There is no CAVA franchise to buy: CAVA Group’s fiscal 2025 Form 10-K reports 439 restaurants, all owned and operated by the company, and its July 2026 Form 10-Q reports 476 in 29 states and Washington, D.C.
Key takeaways
- CAVA Group, Inc. owned and operated 439 CAVA Restaurants in 28 states and Washington, D.C. on December 28, 2025, per its fiscal 2025 Form 10-K, and 476 on July 12, 2026, per its second-quarter 2026 Form 10-Q.
- The word “franchise” appears 0 times in CAVA’s 10-Ks for fiscal 2023, 2024 and 2025, its 2023 IPO prospectus and its Q2 2026 10-Q; an EDGAR full-text search finds it only in loan-agreement boilerplate and a 2026 proxy note.
- CAVA’s only franchise history is inherited: Zoe’s Kitchen had 3 franchised restaurants in Kentucky at December 25, 2017, per its fiscal 2017 Form 10-K, a year before CAVA bought it for $12.75 a share.
- CAVA converted 153 Zoes Kitchen locations into company-run CAVA restaurants between 2019 and October 20, 2023 (fiscal 2025 10-K, Note 13).
- A Minnesota CARDS search on November 3, 2026 returned no Clean FDD rows for “CAVA”, so no Item 5 fee, Item 7 cost range or Item 19 data exists to quote.
What does CAVA Group’s own paperwork say about franchising?
CAVA Group’s SEC filings describe a chain where the company owns every restaurant in its count. The 2026 proxy statement says it plainly: “As we own all of our CAVA Restaurants, all of the approximately 12,900 team members working in our CAVA Restaurants are employees.” No filing since the June 2023 IPO describes a franchise program, a franchise fee or a franchisee.
The sentence sits in the pay-ratio section on page 47 of the definitive proxy statement filed April 24, 2026. The company adds that its ratio “may not be comparable” to restaurant companies “that operate under a franchise model,” because those companies do not employ all of their hourly staff. That is the only place in CAVA’s 2023 to 2026 periodic reports and proxy where franchising is discussed, and it is discussed as something other chains do.
The fiscal 2025 10-K repeats the ownership point in three places: Item 1 (“we operate 439 fast-casual CAVA Restaurants”), Item 1A (“we owned and operated 439 CAVA Restaurants”) and Note 13, where the CAVA segment “includes the operations of all company-owned CAVA restaurants.” Item 2 adds that the company leases all of its restaurant locations and owns real estate only at its Verona, Virginia production plant.
| Measure | Figure | Date | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| CAVA Restaurants, company-owned | 439 in 28 states + D.C. | Dec 28, 2025 | 10-K FY2025, Item 1 |
| CAVA Restaurants, company-owned | 476 in 29 states + D.C. | Jul 12, 2026 | 10-Q Q2 2026 |
| Franchised CAVA restaurants reported | 0 (term not used) | FY2023 to Q2 2026 | 10-Ks, 424B4, 10-Q |
| Zoes Kitchen locations converted | 153 | Last opened Oct 20, 2023 | 10-K FY2025, Note 13 |
| Locations under a license agreement | 1, excluded from the count | Apr 16, 2023 | 424B4 prospectus, MD&A |
| Restaurant team members | About 12,900 | Dec 28, 2025 | 10-K FY2025, Item 1 |
| Stated U.S. opportunity | More than 1,000 restaurants by 2032 | Dec 28, 2025 | 10-K FY2025, Item 1 |
| Minnesota CARDS Clean FDD rows for “CAVA” | 0 | Nov 3, 2026 | CARDS search |
How many CAVA restaurants exist, and who runs them?
As of July 12, 2026, CAVA Group ran 476 CAVA Restaurants, up from 263 on April 16, 2023, the last count in its IPO prospectus. That is 213 more restaurants in about 39 months, every one of them opened and operated by the company. The count reached 309 at the end of fiscal 2023, 367 at the end of 2024 and 439 at the end of 2025.
CAVA Restaurants at each period end, all company-owned: 309 at the end of fiscal 2023, the IPO year, and 476 on July 12, 2026. CAVA Group SEC filings, accessed November 3, 2026.
| Period end | CAVA Restaurants | States + D.C. | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 4 | not stated | 424B4 prospectus, Business |
| 2016 | 22 | not stated | 424B4 prospectus, Business |
| 2018 | 72 | not stated | 424B4 prospectus, Business |
| Fiscal 2020 | 104 | not stated | 424B4 prospectus, MD&A |
| Fiscal 2021 | 164 | not stated | 424B4 prospectus, MD&A |
| Fiscal 2022 (Dec 25, 2022) | 237 | 21 + D.C. | 424B4 prospectus, Note 1 |
| Fiscal 2023 (Dec 31, 2023) | 309 | 24 + D.C. | 10-K FY2023 |
| Fiscal 2024 (Dec 29, 2024) | 367 | 25 + D.C. | 10-K FY2024 |
| Fiscal 2025 (Dec 28, 2025) | 439 | 28 + D.C. | 10-K FY2025 |
| Jul 12, 2026 | 476 | 29 + D.C. | 10-Q Q2 2026 |
The restaurants run 2,000 to 3,000 square feet and seat about 30 to 60 guests indoors, and 75 offered drive-thru pick-up at December 28, 2025 (fiscal 2025 10-K, Item 1). CAVA also makes its dips, spreads and dressing bases in a 30,000-square-foot plant in Laurel, Maryland and a 55,000-square-foot plant in Verona, Virginia, which it says will support at least 750 restaurants. At 476 restaurants, the chain sits at 63.5% of that 750 figure and 47.6% of the 1,000-restaurant 2032 figure.
Restaurant management is an employee track. The fiscal 2025 10-K describes a promotion path to General Manager and a training network led by Academy General Managers, with short- and long-term incentive programs for General Managers. Running a CAVA means being hired by CAVA Group, not buying a territory from it.
How did 153 Zoes Kitchen restaurants become company-run CAVAs?
CAVA Group bought Zoe’s Kitchen, Inc. in a deal signed August 16, 2018 and closed November 21, 2018, paying $12.75 in cash per share, per Zoe’s August 2018 Form 8-K and November 2018 Form 8-K. CAVA then rebuilt Zoes sites as CAVA restaurants: 8 through 2020, 54 in 2021, 63 in 2022 and 28 in 2023, for 153 in total.
| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | CAVA Mezze, a full-service restaurant, opens | 424B4 prospectus |
| 2011 | First fast-casual CAVA opens in Bethesda, Maryland | 10-K FY2025, Item 1 |
| Dec 25, 2017 | Zoe’s Kitchen has 243 restaurants: 240 company-owned, 3 franchised in Kentucky | Zoe’s 10-K FY2017 |
| Aug 16, 2018 | Merger agreement with Cava Group, Inc. and Pita Merger Sub, Inc.; $12.75 cash per share | Zoe’s 8-K, Aug 20, 2018 |
| Nov 21, 2018 | Merger closes; Zoe’s becomes a CAVA Group subsidiary | Zoe’s 8-K, Nov 21, 2018 |
| 2019 to 2020 | 8 Zoes Kitchen conversions | 424B4 prospectus |
| 2021 / 2022 | 54, then 63 conversions | 424B4 prospectus |
| Mar 2, 2023 | No Zoes Kitchen left operating | 10-K FY2023 |
| Jun 15, 2023 | NYSE listing as CAVA; IPO price $22.00 per share | 424B4; 10-K FY2025, Item 5 |
| Oct 20, 2023 | Last conversion opens; 153 conversion restaurants in total | 10-K FY2025, Note 13 |
| Jul 12, 2026 | 476 CAVA Restaurants in 29 states and Washington, D.C., all company-run | 10-Q Q2 2026 |
The conversions carried most of CAVA’s growth before the IPO. In 2021, 54 of 59 openings were former Zoes sites, or 91.5%; in 2022 the share was 85.1%. By 2024 every opening was a new build, and the fiscal 2023 10-K told investors that future openings were “expected to be from greenfield expansions.”
Zoes Kitchen conversions made up 54 of 59 CAVA openings in fiscal 2021 and none in 2024 or 2025, when all 59 and 73 openings were new builds. CAVA Group SEC filings, accessed November 3, 2026.
| Fiscal year | CAVA openings | Zoes conversions | New builds (openings minus conversions) | Conversion share | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 59 | 54 | 59 − 54 = 5 | 91.5% | 424B4 prospectus |
| 2022 | 74 | 63 | 74 − 63 = 11 | 85.1% | 424B4; 10-K FY2023 |
| 2023 | 73 | 28 | 73 − 28 = 45 | 38.4% | 10-K FY2023 |
| 2024 | 59 | 0 | 59 | 0% | 10-K FY2024 |
| 2025 | 73 | 0 | 73 | 0% | 10-K FY2025 |
Each year from 2022 to 2025 also shows exactly 1 permanent closure in the restaurant roll-forward tables, so net openings run one below gross: 72 net in fiscal 2025 on 73 openings. The prospectus also notes 1 restaurant reopening after a COVID-19 closure in fiscal 2021, which is why that year ends at 164 rather than 163.
Did Zoe’s Kitchen sell franchises before CAVA bought it?
Yes, on a small scale. Zoe’s Kitchen’s fiscal 2017 10-K reports “three franchised restaurants in one state” at December 25, 2017, all in Kentucky, out of 243 restaurants in 20 states. Its franchising ran through a subsidiary, Soho Franchising, LLC, under a Kentucky franchise agreement that charged royalties as a percentage of the franchisee’s gross sales.
The franchised share was already shrinking. Zoe’s reported 21 restaurants in 7 states in 2008, including 5 franchised; by its third-quarter 2018 10-Q, filed November 13, 2018, eight days before the merger closed, it had 261 company-owned restaurants and 2 franchise restaurants on October 1, 2018. The same 10-K lists a form of franchise agreement as an exhibit, filed with Zoe’s 2014 IPO registration.
CAVA’s filings never account separately for those 2 Kentucky franchises. The fiscal 2023 10-K says only that “all Zoes Kitchen locations we operated have since either been converted or closed,” and Zoe’s Kitchen stopped reporting to the SEC after its Form 15 filing on December 3, 2018. Anyone claiming a “CAVA franchise” descended from a Zoe’s franchise is pointing at a record that ends in 2018.
Which CAVA locations sit outside the company-run count?
Two kinds, both named in CAVA’s glossary: “restaurants operating under license agreements” and Digital Kitchens. The June 2023 IPO prospectus gave the numbers then: “one CAVA restaurant operating under a license agreement and ten CAVA digital kitchens” as of April 16, 2023. Neither is a franchise offer open to the public.
A Digital Kitchen is a CAVA-run production site for delivery, digital pick-up or catering with no dining room and no customer-facing line (fiscal 2025 10-K, Glossary). The licensed restaurant is a single arrangement whose sales are left out of CAVA Revenue; the filings do not name its operator or location, and the fiscal 2023 to 2025 10-Ks keep the exclusion wording without restating a count. Under 16 CFR 436.1(h), whether any license works as a franchise turns on three tests: trademark use, significant control or assistance, and a required payment.
What does it cost CAVA to open one restaurant, and why is that not a franchise price?
CAVA’s IPO prospectus put its average initial investment for a new restaurant at about $1.2 million to $1.3 million, excluding pre-opening costs and net of tenant allowances, and $0.6 million to $0.7 million to convert a Zoes Kitchen. Those are CAVA’s own capital outlays as tenant and operator, so they are not an Item 7 range a buyer could pay.
The same prospectus says a typical build takes 15 to 20 weeks from start of construction to opening, and that CAVA leases all of its restaurant locations and often receives tenant allowances or rent credits. A franchisor’s FDD would carry the comparable figures in fixed places, so the table below maps each buyer question to the item that would answer it and to what CAVA filed instead.
| Buyer question | FDD item that answers it (16 CFR 436.5) | What CAVA’s filings show instead | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| What fee do I pay to join? | Item 5, Initial Fees, 436.5(e) | No franchise fee; no franchisee in any filing | 10-K FY2025; EDGAR full-text search |
| What royalty do I pay? | Item 6, Other Fees, 436.5(f) | No royalty line; CAVA segment covers “all company-owned CAVA restaurants” | 10-K FY2025, Note 13 |
| What will it cost to open? | Item 7, Estimated Initial Investment, 436.5(g) | CAVA’s own cost: about $1.2M to $1.3M per new build, net of tenant allowances | 424B4 prospectus, Business |
| Where must I buy supplies? | Item 8, 436.5(h) | CAVA makes its dips and spreads in Laurel, Maryland and Verona, Virginia | 10-K FY2025, Item 1 |
| How long until opening? | Item 11, 436.5(k) | 15 to 20 weeks from start of build | 424B4 prospectus, Business |
| How do existing units perform? | Item 19, 436.5(s) | No FDD, so no Item 19; company results are not unit-level franchise data | 16 CFR 436.5(s) |
| How many units open and close? | Item 20, 436.5(t) | 439 company-owned at Dec 28, 2025; 1 permanent closure in each of FY2023 to FY2025 | 10-K FY2025, MD&A |
This publication does not republish unit sales or profit figures from any source. For how Item 19 works at brands that do franchise, see our Item 19 research report.
Where do the CAVA franchise numbers on other sites come from?
Not from CAVA. The pages ranking for “cava franchise” in November 2026 either say correctly that CAVA is company-owned, or print an investment range with no document behind it. One franchise directory page dated August 7, 2026 states a $535,000 to $1,300,000 investment while also saying CAVA publishes no current FDD.
| Claim seen on a ranking page | What the primary record says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| “Over 300” U.S. locations (directory page, Aug 2026) | 439 at Dec 28, 2025; 476 at Jul 12, 2026 | 10-K FY2025; 10-Q Q2 2026 |
| Founded in 2006 | 2006 was CAVA Mezze, a full-service restaurant; first fast-casual CAVA 2011; Delaware corporation formed 2015 | 424B4; 10-K FY2025, Item 1 |
| CAVA franchise investment of $535,000 to $1,300,000 | No FDD and no Item 7 exist; CAVA’s own new-build cost was about $1.2M to $1.3M net of tenant allowances | CARDS search Nov 3, 2026; 424B4 |
| Liquid-asset and net-worth requirements for a CAVA franchise | No franchise application, FDD or qualification standard appears in any CAVA filing | 10-K FY2023 to FY2025 |
| Per-restaurant sales and profit estimates labelled franchise earnings | No Item 19 exists; this site does not repeat the figures | 16 CFR 436.5(s) |
The pattern matches what our Chipotle franchise filings check and Texas Roadhouse franchise record found: when a chain runs its own units, directory pages fill the gap with ranges built from comparable brands, then label them with the bigger brand’s name.
Three records a real CAVA franchise offer would have to match
A genuine offer would leave a trail in three places: CAVA Group’s SEC filings, a state franchise registry, and the disclosure document the FTC Franchise Rule requires. As of November 3, 2026, all three were empty for a CAVA franchise, which makes any pitch using the name something to verify before money changes hands.
- Search EDGAR. Run an EDGAR full-text search for “franchise” limited to CIK 1639438. A franchise program would appear in a 10-K as franchised unit counts and royalty revenue; on November 3, 2026 the search returned 6 documents, none describing one.
- Search a state registry. Minnesota CARDS holds registered FDDs; the November 3, 2026 search returned no Clean FDD rows for “CAVA”. Our franchise registration states report lists the other states that review FDDs.
- Ask for the FDD on the rule’s clock. Under 16 CFR 436.2(a), the seller must hand over the current FDD at least 14 calendar days before you sign or pay; under 436.2(b), unilateral material changes need 7 calendar days.
- Test any exemption claim. 16 CFR 436.8(a)(1) exempts deals where required payments in the first 6 months total under $735; 436.8(a)(5)(i) exempts investments of at least $1,469,600 only with a signed acknowledgment.
- Match the seller to the trademark owner. The fiscal 2025 10-K, Item 1, treats the CAVA trademarks as CAVA Group’s own intellectual property, and the company lists its office at 14 Ridge Square NW, Washington, D.C.; a seller with no written license from that company cannot grant rights to the mark.
Offers that fail these checks share features with the schemes in our franchise fraud research. Our guide to reading an FDD walks through Items 1 to 23 for brands that do file one.
If you wanted a CAVA franchise, which route fits what you were after?
The answer depends on which part of the CAVA idea drew you in: owning a Mediterranean bowl restaurant, running a CAVA, or holding a stake in the company. Each maps to a different document and a different threshold, and only the first one involves buying a franchise from someone other than CAVA Group.
| If your goal is | Then | Threshold or document to check |
|---|---|---|
| Own a fast-casual Mediterranean or bowl restaurant | Shortlist brands that file an FDD and compare Items 5, 6, 7 and 20 | FDD in hand 14 calendar days before signing (16 CFR 436.2(a)) |
| Run a CAVA restaurant day to day | Apply to CAVA Group’s General Manager track | Employee role; about 12,900 restaurant team members at Dec 28, 2025 |
| Hold an economic stake in CAVA | Shares trade on the NYSE under “CAVA” since June 15, 2023; not advice | Read the latest 10-K Item 1A risk factors |
| Take over a former Zoe’s Kitchen franchise | Treat as unverified; CAVA filings show no Zoes Kitchen operating after Mar 2, 2023 | Zoe’s 10-Q Q3 2018: 2 franchise restaurants, last report |
| Respond to someone selling a “CAVA franchise” | Stop until EDGAR and CARDS show a filed program | No FDD, no CARDS rows on Nov 3, 2026 |
| Find franchised restaurant brands with a similar format | Work with a consultant or search registries yourself | Ask how the consultant is paid before you rely on a shortlist |
For format-level comparisons, our fast food franchise guide compares fees and Item 7 opening costs printed in 22 filed FDDs, and our public franchisor unit growth report tracks listed chains that do sell franchises. If you use a broker, our page on what a franchise consultant does explains how the shortlist process works and where it stops. This page is general information, not legal, financial or investment advice.
How we compiled this
We read 10 primary documents from SEC EDGAR, downloaded on November 3, 2026 with an identifying User-Agent: CAVA Group’s 10-Ks for fiscal 2023 to 2025, its June 2023 424B4 prospectus, its Q2 2026 10-Q and its 2026 proxy, plus Zoe’s Kitchen’s fiscal 2017 10-K, Q3 2018 10-Q and two 2018 Forms 8-K. We ran one EDGAR full-text search, read 16 CFR Part 436 on eCFR, and used a November 3, 2026 Minnesota CARDS search. We excluded the filings’ unit sales and profit measures under this site’s no-earnings rule.
Frequently asked questions
Is CAVA a franchise?
No. CAVA Group, Inc. owns and operates every restaurant in its count: 439 at December 28, 2025 in its fiscal 2025 Form 10-K and 476 at July 12, 2026 in its second-quarter 10-Q. Its 2026 proxy says, “we own all of our CAVA Restaurants,” and no filing since its June 2023 IPO describes a franchise program.
How much does a CAVA franchise cost?
Nothing can be quoted, because CAVA sells no franchises and has no Franchise Disclosure Document, so there is no Item 5 fee or Item 7 range. The only cost CAVA published is its own: about $1.2 million to $1.3 million per new restaurant, net of tenant allowances and excluding pre-opening costs, in its 2023 IPO prospectus.
What is the CAVA franchise fee?
There is none. A franchise fee would appear in Item 5 of an FDD under 16 CFR 436.5(e), and a Minnesota CARDS search on November 3, 2026 returned no Clean FDD rows for CAVA. CAVA’s 10-Ks for fiscal 2023 to 2025 report no franchise or royalty revenue line.
How do you open a CAVA restaurant if you cannot franchise one?
Only CAVA Group opens CAVA restaurants; it opened 73 in fiscal 2025, all company-run, per its 10-K. The routes open to individuals are employment, such as the General Manager track the 10-K describes, or buying a franchise from a different brand that files an FDD and gives it to you 14 calendar days before signing.
How much do CAVA franchise owners make?
There are no CAVA franchise owners, so there is no franchisee income to report and no Item 19 financial performance representation. What would drive an owner’s income at a brand that does franchise is set out in its FDD: Item 6 fees, Item 7 costs and, where the franchisor chooses to include it, Item 19.
Did CAVA ever have franchises through Zoe's Kitchen?
Zoe’s Kitchen did: 3 franchised restaurants in Kentucky at December 25, 2017 and 2 at October 1, 2018, per its SEC filings. CAVA bought Zoe’s on November 21, 2018 for $12.75 a share, then converted 153 Zoes locations into company-run CAVAs by October 20, 2023. CAVA’s filings never report those franchises separately.
Will CAVA start franchising?
Nothing in CAVA’s filings says so as of November 2026. The fiscal 2025 10-K states an opportunity for more than 1,000 CAVA restaurants in the United States by 2032 and production capacity for at least 750, both framed around company-owned growth. A change would show up first as a new risk factor or FDD registration.
Sources
- CAVA Group, Inc. Form 10-K, fiscal year ended December 28, 2025, SEC EDGAR, accessed November 3, 2026.
- CAVA Group, Inc. Form 10-K, fiscal year ended December 29, 2024, SEC EDGAR, accessed November 3, 2026.
- CAVA Group, Inc. Form 10-K, fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, SEC EDGAR, accessed November 3, 2026.
- CAVA Group, Inc. Form 10-Q, quarter ended July 12, 2026, SEC EDGAR, accessed November 3, 2026.
- CAVA Group, Inc. prospectus (Form 424B4), filed June 16, 2023, SEC EDGAR, accessed November 3, 2026.
- CAVA Group, Inc. definitive proxy statement (DEF 14A), filed April 24, 2026, SEC EDGAR, accessed November 3, 2026.
- EDGAR full-text search, “franchise”, CIK 1639438, accessed November 3, 2026.
- Zoe’s Kitchen, Inc. Form 10-K, fiscal year ended December 25, 2017, SEC EDGAR, accessed November 3, 2026.
- Zoe’s Kitchen, Inc. Form 10-Q, quarter ended October 1, 2018, SEC EDGAR, accessed November 3, 2026.
- Zoe’s Kitchen, Inc. Form 8-K, filed August 20, 2018 (merger agreement), SEC EDGAR, accessed November 3, 2026.
- Zoe’s Kitchen, Inc. Form 8-K, filed November 21, 2018 (merger completion), SEC EDGAR, accessed November 3, 2026.
- 16 CFR Part 436, Disclosure Requirements and Prohibitions Concerning Franchising, eCFR, accessed November 3, 2026.
- Minnesota Department of Commerce CARDS franchise registrations search, searched November 3, 2026.