When DC’s Mediterranean chain Cava made its IPO last week, it left plenty to celebrate.
For the fast-casual chain itself, there was the $318 million it made in the process, valuing the company at $4.88 billion before its even reached profitability and making way for a planned 60-t0-70-store opening this year. But for other food companies homegrown in the DMV, it also represented a successful public company in the sector that stayed in DC.
Cava’s recent IPO might remind you of a different DC fast-casual success: the IPO of Sweetgreen in 2021. But there’s one major difference: Though Sweetgreen was started in Georgetown, its founders eventually moved HQ to California, while Cava is DC-born and -raised — and its district roots aren’t yet overturned.
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