Is CAVA Safe During Pregnancy? Feta, Tzatziki, Bowls and What to Order

CAVA is built for the way a lot of pregnant women want to eat: a big bowl of grains, greens and protein, with plenty of flavor and no mystery about what's in it. The menu is Mediterranean, which means two ingredients that pregnancy advice cares about, feta and yogurt. Everything else is straightforward.

This guide goes through the menu using CAVA's own menu descriptions and its nutrition and allergen guide, and flags the two questions worth asking.

The Menu, Item by Item

Is the Feta at CAVA Pasteurized?

Feta is the one ingredient on the CAVA menu that pregnancy advice really cares about. The CDC lists feta made with pasteurized milk among the safer cheese choices for pregnant women, and advises avoiding any cheese made with raw, unpasteurized milk, because of Listeria.

Most feta sold in the US is made with pasteurized milk, but not all of it. CAVA's nutrition and allergen guide doesn't say whether its feta is pasteurized, so it's worth asking at the counter. That covers both the crumbled feta and Crazy Feta, CAVA's whipped feta with jalapeño, onion and olive oil.

If the team can't tell you, the simple fix is to leave the feta off. Hummus, red pepper hummus or avocado give the same creaminess. Our feta guide covers feta in more detail.

Is CAVA's Tzatziki Safe?

Yes. CAVA describes its tzatziki as Greek yogurt with shredded cucumber and dill. Yogurt sold commercially in the US is made from pasteurized milk, so tzatziki is fine in pregnancy. The same goes for the yogurt dill dressing.

The cucumber in tzatziki is raw, like any salad vegetable. As with all cold food, it's best eaten fresh, which a busy CAVA makes easy.

The Proteins Are All Hot

Every main at CAVA is cooked: grilled chicken, harissa honey chicken, grilled steak, braised lamb, spicy lamb meatballs, glazed salmon, falafel and roasted vegetables. There's no cold deli meat on the menu at all, which takes away the biggest fast food worry in pregnancy.

The lamb meatballs are the one to glance at. Ground meat needs to reach 160°F, according to the USDA, so check there's no pink in the middle.

Salmon is on the FDA and EPA "Best Choices" list for pregnancy, which recommends 8 to 12 ounces a week of low-mercury fish. CAVA's glazed salmon is a good way to get some of that in.

The Cold Line: Toppings, Slaw and Freshness

CAVA works like a salad bar: your bowl is built in front of you from a line of cold toppings. That's mostly fine. Cucumbers, tomatoes, pickled onions, pickles, olives, corn and avocado are all low-risk.

The one topping to think about is the sumac cabbage slaw. It's a pre-made cold salad, and the CDC lists premade deli salads like coleslaw among the foods for pregnant women to avoid. CAVA's slaw is made for the line rather than sold as a tub from a deli counter, so it's lower risk, but if you want to be strict, it's an easy one to skip.

A few habits help with any cold line: go at a busy time when toppings are being refilled often, eat your bowl soon after you buy it, and don't keep it in a warm car. Our Sweetgreen guide goes through the same cold-line questions at another salad chain.

Lemonades and Iced Tea

House-made lemonades. CAVA makes its Classic Lemonade, Cucumber Mint Lime and Blueberry Lavender in-house, and says the Cucumber Mint Lime is balanced with fresh lime juice. The FDA advises pregnant women to drink only juice that's pasteurized or treated, because fresh-squeezed juice can carry bacteria. CAVA doesn't say whether its lemonades use pasteurized juice, so ask, or choose an iced tea, a Spindrift or water. Our Raising Cane's guide explains why fresh lemonade is the issue.

Iced tea. The unsweet black tea and jasmine green tea are brewed in-house and contain caffeine. Mayo Clinic puts brewed black tea at about 48 mg and green tea at about 29 mg per 8 ounces. Count them toward ACOG's limit of under 200 mg a day. Our safe teas for pregnancy guide has the full caffeine breakdown.

Is CAVA Nutritious Enough in Pregnancy?

CAVA is one of the more nutritious fast-casual options. A bowl with chicken or steak, lentils, greens and vegetables gives you protein, iron and fiber in one meal. CAVA's nutrition guide lists the Greek Chicken pita at 48 grams of protein, and lentils and leafy greens add plant iron and folate. Our iron guide explains why pairing them with vitamin C, like the lemon in the dressings, helps.

The thing to watch is sodium. CAVA's guide lists several curated bowls and pitas above 2,000 mg, including the Falafel Crunch bowl at 2,210 mg and the Spicy Chicken + Avocado pita at 2,290 mg. The FDA's Daily Value for sodium is less than 2,300 mg a day, so one bowl can use almost all of it. Building your own bowl with fewer dips and dressings is the easiest way to bring it down.

With Gestational Diabetes, Nausea or Heartburn

Gestational diabetes: a Greens + Grains bowl with a protein, lentils instead of rice, and plenty of vegetables is a balanced choice. Go easy on the pita, pita chips and the sweet lemonades. Our gestational diabetes meal plan shows how a meal like this fits into your day.

Nausea: a simple bowl of rice, grilled chicken, hummus and cucumber is gentle and easy to face. Skip the strong flavors like harissa, skhug and pickled onions on bad days.

Heartburn: harissa, skhug, the hot harissa vinaigrette and spicy lamb meatballs are the likely triggers. Our pregnancy heartburn guide has gentler swaps.

Three Easy CAVA Orders

• The protein bowl: Greens + Grains with grilled chicken, lentils, hummus, tzatziki, cucumber, tomato and lemon herb tahini.
• The omega-3 bowl: glazed salmon over rice and arugula, with red pepper hummus, yogurt dill and fire-roasted corn.
• The vegetarian: falafel and roasted vegetables with hummus, avocado, pickles and Greek vinaigrette, feta on the side once you've checked it.

For more ideas for bowls at home, our pregnancy salad ideas guide follows the same build-a-bowl formula, and our eating out guide covers other restaurants.

This article is general information and does not replace advice from your doctor, midwife or dietitian. Menus and suppliers change and vary by location, so ask the team or check CAVA's current guide if you have a specific concern.