Have you ever eaten at Cava? I have not, but fans of the fast-casual restaurant chain that serves Mediterranean food were quick to explain the company on Twitter after it filed a Form S-1 for its IPO recently.
“It’s chipotle for 30+ people who feel like they should eat more fiber,” joked Neeraj Agrawal, a denizen of a crypto-focused think tank. Opinions here at TechCrunch were more split, with space reporter Aria Alamalhodaei calling it “one of [her] favs,” while transport reporter Rebecca Bellan described it as “fake Israeli food.”
The Exchange explores startups, markets and money.
Read it every morning on TechCrunch+ or get The Exchange newsletter every Saturday.
Regardless of who is right, lots of folks have eaten at Cava. That’s thanks to the company rapidly expanding its footprint in the United States from 22 locations in 2016 to 263 in the first quarter of 2023. Part of that growth came from a 2018 purchase of rival fast-casual chain Zoës Kitchen for about $300 million.
Cava is not the first venture-backed fast-casual restaurant chain to go public that TechCrunch has written about: Sweetgreen went public in late 2021 after setting an impressive fundraising track record.
Cava’s investor base …
