CAVA is preparing to reopen its stall in the Dining Terrace food court at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda, and before the doors officially open again, the chain is inviting community members to swing by for a free bowl or pita. The catch: you'll need to register ahead of time and show up during your assigned window.
The giveaway, first reported by The MoCo Show, is being framed as a way to thank the community ahead of the location's grand reopening. The offer covers one complimentary bowl or pita per community member, but guests must register in advance, select a time slot, and bring their own digital ticket to redeem the meal. Notably, the announcement does not specify an actual event date, so anyone hoping to cash in will need to keep an eye out for further details.
Three time slots are on offer for whenever the event does take place: a lunch window running from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., a mid-day window from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., and a dinner window from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Guests are asked to arrive during their selected window rather than showing up whenever is convenient.
A Donation Drive Comes With the Free Food
CAVA isn't just handing out free pitas, though — the company is also encouraging attendees to consider donating to Leftover Love Inc., a nonprofit that rescues surplus food from businesses and distributes it to people experiencing food insecurity. CAVA says it will match donations up to $1,000, giving the giveaway a charitable angle beyond the free lunch.
The Bethesda location, at 7101 Democracy Boulevard, had been closed for a while before this announcement. According to Rockville Nights, CAVA temporarily closed its Dining Terrace stall for a renovation, with signage at the time pointing to an anticipated Winter 2026 reopening.
Echoes of CAVA's Original Montgomery Mall Debut
There's a bit of déjà vu built into this moment. CAVA Grill — as the brand was then known — originally opened at Westfield Montgomery Mall on November 17, 2014, and marked the occasion with its own free-food giveaway. As Bethesda Magazine reported at the time, the restaurant hosted a community day serving free food during lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and dinner from 6 to 9 p.m., while also encouraging diners to donate to a local nonprofit — a template that looks a lot like what's happening again more than a decade later.
The pending reopening comes amid a broader renovation at Westfield Montgomery Mall, where the dining terrace project has been described as a $90 million expansion and renovation effort. For now, hungry Bethesda regulars will just have to wait for CAVA to lock in an actual date before they can claim their free bowl.
