CAVA Group, Inc. (NYSE: CAVA), the parent company of Cava, a Mediterranean fast-casual restaurant brand, announced it is opening up to 68 new U.S. locations in fiscal 2025, after reporting better-than-expected first quarter earnings results.
Cava, also known as Cava Grill, currently operates 382 locations across the United States, in 26 states and Washington, D.C. (as of the close of Q1). 2024 was Cava’s first full calendar year as a public company.
While Cava told Fast Company it does not release a full list of future locations, a look at the website shows restaurants in the following cities are “coming soon“:
- Phoenix, AZ
- Huntington Beach, CA
- Plantation, FL
- Bel Air, MD
- Burlington, NC
- Charlotte, NC
Cava told Fast Company of the targeted 64-68 new restaurants it plans to open this year, it has already opened 15 net new locations (in Q1) representing an 18.3% increase in total restaurants year-over-year. Those are in the following states:
- Florida (Ocala, Palm Harbor, Hialeah)
- New Jersey (East Brunswick, Union, Marlton)
- Massachusetts (Chelmsford, Chestnut Hill)
- Louisiana (Lafayette, New Orleans)
- Texas
- Virginia
- Indiana
- North Carolina
- New York
The company previously said it wants to reach 1,000 locations by 2032.
At the same time many fast food chains and casual-dining restaurants are struggling, Cava’s growth stands out. Chief Financial Officer Tricia Tolivar told CNBC over the last few quarters Cava has found its hitting a sweet spot for customers who are trading up from fast food to purchase Cava’s healthy bowls and pitas, while trading down, seeing it as cheaper than other casual-dining options.
Cava cofounder and CEO Brett Schulman said the chain has purposely priced food items for the current economic times, while focusing on healthy food and hospitality.
“At a time when guests are being more selective about where they dine, the appeal of our Mediterranean cuisine continues to resonate with the modern consumer,” Schulman told Fast Company. “We’ve also stayed focused on delivering our unique value proposition, investing in our guests, and underpricing inflation. We offer a warm, welcoming environment that fosters a genuine human connection. It’s why we continue to drive traffic and sales growth, crossing $1B in revenue in the past twelve months.”
Speaking of revenue, here’s a look at Cava’s first-quarter earnings numbers:
- Revenue grew 28.2% to $328.5 million as compared to $256.3 million in the prior year quarter
- Same restaurant sales growth of 10.8%, including guest traffic growth of 7.5%
- CAVA Group net income of $25.7 million compared to $14.0 million of net income and $11.9 million of adjusted net income in the prior year quarter
Despite a strong quarter, Cava’s same-store sales forecast of a 6%-8% increase remained consistent with last quarter, and could be one reason shares were down about 3% in afternoon trading on Friday.
As Fast Company previously reported, while Cava’s revenue grew 33% in 2024 along with a 9% jump in traffic, with same-restaurant sales up 13%, last quarter the chain forecast slower growth in the later half of fiscal 2025.