COLUMBUS, Ohio — Columbus, a hotbed of restaurant concept testing, just got another sign that the fast-casual restaurant wars are shifting beyond burgers, burritos, and chicken sandwiches.
CAVA, the Mediterranean fast-casual chain known for customizable bowls, salads, pitas, dips, and spicy harissa-style flavors, has opened a new restaurant at 1370 Polaris Parkway in Columbus. According to the company’s press release, the Polaris location is a 3,660-square-foot restaurant with dining room seating, patio seating, digital order pickup, car-friendly pickup options, and delivery. The space was previously a Shake Shack, which closed in 2024 as part of the burger chain’s nationwide round of underperforming-location closures.
For Columbus diners, that means another quick-service option in the Polaris Fashion Place retail corridor.
The Polaris restaurant is CAVA’s second in central Ohio, following the Hilliard location at 1790 Hilliard Rome Road that opened last month. The company opened its first Ohio restaurant in Cincinnati earlier this year, and according to reporting by NBC4 and Columbus Underground, CAVA has confirmed two additional central Ohio locations in the works — Grove City at 4120 Buckeye Parkway and Upper Arlington at 1603 W. Lane Avenue — bringing the planned central Ohio footprint to at least four restaurants.
That kind of multi-location rollout matters because it signals where the chain sees demand. If a concept works in Hilliard, Polaris, Grove City, and Upper Arlington, it can show that interest in Mediterranean fast-casual isn’t limited to trendy urban neighborhoods.
The expansion comes as CAVA is growing aggressively nationwide. In its Q1 2026 earnings release on May 19, the company raised its full-year outlook and now expects 75 to 77 net new restaurant openings in 2026, up from a prior forecast of 74 to 76. CAVA also raised its same-restaurant sales growth guidance to 4.5% to 6.5%, up from 3% to 5%. The chain ended Q1 with 459 total restaurants.
Central Ohio is not an empty market. Columbus-based Agapé Mediterranean, which started in 2021, has grown to five locations across Grandview Heights, Gahanna, Dublin, Lewis Center, and Polaris — opening just a couple of miles east of the new CAVA. Established fast-casual chains will also be competing for the same lunch and dinner dollars.
For Columbus, CAVA’s arrival adds another option in an increasingly crowded category.
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