What Cava Mezze does

Cava Mezze is a privately held, full-service Greek restaurant group operating two dine-in locations in suburban Maryland — Rockville (9713 Traville Gateway Drive) and Olney (3122 Olney Sandy Spring Road) — under the legal entity Cava LLC. Founded in 2006 by Ike Grigoropolous, Ted Xenohristos, and chef Dimitri Moshovitis, the company serves a modern Mediterranean mezze-style menu spanning brunch, lunch, dinner, and happy hour, with an average check roughly in the $15–$22 range per main and family meals priced at $55–$70. The business is vertically organized around the in-restaurant experience but supplements dine-in with online ordering (Toasttab, order.online), reservation aggregation (OpenTable), gift card sales (giftrocker), and a full-service catering arm led by a dedicated sales specialist and supported on EzCater for group delivery.

The core "technology" is traditional restaurant operations — food preparation, hospitality service, and menu execution — with no proprietary software, AI, or platform layer disclosed. Distribution beyond the two physical locations is intentionally narrow: dine-in is regional to Maryland, catering requires a 48-hour notice and a 10-guest minimum, and the digital channels are delivery/carryout rather than new geographic reach. The customer base is overwhelmingly long-tail consumer traffic (individuals and small groups), with catering introducing modest B2B exposure for private and corporate events. Pricing is uniform à la carte plus targeted promotional levers — happy hour bar bites and drinks, half-priced wine bottles on Tuesdays, and a $38 fixed-price brunch with $0.25 mimosas — designed to fill slower dayparts rather than to segment customers by tier.

Cava Mezze is part of a broader brand family that includes the fast-casual Cava Grill spin-off (380 locations nationally under the same founders), sister concepts Julii and Melina at Pike & Rose, and Cava-branded dips and spreads distributed through Whole Foods Market. Those sibling and retail lines are operated as distinct entities but contribute brand halo and consumer awareness to the parent mezze concept. The parent company itself remains private, founder-owned, and small in headcount (11–50 employees), with no disclosed institutional capital, no M&A activity, and no recent geographic expansion beyond the existing Maryland footprint.

Name

Cava Mezze

Legal name

Cava LLC

Website

https://cavamezze.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Cava Mezze is a privately held, two-location Greek restaurant group in suburban Maryland (Rockville and Olney) offering dine-in, carryout, delivery, and full-service catering. Founded in 2006, it shares branding with the separate 380-location fast-casual Cava Grill chain and Whole Foods retail dips.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Casual Dining Restaurants

NAICS

Full-Service Restaurants (722511), Caterers (722320)

SIC

Retail-Eating Places (5812)

akta.pro primary industry

Ethnic & Regional Cuisine Restaurants (THAFACAD)

Keywords

• Greek restaurant
• Mezze small plates
• Mediterranean cuisine
• Casual dining
• Restaurant catering

Headquarters

HQ city

Rockville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Dine-in Restaurant Sales: Revenue from in-restaurant dining including appetizers, mains, drinks, and desserts served at two locations in Rockville and Olney, MD.
2. Carry-out and Delivery: Online ordering for curbside pickup and delivery services, featuring individual meal platters, family meals, and a la carte items.
3. Catering Services: Full-service catering for events with servers, bartenders, and kitchen staff. Features a dedicated catering sales specialist and $200 minimum order for delivery with 48-hour notice required.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Cava Mezze is a Greek restaurant group operating dine-in locations in Maryland that serves mezze-style Greek cuisine — a menu built around shared small plates, skewers, family-style meals, and traditional Greek dishes. The business also offers carry-out, online ordering, and catering services alongside its restaurant operations.

Product overview

Cava Mezze operates as a restaurant group offering dine-in, carry-out, catering, and online ordering services. The core offering consists of two restaurant locations (Rockville and Olney) serving modern Mediterranean/Greek cuisine in a casual, neighborhood setting with shared plates, craft cocktails, and an expansive wine and beer list. Related offerings include catering services, family meals, and online ordering platforms. The company has expanded through sister concepts Julii and Melina (both at Pike and Rose), and Cava Grill, a fast-casual spin-off with 380 locations nationwide where Cava dips and spreads are also sold in Whole Foods Market and other organic markets.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Cava Mezze Rockville Full-service Greek restaurant location in Rockville, Maryland offering dine-in service with a mezze-style menu of shared plates, skewers, and traditional Greek dishes, plus carry-out and online ordering.
• Cava Mezze Olney Second Cava Mezze restaurant location in Olney, Maryland, extending the same dine-in, carry-out, and online ordering offering as the Rockville restaurant.
• Catering Services Off-premise catering service providing Greek mezze-style food for events and gatherings, offered to both individual hosts and corporate/event clients in the Maryland region.
• Online Ordering and Carry-Out Direct-to-consumer online ordering and carry-out service for Cava Mezze menu items, allowing customers to place orders for pickup.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Cava GrillcoreOthersCava Grill is a fast-casual spin-off concept from the founders of Cava Mezze. While distinct operations, the brand connection provides mutual brand visibility. Cava Grill operates 380 locations across the country serving fresh, healthful Mediterranean meals.
• Julii and MelinaminorOthersSister restaurant concepts located at Pike and Rose, both founded by the same team as Cava Mezze (Ike Grigoropolous, Ted Xenohristos, and Dimitri Moshovitis). These are related but distinct restaurant operations.
• Whole Foods MarketminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCava dips and spreads are sold in Whole Foods Market and other organic markets throughout the country, extending the brand's retail presence beyond restaurant operations.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• CAVA Group (publicly traded CAVA): The publicly traded fast-casual Mediterranean chain shares the 'Cava' naming and Mediterranean menu DNA with Cava Mezze but operates a national fast-casual model with hundreds of locations, making it the most visible and largest comparable in the same cuisine category.
• Sweetgreen: Large-scale fresh/healthy Mediterranean-adjacent chain operating hundreds of locations; overlaps with Cava Mezze's Mediterranean ingredient profile and healthy-leaning customer base while operating at vastly different scale.

Direct peers

• Komi: DC-based Greek-influenced fine-dining restaurant operating on the same Greek culinary heritage; comparable in cuisine authenticity and DC Metro customer base, though positioned at a higher price tier.
• Zoes Kitchen: Mediterranean-focused casual restaurant brand serving similar Greek/Mediterranean menu items including hummus, kebabs, and salads; comparable cuisine, casual service model, and dine-in/takeout channel mix.
• Naya Mediterranean: Mediterranean fast-casual chain with wraps, salads, and bowls using similar ingredient profiles; comparable Mediterranean positioning and dine-in/takeout delivery model, with broader geographic reach.
• Souvla: Greek-leaning Mediterranean restaurant group with rotating seasonal menus and a casual neighborhood positioning; directly comparable on cuisine authenticity, casual full-service model, and small multi-location footprint.
• Pita Mediterranean Street Food: Fast-growing Mediterranean fast-casual chain with a similar pita, salad, and mezze-style menu positioned at slightly lower price points; competes for the same Mediterranean-cuisine customer in adjacent geographies.
• Kapnos Taverna: DC-area Greek taverna concept offering meze, charcoal-grilled proteins, and Greek wines in a casual full-service setting; competes head-to-head in the DC Metro Greek/Mediterranean dining segment.
• The Greek Kitchen: Independently operated Greek restaurant offering traditional meze and entrees; directly comparable on Greek cuisine focus, casual dine-in service, and small-operator scale.

Regional players

• Tatte Bakery & Cafe: Bakery-cafe concept with Mediterranean-influenced menu items (shakshuka, labneh, grain bowls) and all-day dining; comparable on casual neighborhood full-service model and DC/Boston-area customer base.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cava-mezze

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Cava Mezze