All through the 2010s, fast-casual bowl chains like Chipotle, Sweetgreen, and Cava have been ubiquitous. The eating places have been the popular mid-day locations for millennial employees, who, tight on time and knee-deep in choice fatigue, have been more than pleased to be handed their most popular allotment of grains, proteins, and veggies in a pre-mixed dump that might be simply consumed at a desk.
However over the past couple of years, these “healthy-but-kinda-mushy meals,” as The New York Instances so aptly described them, have began to fall off with diners.
For some, the bowls merely obtained too costly. Right here in New York Metropolis, the place traces at a Midtown Sweetgreen or Chipotle can run midway down the block, a rooster burrito bowl at Chipotle prices $14.95 and a Harvest Bowl at Sweetgreen rings in at $17.95.
For others, they only turned monotonous. Regardless of the large variety of potential ingredient mixtures at a spot like Sweetgreen or Cava, a scarcity of standard menu improvements resulted within the bowls all beginning to style the identical.
In mid-2025, fast-casual bowl chains of all stripes began to see a decline in visitors, depressed gross sales, and falling shares. This led to numerous turnaround plans, like Chipotle’s “Recipe for Growth” and Sweetgreen’s “Sweet Growth Transformation Plan,” which have had combined outcomes.
However there was one chain that’s managed to keep away from a lot of the fast-casual bowl hunch: Cava.
Cava is outperforming its opponents
On the shut of the 2025 fiscal yr, Cava’s revenues grew 22.5% year-over-year, dwarfing Chipotle’s 5.4% enhance and Sweetgreen’s 0.4% enhance over the identical interval.
“2025 was a milestone year for CAVA,” CEO Brett Schulman instructed traders throughout the firm’s This autumn FY2025 earnings name. “It was a record-setting year marked by our first full fiscal year, surpassing $1 billion in revenue and our strongest new restaurant opening class to date.”
That progress seems to be persevering with into Q1 of 2026.
Total visits to Cava are up 25.8% year-over-year, based on information from Placer.ai. Identical retailer visits have additionally been trending upward over the past six months, rising by 6.8% in March 2026.
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In the meantime, same-store visits at Sweetgreen have been trending downward, reducing by 7.6% in March, and total visitors was up simply 19.5% in Q1 FY2026. Chipotle has additionally seen slower foot visitors, with March same-store visits reducing by 0.5%, and Q1 visits up simply 5.8%, based on Placer.ai.
“This represents a meaningful spread between brands competing for the same premium consumer,” Placer’s report mentioned.
Schulman credit the chain’s success to its worth proposition — good meals at reasonably priced costs that meets a particular dietary requirement for customers
“We believe our momentum reflects more than just expansion,” he instructed traders in February. “It signals that our value proposition is resonating with today’s increasingly discerning consumer. As guests become more intentional with their spend, they are choosing brands like Cava that deliver real differentiation through bold flavors, healthful food, and hospitality that creates meaningful human connection.”
Cava’s emphasis on protein has elevated foot visitors and helped the fast-casual chain surpass $1 billion in annual income.
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Cava’s give attention to protein
With the rise of GLP-1s, protein has turn into the it-factor for a lot of profitable eating places.
Some 62% of diners report actively in search of high-protein choices when eating out, based on a report from Income Administration Options. One other 50% of diners say they’d take into account switching restaurant manufacturers for higher protein choices.
In that all-essential protein class, Cava has positioned itself properly. The Mediterranean chain presently gives six totally different protein choices, together with a vegan-friendly falafel and the all-new pomegranate-glazed salmon.
The glazed salmon, which simply hit menus in March, is Cava’s first seafood providing.
“Glazed Salmon reflects that brand’s commitment to expanding its menu with ingredients that balance quality, flavor, and nourishment – delivering a new way for guests to eat well without compromise,” the corporate mentioned in an announcement. “The result is a protein-packed option with omega-3s and essential vitamins like B12 and D, delivering both flavor and nourishment in every bite.”
Extra eating places:
- Starbucks rival challenges espresso chain’s dominance
- McDonald’s revamps menu as extra clients take GLP-1 weight loss plan medicine
- Buffalo Wild Wings closes eating places throughout the U.S. in 2026
Evaluations of the brand new protein have been constructive to this point, and Cava says there’s extra to come back.
“We have other proteins in the stage gate process,” Schulman instructed traders. “We’ve had a market test of shrimp, our roasted garlic shrimp, so that is something we’re also excited about, as well as a number of other proteins that are in development. There’s a good pipeline of just the protein section.”
In the meantime, Sweetgreen and Chipotle’s latest menu updates have centered round objects like wraps and sauces, issues which might be in style with diners in their very own proper however lack the common enchantment of protein.
In the end, Cava’s success can’t be attributed to at least one single issue. However the chain’s means to align its menu with shifting shopper preferences signifies an organization that gained’t be caught taking part in catch up within the “bowl wars,” however successful them flat-out.
The restaurant’s adaptability has led analysts like William Blair’s Sharon Zackfia to foretell that Cava might be producing greater than $2.5 billion in income by 2032 at about 1,000 areas.
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