[EXCLUSIVE] Mediterranean Restaurant to Replace Former Mexican Eatery in Braselton

Fast-casual Mediterranean food chain Cava is continuing its metro Atlanta expansion with a new location planned for Braselton in Gwinnett County.  The new restaurant is planned for 2620 Old Winder Highway in Braselton in the Market at Highpoint strip center.  

Cava will open in a roughly 2,500 square foot endcap space originally home to a location of Atlanta-based Moe's Southwest Grill.  Moe's opened in the space in December 2019 and closed "temporarily" this past June, but despite being listed as "open and operating" on the Moe's website and Google, it never reopened.  

In the five-unit center, Cava joins existing tenants Arby's (yes, they still exist), Frenchies Modern Nail Care, Advanced Medical Spa of Braselton and Braselton Urgent Care.  

Cava first entered the Atlanta market in 2021 when it began converting Zoes Kitchen locations.  The Washington D.C.-based brand had just 66 locations when it acquired 261 unit Zoes Kitchen for about $300 million in 2018.  In the years that followed, through converting most of but not all of the former Zoes units teamed with new store development, Cava has grown to a chain of nearly 500 restaurants today.  

There are currently twenty-seven Cavas in Georgia, the majority in metro Atlanta.  The next closest location to Braselton is off Buford Drive near the Mall of Georgia in Buford.  

This new location marks the third non-Zoes Kitchen conversion for the chain in metro Atlanta following openings on Peachtree Street in Midtown and on Hank Aaron Drive in Summerhill.  Cava also added new locations to Evans (near Augusta) and at Oglethorpe Mall in Savannah, its second in the market.  

Are you excited to see Cava continue to expand in metro Atlanta?  Where else in metro Atlanta would you like to see Cava open?  Are you still bitter over Cava's closure of Zoes Kitchen?

Please share your thoughts below.