CAVA ($CAVA) has sprinted from a single Maryland restaurant to a national fast-casual Mediterranean contender with a Chipotle-style assembly line, grocery shelf presence, and a string of strategic moves (including the big Zoës Kitchen play) that put it squarely on the map. The brand leans into fresh, customizable bowls and dips, owns all its stores to keep tight operational control, and is pushing tech like AI-driven forecasting to scale. Growth lately has come largely from opening new locations rather than big boosts in existing-store traffic, and management’s bold rollout targets come with familiar scaling risks: keeping food and service consistent, navigating rising input and labor costs, and fending off both regional Mediterranean chains and attention from giants eyeing the category. Still, CAVA’s strong brand identity, digital traction, and focused strategy give it room to grow—so is it a durable national champion in the making, or an ambitious rollout that will stumble under execution and competition?

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