Cava
Mediterranean fast casual chain · 459+ locations · TX, NY, CA, VA, MD, and 24 other states + DC
Two of Cava's three founders still shape the food at this 450-plus-location chain. Separately, the company paid $1.4M to settle NYC findings that it violated Fair Workweek scheduling law, affecting roughly 1,200 workers.
The Big Picture
Two of Cava's three founders still shape the menu, and the CEO has been there since 2009. Labor is another matter: a $1.4 million settlement in 2024 with New York City, which found it broke the Fair Workweek scheduling law at nine locations affecting about 1,200 workers, plus 2022 restitution for firing a worker who took protected sick leave. Publicly traded and about 94% institutionally held, it answers to shareholders.
The Dirty Details
Ownership
Act III HoldingsFamily Office
Act III Holdings is the personal investment firm of Ron Shaich, Panera Bread's founder and former CEO, who uses it to take founder-friendly stakes in fast-casual and bakery-café brands he believes can scale nationally. It backed Cava's 2018 acquisition of Zoë's Kitchen and remains a pre-IPO investor there, with Shaich chairing Cava's board; it also previously owned Clover Food Lab.
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Company data last updated September 2026
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