I have been looking for a reason to try Cava for a little while now and I finally got one earlier this week. It was my and my fiancee's 8 year anniversary. So we thought we would give Cava a try. As far as the food and service were concerned, I don't think that we could have made a better choice.
The menu is a traditional tapas for the most part. So we shared a variety of dishes (8 dishes in total). Everything that we tried was excellent, but two of them really stand out even a few days later.
One of the first dishes that we tried was the swiss chard with pine nuts. This is not a dish that you would normally expect to stand out. But the simplicity and quality of this dish were evident.
The second dish that my fiancee and I fought over (she won) was one of the two deserts we ordered. Unfortunately I don't remember the name of it, but it is basically a chocolate lava cake. This is a truly decadent desert.
The only negative about Cava, and the reason I'm not giving it 5 stars has nothing to do with food or service. The space that Cava is in doesn't suit the quality or price point of the food they serve. The interior of the restaurant looks more like a diner with good lighting than a restaurant of it's quality should. I was expecting more a hole in the wall that comes off as charming, cozy, and romantic. What I got looked more liked like a struggling restaurant in the suburbs than any of those things.
Regardless of if you live in the St. Claire neighborhood or not, you should try Cava if you haven't yet. The food was outstanding and the service is spot on.