Cava opens up shop in former Zoe’s Kitchen space on 29th Street

BOULDER — Mediterranean “chef-casual” restaurant concept Cava Grill is now open in Boulder, occupying the space formerly home to Zoe’s Kitchen in the Twenty Ninth Street shopping district. 

Cava Group Inc. bought out Zoe’s Kitchen Inc. in 2018 for roughly $300 million and has been transitioning Zoe’s locations to the Cava concept since the acquisition. 

“With this acquisition, Cava will be able to broaden our geographic footprint and meet the needs of even more guests — whether in Bethesda or Birmingham, Plano or Pasadena — who crave delicious, healthy food without compromise,” Cava CEO Brett Schulman said in a statement when the deal was finalized.

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The Zoe’s restaurant in Fort Collins was replaced with a Cava Grill in May, the Coloradoan reported. 

Cava was founded in Rockville, Maryland, in 2006 by first-generation Greek Americans Ike Grigoropoulos, Dimitri Moshovitis, and Ted Xenohristos. The chain operates about 80 restaurants across the country. 

The Cava menu allows diners to create customizable meals built from greens, grains, pita, spreads, meats and toppings. Think a Chipotle-style service counter but with Greek-inspired cuisine rather than burritos. 

A Cava representative reached Monday by BizWest did not provide prior to publication additional information about the new Boulder location. This story will be updated as new information becomes available.

Cava and Zoe’s Kitchen are not the only Mediterranean restaurant brands making moves in the region. The Centennial-based Garbanzo Mediterranean Fresh LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Eastern Missouri, but said in its filing that it plans to operate as normal despite many of its locations on college campuses being closed since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. One such location — the Garbanzo’s in Boulder near the University of Colorado campus — was indeed open Monday. 

BizWest’s Dan Mika contributed to this report.

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