A new Mediterranean restaurant with bowls and pita is coming to Bradenton
CAVA, a popular Mediterranean fast-casual restaurant, is coming to East Manatee.
The restaurant signed a lease at the Marketplace at Heritage Harbour shopping plaza near Interstate 75 and State Road 64, according to developer Edgewood Properties’ leasing plan.
CAVA is slotted in a nearly 2,500-square-foot unit next to My Eye Dr. and mattress chain Sleep Number. The three-unit building is near Miller’s Ale House in the Costco-anchored plaza at 805 Lighthouse Drive in Bradenton.
An opening date has not been announced.
What’s on the menu?
CAVA serves several classic Mediterranean flavors such as chicken shawarma, lamb, steak and harissa and falafel to name a few.
Diners can order dishes in a bowl or pita. And those items can be customized.
Shawarma is a marinated meat stacked vertically on a rotating spit. Harissa is a type of hot chili pepper paste from North Africa.
CAVA also boasts dips such as hummus, roasted eggplant, tzatziki, feta and harissa.
Datassential, a food and beverage industry data analytics company, named CAVA the best healthy chain restaurant in the country for 2025.
When did Cava start?
Three childhood friends – Ike Grigoropoulos, Dimitri Moshovitis and Ted Xenohristos – partnered with Brett Schulman to open the first CAVA in 2010, according to company history. The first fast-casual CAVA opened in Maryland.
While it’s the company’s first entry into Manatee County, it is not the first for the area. CAVA has a location at 5248 University Parkway in the University Station shopping center in Sarasota.
The hours at the Sarasota location are 10:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. daily.
What else is at Marketplace at Heritage Harbour?
In addition to Costco and CAVA, the Marketplace at Heritage Harbour plaza is home to Target, Academy Sports + Outdoors, Hobby Lobby, Seasons 52 and LongHorn Steakhouse.
There are plans to open Whole Foods, Chick-fil-A, Cold Stone, Mister O1 Extraordinary Pizza, Qdoba Mexican Eats and more in the future.
For more information, visit CAVA.com.
