was really great. Lots of flavors happening here and it didn’t feel too heavy on my stomach so the portion size was good. Most Italian restaurants don’t have amazing desserts and neither does Cava. They come out with quite the tray to choose from and I tried the Oreo cookie cheesecake. It’s not made in house for sure and satisfied my sweets craving, but nothing to FaceTime the wife about.
We had excellent service from the moment we stepped in until the moment we headed back out. I like that the restaurant is divided into rooms so the experience is more intimate and not just a huge impersonal dining room. It never got loud so it was easy to converse without having to shout, and the from time of ordering to receiving the food wasn’t too short where you wondered if they were heating up your food in a microwave, but not so long that you wondered if some poor woman was in the back rolling out the linguine with her bare hands!