How CAVA is run
At the end of 2025 CAVA owned and operated 439 restaurants in 28 states and Washington, D.C. It reports restaurants run under license agreements separately from these. (CAVA annual report, 2025)
The company sees room for more than 1,000 CAVA restaurants in the US by 2032. (CAVA annual report, 2025)
Franchises like CAVA
If you want to own a Mediterranean fast casual business, these franchise brands sell the closest thing to CAVA, largest first.
| Brand | Cost to open | Fee | Royalty | Locations | Sales a location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Great Greek Mediterranean GrillFee $40K · Royalty 6% of gross revenue | $705K–$1.21M | $40K | 6% of gross revenue | 87+56 in 3 yrs | – |
| The Halal GuysFee $45K · Royalty 6% · Sales $1.23M a location | $418K–$1.31M | $45K | 6% | 81−10 in 3 yrs | $1.23M |
| Naz's Halal FoodFee $40K · Royalty 6% | $323K–$584K | $40K | 6% | 54+31 in 3 yrs | – |
| Little Greek Fresh GrillFee $35K · Royalty 6% · Sales $886K a location | $172K–$606K | $35K | 6% | 50+9 in 3 yrs | $886K |
| Naf Naf Middle Eastern GrillFee $30K · Royalty 5% · Sales $855K a location | $501K–$819K | $30K | 5% | 41+12 in 3 yrs | $855K |
| Hummus RepublicFee $36K · Royalty 6% · Sales $573K a location | $208K–$659K | $36K | 6% | 40+30 in 3 yrs | $573K |
| SpitzFee $35K · Royalty 6%; $125 weekly minimum · Sales $1.72M a location | $594K–$1.21M | $35K | 6%; $125 weekly minimum | 32+17 in 3 yrs | $1.72M |
| Garbanzo Mediterranean FreshFee $35K · Royalty 6% · Sales $978K a location | $512K–$805K | $35K | 6% | 26+5 in 3 yrs | $978K |
Locations are US locations, franchised and company-owned, at the end of the latest year filed. Sales are yearly, before costs, where the brand publishes them.
The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill is the largest, with 87 US locations, and Little Greek Fresh Grill costs least to open, from $172,000. The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill added the most locations, +56 over 3 years. Of the brands that publish sales, Spitz reports the most per location, $1.72M a year. The typical restaurant franchise starts at $408K to open; see where the money goes.
Sources
Questions
Which of these Mediterranean fast casual franchises loses the fewest owners?
Little Greek Fresh Grill. About 0.8% of its franchised locations a year closed, were terminated or weren't renewed over the years its latest filing covers, against 11.6% a year at The Halal Guys. Buy-backs by the franchisor and sales to new owners don't count as exits. Failure rates by brand