CAVA CFO Details Digital Tools Behind 1,000-Restaurant Goal

CAVA Group is using a manager portal and its CAVA Command Center to coordinate restaurant operations as it targets at least 1,000 locations by 2032, CFO Tricia Tolivar said Nov. 6.

The operator portal lets general managers oversee digital orders and mark items out of stock in real time, Tolivar said. She also described the in-house CAVA Command Center, which consolidates restaurant performance data previously spread across separate systems and spreadsheets.

CAVA’s development strategy combines entering new markets with adding restaurants in places where it already operates. Opening a restaurant takes months of coordination across real estate, design, construction, store operations, supply chain and staff training.

CAVA opened its 500th restaurant in Minneapolis on Sept. 23 and said it had reached the milestone ahead of schedule. The goal of at least 1,000 locations by 2032 would double its restaurant count from the 500 reported at the end of its fiscal third quarter.

The quarter ended Oct. 4, after 24 net restaurant openings during the period. CAVA’s fiscal 2026 forecast calls for 76 to 78 net new restaurants, detailed in its quarterly results and updated opening forecast.

Tolivar described the company’s investment horizon as “not for the next 12 weeks, but for the next 12 years and beyond.”