KAVA presents a vibrant culinary journey rooted in authentic Greek and Mediterranean traditions, expertly prepared with a modern grill sensibility. Patrons can anticipate a robust selection of time-honored dishes, from tender souvlaki skewers grilled to perfection to flavourful moussaka layered with rich béchamel. The menu showcases the freshest ingredients, emphasizing bright, zesty flavours characteristic of the region. Each plate is a testament to the art of Mediterranean cooking, offering a satisfying and memorable experience for any occasion. Discover the true taste of the Mediterranean, meticulously crafted for an exceptional dining adventure.
Kava offers a beautiful and sophisticated atmosphere that consistently impresses guests with its stylish decor, great music, and vibrant energy, making it an ideal destination for nights out and special celebrations. Many visitors highlight the delicious, fresh, and well-presented Mediterranean-inspired cuisine, complemented by high-quality cocktails. The service is frequently described as warm, professional, and attentive, with numerous staff members receiving praise for their dedication to creating a welcoming and memorable dining experience for their guests.
Unfortunately, my experience at KAVA Griffintown was extremely disappointing. What started off as a nice evening quickly turned into one of the worst restaurant experiences I've had.
When we first arrived, the restaurant was fairly empty there were maybe three or four other tables & our waitress was genuinely very sweet & pleasant. We had absolutely no issues with her personally, & she was probably the only positive part of the experience.
We ordered drinks, calamari, salmon tartare, a bavette de boeuf, & lamb chops. The calamari & salmon tartare were good, although the calamari portion was quite small for the price. The biggest issue started with the drinks. Our appetizers arrived BEFORE our drinks, & we ended up waiting another 15+ minutes. When we asked about them, we were told the bar was having trouble finding lychee for one of the drinks. We eventually got them after waiting even longer.
Then came the mains.
$42 for three very small lamb chops with tzatziki & no sides. Fortunately, the lamb chops themselves were actually quite good. My friend's bavette, however, was absolutely awful. The outside was burnt while the inside was extremely mushy, & the entire dish looked & tasted terrible. The potatoes/fries that came with it were cold & unappetizing as well. She took a bite & couldn't eat the meal.
We politely asked our waitress if it could be changed to the lamb chops since we knew those were good. She was very accommodating & said no problem. At this point, we were already there much longer than expected, so we eventually asked if we could simply take the replacement food to go because we had somewhere else to be. We paid our bill around 9:00 PM, & we were told the food would be brought out shortly.
We then waited.
& waited.
& waited.
Almost an hour passed.
At one point, we even asked another waitress to check on the food, & she never came back to us. We eventually asked our waitress again & were repeatedly told,'just a couple more minutes.'
The strangest part was that we could actually see the bag of food being moved around the restaurant. We watched what appeared to be our takeout bag go toward another table, then later toward another area, & eventually behind the bar. When our waitress finally checked, she told us that our food had been'given to the wrong table' & that it was now ready.
At that point, we obviously did not want it anymore. We had been waiting close to an hour for three lamb chops, & the food had apparently been sitting around & being moved from place to place. We simply asked for the cost of the meal to be refunded since we had never received it.
This is where things became even more frustrating. The manager came over & initially told us they couldn't refund us because they had already'wasted two meats,' essentially making it sound like this was somehow our fault. He then told us that the best they could offer was a $50 credit for a future visit.
A future visit?
We explained that we absolutely did not want to come back, especially after this experience.
The manager went back to speak to the owner/boss & came back saying there was nothing else they could do. My friend had to repeatedly explain that she had paid for a meal she never received, waited almost an hour for it, & was now being told that the restaurant couldn't refund her because they had'wasted' food.
Eventually, the manager personally gave us $50 from his own pocket.
& honestly, I felt terrible for him. He was clearly put in an awful position because of the restaurant's poor organization & customer service, & even when my friend asked to speak directly with the owner/boss, they refused to come speak to us.
The restaurant itself is beautiful & our waitress was lovely, but the food quality, timing, organization, & especially the way the situation was handled by management were unacceptable. But when you're paying close to $50 for a meal & don't even receive it after waiting nearly an hour, I think it's completely reasonable to expect your money back.
J'avais effectué une réservation pour le dimanche 16 août à 20 h 30 pour 3 personnes, & ce, 5 jours à l'avance.
À 20 h 20, mes amis sont arrivés sur place & une serveuse leur a indiqué que la cuisine était fermée. Lorsque je suis arrivée quelques minutes plus tard, on nous a finalement expliqué qu'un événement privé avait lieu & que nous ne pouvions pas rester dans l'établissement.
Je trouve cette situation particulièrement décevante & incompréhensible. Si le restaurant était privatisé, je ne comprends pas pourquoi des réservations continuaient d'être acceptées. Nous nous sommes déplacés spécialement pour cette réservation & ce n'est qu'une fois sur place que nous avons appris que nous ne pouvions finalement pas être accueillis.
De plus, l'attitude de la serveuse était très désagréable. J'ai donc demandé à parler à un responsable afin de comprendre la situation & de trouver une solution. Malheureusement, son attitude n'a pas été meilleure. Il m'a expliqué avoir appelé les clients pour les prévenir, mais je lui ai montré mon historique d'appels qui confirmait que je n'avais reçu aucun appel. Au contraire, environ 20 minutes avant notre arrivée, j'avais moi-même essayé de joindre le restaurant à deux reprises, sans obtenir de réponse, afin de demander à repousser notre réservation de 15 minutes.
Alors que j'essayais de lui expliquer la situation, le responsable m'a simplement tourné le dos en me disant qu'il avait autre chose à faire. Je trouve cette façon de traiter une cliente particulièrement irrespectueuse & décevante.
Nous avons finalement dû quitter les lieux. Je tiens toutefois à remercier le portier ou agent de sécurité présent à l'extérieur, qui a au moins essayé de nous aider à trouver une table, mais le restaurant ne pouvait évidemment pas nous servir(à manger) on devait juste commander à boire. Je tiens à préciser qu'on a dû rester dehors tout ce temps alors qu'il pleuvait.
Cette expérience a été extrêmement décevante, autant en raison de la mauvaise gestion de la réservation que de l'attitude du personnel. J'espère que le restaurant prendra cette situation au sérieux afin qu'un tel manque de communication & de considération envers les clients ne se reproduise pas.Pour ma part il n'y aura plus de prochaine fois.
J'y étais hier pour ma fête avec des amis comment vous dire que certain d'entre nous n'ont même pas reçu leur plat y compris moi. La serveuse m'a dit oui je vais l'emmener pour toi pour emporter elle n'est plis jamais revenu le service trop long trop lent ils arrêtaient de se tromper de commande je ne recommande ce resto à personne
Aug 16, 2026
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My reservation note literally said:'We're just stopping by for a drink before our night out. 22:00 we wanna be at the bar.' Yet when we arrived, we couldn't get a seat at the bar or terrace, & were just told'first come, first served.' Fair enough, until it took 20 minutes just to get some water & the menus. I finally went up to the bar (where there was actually space) to order directly, only to be told they weren't serving drinks anymore with no apologies.
We left right after, with the start of our night completely ruined.'
I just want to say that kava is a beautiful restaurant with great vibe & music however their food are served cold & portions are very little. Also, at night since they let the door open & the don't have a mosquito net, me & my friend didn't appreciate that mosquitos were all over our food . Even though we where inside. Tbh I recommend to go there during breakfast & in the evening only for drinks .
There are flies all over the place. We got food & we were continuously swatting them & they kept sitting on our food. We brought it our server attention they did take off the one item flies were sitting on. I didn't even eat my food & server took the full pasta plate back & I still paid full for full bill even for multiple items were left untouched. I always tip & I just couldn't in my good conscious tip. Service & food were terrible.
