Three Montgomery County natives who helped build CAVA from its local beginnings are celebrating a major milestone, as the Mediterranean fast-casual chain has officially reached 500 restaurants nationwide.
CAVA marked the milestone with the September 23 opening of its first Minnesota restaurant at 622 Washington Ave SE in Minneapolis. The opening expanded CAVA’s footprint to 30 states and Washington, DC, just 15 years after the company opened its first fast-casual location in Bethesda. All four co-founders, Ted Xenohristos, Ike Grigoropoulos, Chef Dimitri Moshovitis and CEO Brett Schulman, attended the Minneapolis celebration.
For CAVA, the road to 500 has deep Montgomery County roots. Xenohristos is a Paint Branch High School graduate, Grigoropoulos graduated Gaithersburg High School and Moshovitis attended Quince Orchard High School. The three first-generation Greek Americans initially launched the full-service Cava Mezze restaurant in Rockville in 2006 before eventually developing the fast-casual concept with Schulman…