Laura Hayes
Laura Hayes

Given the rate at which D.C.’s homegrown, Mediterranean fast-casual restaurant is growing, it’s as if Oprah is saying, “You get a new CAVA, and you get a new CAVA.”

Just yesterday, the company announced it had received $30 million to expand its enterprise into new markets like Boston and further proliferation in New York City.

But before CAVA goes gangbusters elsewhere, the D.C. area will continue to score new shops—at Navy Yard (50 M St. SE) this summer and H Street NE (523 H St. NE) this fall.

The H Street location is going into the former H St Bar & Grill space. “We always like to look for great spaces that can be unique, and we think this is one of those that we can rehabilitate and make a great part of the neighborhood, bring the building back to life,” says CAVA CEO Brett Schulman.

He says they similarly beautified the building that houses their Tenleytown location. “We’ll open the building up, create more natural night, and use more glass to really accentuate the great corner that it is.”

The Navy Yard restaurant is going into the Homewood Suites building where they’ll be next door neighbors with Shake Shack. “You can have CAVA early in the week and not feel bad about having Shake Shack later in the week,” Schulman says. He’s particularly excited about this opening because it’s the first fast-casual CAVA concept to land “on that side of the city.” There’s a CAVA Mezze on Barracks Row, but that’s a full-service restaurant. 

CAVA was founded by childhood friends Ted Xenohristos, Ike Grigoropoulos, and Chef Dimitri Moshovitis who maxed out their credit cards to open the first CAVA Mezze in Rockville in 2006 (even building the furniture themselves).