Second Chicago Area CAVA Restaurant Opens in Vernon Hills

June 28, 2024 -- CAVA today opened its second Chicago area restaurant in Vernon Hills, located in Hawthorn Mall at 890 N. Milwaukee Ave., Vernon Hills, IL 60061. The brand opened its first upper Midwest restaurant in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood in April.

With Mediterranean-inspired bowls, pitas, dips, and dressings, the fast-casual restaurant chain serves delicious food that helps people eat well and live well. These menu offerings, combined with an emphasis on hospitality and serving others, have created diverse, passionate followers who flock to new restaurant openings.

“Our mission is to bring heart, health, and humanity to food, and everything we do at CAVA is grounded in that spirit of generosity, to our guests, our team members, and our community,” said Louie Lovejoy, Regional Director. “We couldn’t be more excited to be in Vernon Hills.”

Before the doors officially open, every CAVA restaurant invites their new neighbors to the table for a free meal, accepts donations to support a local cause, and matches those donations up to $1,000. Since 2019, this companywide Community Day program has raised more than $500,000 in donations, mostly targeted at improving food security in local communities. CAVA’s Vernon Hills Community Day event raised funds for the Northern Illinois Food Bank, a nonprofit organization part of the Feeding America network that delivers food and healthy eating services to the 13 counties of Northern Illinois.

Prior to the grand opening, CAVA also partnered with Food Rescue US to donate hundreds of fresh meals prepared throughout the restaurant’s training period to local community members. The company's food donation program launched nationally in fall 2023 to improve food insecurity and reduce food waste as CAVA expands to new locations.

CAVA’s new Vernon Hills restaurant will employ 30-35 local people. The company hires people for their hospitality and warmth and is dedicated to creating career pathways for its team members. CAVA offers competitive pay and benefits including paid time off, healthcare, early wage access, an Employee Assistance Program, and free mental health support.

About CAVA

CAVA is the category-defining Mediterranean fast-casual restaurant brand, bringing together healthful food and bold, satisfying flavors at scale. Our brand and our opportunity transcend the Mediterranean category to compete in the large and growing limited-service restaurant sector as well as the health and wellness food category. CAVA serves guests across gender lines, age groups, and income levels and benefits from generational tailwinds created by consumer demand for healthy living and a demographic shift towards greater ethnic diversity. We meet consumers’ desires to engage with convenient, authentic, purpose-driven brands that view food as a source of self-expression. The broad appeal of our food combined with these favorable industry trends drive our vast opportunity for continued growth.