Vienna: A town of two Cavas?

The former Zoës Kitchen in Vienna won’t remain vacant for long.

Just days after the fast-casual Mediterranean chain shuttered on Nov. 30, signs appeared on the building at 418 Maple Avenue East indicating that its parent company, Cava, will be moving in.

Cava will open there in the spring of 2023, the company confirmed to FFXnow. However, no other details are available for the time being, including whether the restaurant will be completely new or a relocation of the existing Cava less than a mile down the street at 176 Maple Avenue West.

That Cava arrived in April 2016 as part of Vienna Shopping Center’s grand reopening, and it’s still listed on the center’s leasing website.

Either way, the switch doesn’t come as a huge surprise. Started in 2010, the D.C.-based Cava acquired Zoës Kitchen for $300 million in 2018 and shared last year that it will convert and rebrand the older company’s 261 locations.

A Zoës Kitchen in Alexandria that closed in June is also slated to transition into a Cava, leaving the Ashburn location as the only one left in Northern Virginia. The Texas-based chain began in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1995.

Zoës Kitchen didn’t provide a reason in a sign announcing the closure of its Vienna store last month, according to Patch. The building is also home to a Potbelly and The Frame Market.

Including the existing Vienna restaurant, Cava has nine locations in Fairfax County, including ones in McLean, Tysons, Merrifield and Reston. The business serves build-your-own pita wraps and rice and salad bowls — a slightly less extensive menu than Zoës, which also has sandwiches and other platters.

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