Dive Brief:
- Cava opened its first location in the St. Louis, Missouri, market on Friday, according to a press release. The store is located in Cottleville, a suburb northwest of the city.
- The chain, which hit 439 total locations in Q4 2025, is on pace to reach 500 restaurants this year, per the announcement.
- The brand has targeted Midwestern cities, including Indianapolis, Detroit, Pittsburgh and now St. Louis, as new growth markets since debuting in Chicago in 2024. Cava plans to build another restaurant in St. Louis later this year in a suburban market, per the press release.
Dive Insight:
In a 2025 interview, Cava CFO Tricia Tolivar said the brand’s development strategy was heavily focused on filling in markets where it had some presence, which would account for about 70% of growth. Ten percent of this growth would come from infill in mature markets and 20% new market entries, she said.
On the chain’s most recent earnings call, Tolivar said Cava’s recent openings have had strong performances across the board.
“We look at existing growth, emerging and greenfield markets, and we're seeing lift in those restaurant openings across those categories,” Tolivar said, adding that the performance was “a reflection of the power of the brand and the momentum behind Cava and Mediterranean [cuisine] and a reflection of the increase in brand awareness.”
The overperformance of new openings helped nudge Cava past the $1 billion sales mark in 2025, even as consumers pulled back from fast casual occasions.
Cava’s ongoing menu innovation efforts — the brand announced earlier this week that it was adding salmon to its core menu — could also help it continue to drive sales and traffic across its system.
