Are you a beginner in Cava? Judging by the line at the first location on the Long Island fast-casual chain, you may be in lower numbers.
A few days after opening in mid-August, Cava – who landed in the new mall in front of Uncle Giuseppe’s in Melville – had a queue at noon that stretched through the dining room. Based on how quickly people ordered Mediterranean-style pita bowls and sandwiches, the casual, fast-paced place is familiar to those who have visited one of Cava’s other 137 restaurants in the United States.
Cava was founded by three Greek-American friends in Rockville, Maryland, in 2006, and maintains the Washington, DC area with fast, healthy bowls of grains, greens, and protein. Since then, the chain has expanded to 14 states, with nine locations in New York City. The mix of flavors and textures can look nasty, for example, a bowl of chicken with lemon ($ 11.47) has 10 more ingredients apart from grilled chicken, including red pepper hummus, feta and quasi famous pickled onions from the chain, with a preserved lemon. vinaigrette.
In addition to a few “chef-cured” bowls and salads (between $ 11.47 and $ 15.01), most season-changing menus are modular: customers choose a base (rice, vegetables, black lentils). ) and a protein, from chicken with harissa honey to falafel stewed lamb. The toppings include cabbage sauce, avocado and pickled onions, and you can add onions and spreads such as red pepper hummus, made “crazy” (infused with jalapeño) and roasted eggplant. Each ends with one of eight seasonings, such as lemon herb tahini or skhug, the spicy sauce of the Middle East.
The result is a colorful, messy-looking bowl, the flavors somehow unlikely to synchronize. (The same system also applies to pitas sandwiches, which start at $ 10.67).
On the front of the drinks are juices, Maine Root soft drinks, flavored lemonades (think blueberry and blueberry lavender) and exclusive Cava waters. Visitors can dine on wooden benches, on the window sills or in the stone patio, which has umbrella tables.
Earlier this summer, Gregory’s Coffee opened the space adjacent to Cava; in the coming weeks, the satellites of Lucharito’s and TOA Asian Fusion will have to open in the same square.
The cava is open daily from 10:45 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. at 834 Walt Whitman Rd. and Melville; 631-301-3809, cava.com