String-based queries are executed similarly to strongly-typed Criteria queries. First create a javax.persistence.TypedQuery object by passing the criteria query object to the EntityManager.createQuery method and then call either getSingleResult or getResultList on the query object to execute the query.

CriteriaQuery<Pet> cq = cb.createQuery(Pet.class);
Root<Pet> pet = cq.from(Pet.class);
cq.where(cb.equal(pet.get("name"), "Fido"));
TypedQuery<Pet> q = em.createQuery(cq);
List<Pet> results = q.getResultList();