CAVA, a fast casual Mediterranean restaurant confidentially filed IPO in February. If it does in fact go public, it will be the first of its kind to do so since 2021. The restaurant began in Maryland in 2006 and has since opened hundreds of stores across the country. In 2018, CAVA acquired Zoës Kitchen and has since been flipping those stores over turning them into the CAVA branded locations and opened 83 new stores in 2022.  

What is unique about CAVA is they are not afraid to go into different markets with various store formats. For instance, in some cities, they have digital kitchens strictly for digital order pickup with no seating and in other areas they have a traditional restaurant with indoor seating and drive throughs. The co-founder, Brett Schulman understands that their customers love various channels and that “the demise of the dining room was greatly exaggerated. It wasn’t an either or, it was an ‘and.” CAVA has evolved to match its market sectors and is also making sure it offers a place for order online pick up in store quickly like the new layouts at Chipotle. 

Another area CAVA plans to expand upon into the future is in their Catering services. Catering made 17% of Zoës Kitchen revenue source prior to its acquisition. With the acquisition of Zoës, it has enabled CAVA to experiment with the catering market as well. CAVA continues to adapt to the times and bring in diverse omni channels to its customers. 

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 CAVA Forges Ahead, the Disruptor it’s Always Been | QSR magazine