Operations
Cava misses Q3 targets, betting big on GMs
The Mediterranean chain fell short of Wall Street estimates, but its earnings call doubled as a playbook for building restaurant leaders.
November 5, 2026 by Cherryh Cansler — Publisher, FastCasual.com
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ClaudeEditor's note: This is part 1 of a 2 -part series analyzing Cava's earnings and growth strategy. Part 2 will focus on the chain's strategy running against several industry trends: investing in dining rooms, keeping a measured pace of menu launches and building a menu that wins in lower-income markets.
Cava's total Q3 revenue rose about 22% to $356.4 million, short of the $358.5 million that analysts expected, as a produce scare and a spike in gas prices slowed traffic. The bigger story for operators, however, is how the 500-unit chain is investing in its general managers, assistant managers and opening teams.
The Mediterranean fast casual chain is spending more on labor, training and preopening support, even with traffic soft. Executives told analysts the payoff is already showing up in lower turnover and better guest scores, even if it is costing margin today.
"Growth is not easy in this business," Brett Schulman, co-founder and CEO of Cava, said Wednesday, during the company's third-quarter earnings call. "And if that is an investment of 20 basis points or 30 basis points of restaurant-level margin or some preopening costs in a given quarter or given year, we're going to do that because we believe it's going to create that long-term sustainable growth and restaurant-level margin expansion."
A $50,000 head start for every new restaurant
Much of Cava's preopening jump comes from changing how it opens restaurants. GMs and hourly managers now start earlier, train longer and travel to work another store's opening before running their own.
That adds about $50,000 to $60,000 per restaurant, according to Tricia Tolivar, CFO of Cava, who said the extra spend will continue in 2027, though total preopening cost per unit should come down from this year's level, which was also inflated by remodels and slower, pricier urban builds.
Schulman said GMs now get about three more months of training. Before the change, he said, the intensity of openings wore people out, and some didn't make it through training or burned out a few weeks after. Now, he said, "turnover has dropped to almost 0 of that population, low single digits of that population versus much higher turnover previously."
Cava has also changed what a new restaurant does in its first weeks. Tolivar said new units now open without third-party delivery or catering so teams can focus on guests in the dining room. That costs some sales up front, she said, but guest experience scores are improving, and the company sees it as the better long-term call.
A second leader in every building
Nearly 75% of Cava restaurants now have an assistant general manager. Tolivar said the role builds bench strength for future openings and gives the GM a second leader as volumes climb. Average unit volumes have grown from $2.4 million a couple of years ago to $3.1 million today, she said.
Cava also gave team members a 3% wage increase and added hours, especially in newer restaurants, to support service after opening. Those moves drove most of the labor increase in the quarter.
Paying GMs like owners
This year, Cava began giving GMs annual long-term incentive equity grants. GMs who earn "Academy" certification, now 110 of them, get higher pay, and GMs earn bonuses when people they develop are promoted to GM.
Schulman said turnover among Academy GMs runs in the low to mid-single digits, and the company wants more GMs to reach that tier. He said Cava is reviewing its short-term incentive and bonus model and will share more in coming quarters.
"We've always said that as a team member, if you have the will and develop the skill in 24 to 36 months, you can be running a multimillion-dollar business making 6 figures," Schulman said.
Taking busywork off the GM's plate
Cava is also handing GMs more control. A new Operator Portal, live in more than 100 restaurants and rolling out fleetwide, lets GMs mark items out of stock and adjust digital order throttles themselves. Before, they had to submit a ticket to the tech team.
"We want our GMs to be business leaders. They're running multimillion-dollar businesses," Schulman said.
A new Cava Command Center gives GMs real-time restaurant vitals and lets them benchmark against peers across the system. In the kitchen, Cava is rolling out pre-marinated chicken, which cuts raw poultry handling, and new produce slicers for cucumbers and pickles. Schulman said each change frees teams to spend more time on guests.
Cava also ran a summer hospitality contest among GMs called "Welcome to Our Table." About two-thirds of restaurants improved guest experience during the contest, and the company is now trying to spread the habits behind the best results.
What operators can learn
- Count training as an opening cost. Cava treats an extra $50,000 to $60,000 per store as cheaper than a GM who quits in month two.
- Protect the first weeks. Opening without delivery or catering trades some early sales for a cleaner launch and better guest scores
- Add a second leader as volumes grow. A $3 million restaurant is a lot for one GM.
- Give managers a stake and a ladder. Equity, certification pay and bonuses for developing future GMs all tie pay to the business they build.
- Cut the tickets. If a GM has to ask headquarters to 86 an item, that's a tool problem, not a people problem.
About Cherryh Cansler
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