Zoes Kitchen

What Zoes Kitchen does

CAVA is a Mediterranean fast-casual restaurant chain operating in the United States under the DBA "CAVA Mediterranean Food & Greek Inspired Restaurants." Its core offering is a build-your-own menu of bowls, pitas, and salads featuring proteins such as salmon, steak, chicken, and plant-based options, complemented by house-made sauces and fresh ingredients. The brand is positioned around healthy, customizable Mediterranean cuisine for health-conscious consumers, with a secondary use case in corporate and event catering and a tertiary use case in at-home consumption through grocery retail distribution.

The company's underlying technology stack is centered on a consumer-facing mobile ordering platform with iOS and Android applications that integrate online ordering, the Flavor Passport rewards program (collecting stamps and up to 2100 points), and a dedicated catering service at catering.cava.com. A separate e-commerce merchandise storefront operates at shop.cava.com. The company does not expose an API and discloses no proprietary AI or machine learning capabilities in the source material; integration partners are not enumerated.

CAVA's business model operates across five distribution channels: company-owned restaurant locations (dine-in and takeout), a dedicated catering platform targeting enterprise events, grocery retail partnerships for at-home products, an e-commerce merchandise storefront, and self-serve mobile app ordering. Revenue is not publicly disclosed on the company's website, and the source material classifies the entity as private with no disclosed parent company, funding history, or institutional investor commentary. Operating geography is the United States.

Name

Zoes Kitchen

Legal name

CAVA

Website

https://zoeskitchen.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

CAVA is a US Mediterranean fast-casual restaurant chain offering customizable bowls, pitas, and salads via dine-in locations, catering, mobile apps, grocery retail, and an e-commerce merchandise shop serving health-conscious consumers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Fast-Casual Mediterranean Restaurants

NAICS

Limited-Service Restaurants (722513), Caterers (722320)

SIC

Miscellaneous Food Preparations & Kindred Products (2090)

akta.pro primary industry

Salad & Bowl Concepts (Grain/Protein/Healthy Bowls) (THAFABAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Middle Eastern & Mediterranean QSR (Kebab, Shawarma, Falafel) (THAFAAAG)

Keywords

• Mediterranean restaurant
• Fast-casual dining
• Customizable grain bowls
• Catering services
• Mobile ordering app

Headquarters

HQ city

Plano

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

CAVA operates a fast-casual Mediterranean restaurant chain selling build-your-own bowls, pitas, and salads featuring proteins such as salmon, steak, and chicken with fresh ingredients and house-made sauces. Beyond in-store dining, the company offers event catering, a mobile ordering app for iOS and Android, a loyalty rewards program (CAVA Rewards with Flavor Passport), an online merchandise shop, and grocery retail products for at-home consumption.

Product overview

CAVA is a Mediterranean fast-casual restaurant chain offering build-your-own bowls, pitas, and salads. The company operates a unified service model consisting of in-restaurant dining, catering services, a loyalty rewards program (CAVA Rewards with Flavor Passport), an e-commerce merchandise shop (CAVA Shop), a mobile ordering app for iOS and Android, and retail grocery products available in stores. The core product is the Mediterranean menu featuring customizable bowls, pitas, and plates with proteins like salmon, steak, and chicken, complemented by house-made sauces and fresh ingredients.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Mediterranean Bowls, Pitas, and Salads (Restaurant Menu) Signature build-your-own Mediterranean bowls, pitas, and salads offered at CAVA restaurant locations, featuring proteins (salmon, steak, chicken, plant-based), grains, vegetables, dips, and house-made sauces. Targeted at dine-in and takeout customers seeking healthy, customizable Mediterranean meals.
• CAVA Catering Catering service for events of all sizes, providing CAVA's Mediterranean food for corporate meetings, group gatherings, and events. Customers order through a dedicated catering platform at catering.cava.com.
• CAVA Rewards Program (with Flavor Passport) Loyalty rewards program enabling customers to earn points, collect stamps through the Flavor Passport feature, and redeem rewards. Available via the CAVA website and mobile app for repeat restaurant customers.
• CAVA Shop Online merchandise store at shop.cava.com selling CAVA-branded merchandise directly to consumers.
• CAVA Mobile App Mobile application available on iOS and Android for online food ordering, rewards tracking, Flavor Passport participation, and promotions. Targeted at restaurant customers seeking convenient mobile ordering.
• CAVA Grocery Products CAVA-branded food products sold through grocery retail stores, allowing consumers to prepare Mediterranean meals at home. Distributed via grocery retail partnerships.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Sweetgreen: Public fast-casual chain specializing in customizable grain bowls and salads with a mobile-first loyalty model — closely mirrors CAVA's core bowl + app + loyalty architecture, but with a broader wellness/plant-forward positioning rather than Mediterranean.
• Chipotle Mexican Grill: Largest customizable fast-casual chain in the US; competes for the same 'healthy, customizable, quick-service' share of stomach as CAVA and sets the benchmark for digital ordering and loyalty at scale in this category.

Emerging players

• Dig (Dig Inn): East-coast fast-casual chain built around bowls and plates with a transparent sourcing story; overlaps with CAVA on the 'healthy bowl' use case, especially in dense urban markets.

Direct peers

• Cava Mezze (Cava Group subsidiary): Full-service Mediterranean restaurant concept under the CAVA Group umbrella; shares the Mediterranean brand DNA with the fast-casual CAVA and competes for higher-end Mediterranean occasions.
• Taziki's Mediterranean Cafe: Mediterranean fast-casual chain serving bowls, pitas, and salads with a similar customizable approach to CAVA, primarily in the southeastern US.
• Roti Modern Mediterranean: Mediterranean fast-casual concept offering customizable bowls, wraps, and salads; competes for the same lunchtime and on-the-go Mediterranean occasions as CAVA.
• Naya Mediterranean: Mediterranean fast-casual chain offering grain bowls, pitas, and salads in a build-your-own format that is highly comparable to CAVA's core menu architecture and pricing tier.
• Zoe's Kitchen: Mediterranean fast-casual concept that was acquired by CAVA Group in 2018; now operates as a sibling brand in the same Mediterranean fast-casual niche and competes for overlapping customer occasions.
• Garbanzo Mediterranean Fresh: Authentic Mediterranean fast-casual franchise serving customizable bowls, pitas, and salads with the same 'fresh ingredient' angle CAVA uses as its primary value proposition.
• Pita Mediterranean Street Food: Mediterranean fast-casual chain focused on customizable pitas, bowls, and salads; competes directly with CAVA on price point, menu architecture, and the build-your-own Mediterranean format.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/zoeskitchen
• Facebookfacebook.com/ZoesKitchen
• Instagraminstagram.com/cava
• TikToktiktok.com/@cava?lang=en
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/1318832

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Zoes Kitchen