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Ted Xenohristos, co -founder and concept director of Cava, drew inspiration from the Greek heritage of oldsters of immigrants and food he ate, growing up. What began as a modest restaurant in the old Russian bakery in Rockville, Maryland flourished in the national brand with 380 locations in 28 states and Washington
“We wanted to do it at an affordable price and [offer] Something that people could share with, “says Xenohristos.” We built the first restaurant with bare hands. [was] from the dollar store, target, home articles. “
The first weeks of activity were stuffed with uncertainty and long hours. Xenohristos and CAVA CEO, Brett Schulman, poured his energy to build the first location of the brand, building it from scratch. Without marketing budgetInstead, they relied on something stronger: authenticity and hospitality.
“We used our Mediterranean hospitality, which we grew up, without a marketing budget, without signs outside, without a POS system,” says Xenohristos. “We gave people free things – free drinks, free food, free dessert – and eventually told other people, and before you realized, this small restaurant had a really long line.”
As the words and momentum was built, the founders realized that they’d put in something much larger than one restaurant. Within just over six months, they opened the second location and prolonged operations to cover the retail line of submerged and spreads, introducing Mediterranean flavors to grocery stores.
Despite rapid growth as one of the The fastest growing Yelp 2025 brandsCava has never leaned away from its basic values of generosity and Mediterranean hotel industry.
“One of the reasons why we started this business was taking care of people and changing culture,” says Xenohristos. “We love food, we wanted to share it, but we really wanted to change the way people are treated. It starts with it.”
The brand’s mission is “bringing the heart, health and humanity to food.”
The company’s leaders show the heart, taking good care of guests and employees, health through fresh Mediterranean ingredients and humanity, supporting the connection and the community inside and beyond.
“All these things together keep this culture alive,” says Xenohristos. “We are still working hard to make this dream, have a greater culture and restaurant.”
Making culture with the cornerstone of the company includes providing significant advantages of employees, resembling tuition discounts, help in family planning, available healthcare and mental health resources. CAVA also organizes an annual conference to support calls and cooperation between general managers.
This culture extends to customer experience. Even in a fast dining room, Cava has ways to create significant human connections. One of such initiatives is “love”, a tool that authorizes employees to cover the customer’s meal if they notice that somebody has a hard day.
Xenohristos claims that this initiative consists in “giving our members of our team to tools to be able to share the generosity that is rooted in us and our culture.”
Although no journey is devoid of challenges, Cava values still push the brand forward, again defining the way guests experience food and hospitality. “As we develop, the more we can do what we decided to do, what was a change in the restaurant industry,” says Xenohristos.
His advice for current and future business leaders is clear:
- Lead with a goal and heart. Building a company rooted in hotel, care and merger causes a lasting impact – each for your team and customers.
- Make culture with your foundation stone. Thoughtful Employee experience He does something greater than behavior of talent; It distinguishes your brand.
- Grow without root loss. No matter how big you scale, stay on the basis of a mission that began all of it. Authenticity is your most beneficial resource.
- Strengthen generosity. Give your team tools to care for your work, people and goal. Small acts of kindness cause high waves.
- Do not follow the industry – change it. Cava not only opened restaurants. He built a movement around food, humanity and culture, proving that the chains may be each scalable and mission.
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Editorial contribution of Jiah Choe and Kristi Lindahl