Mendocino Farms & CAVA Grill Heading Into San Diego's Westfield Mission Valley

March 10, 2020

Splitting the space that last housed Michael's inside Westfield Mission Valley mall are new locations from Los Angeles-based Mendocino Farms and Washington D.C.'s CAVA Mediterranean restaurant.

Mendocino Farms was founded in Los Angeles in 2005 by husband-and-wife team Mario Del Pero and Ellen Chen. The sandwich and salad shop, which is heavily backed by Whole Foods Market, now has 32 locations spread throughout Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego. After a successful debut with the opening of the first area location in The Shops in La Jolla Village in late 2016, Mendocino Farms sandwich opened a second San Diego outpost in summer 2017 in the Del Mar Highlands Town Center and a third area location last year as part of The Square at Bressi Ranch. The grand opening of their fourth area location in Downtown San Diego took place last month.

The newest location of Mendocino Farms will install inside Westfield Mission Valley mall in San Diego's Mission Valley area, splitting the unit that last housed Michael's with a new outpost from Washington D.C.-based Mediterranean chain CAVA Grill. Like other Mendocino Farms locations, expect a seasonal, chef-driven menu of gourmet sandwiches and creative salads, as well as a list of local craft beers and wine options.

CAVA was founded in 2011 by childhood friends Ted Xenohristos, Ike Grigoropoulos, and Executive Chef Dimitri Moshovitis. The restaurant was created to bring Mediterranean food to a wider audience, using ingredients made from scratch in-house every day to prepare customizable dishes like salads, grain bowls, pita sandwiches and entree plates. ​The menu is created to deliver a personalized experience for each and every guest - featuring over 50 offerings and 58 million possible combinations of ingredients and flavors. The first location of CAVA opened in Encinitas in fall 2018, and there is now an outpost in Del Mar's One Paseo with another branch set to open within The Shops at La Jolla Village plaza.

Both Mendocino Farms and CAVA Mission Valley will sit inside the renovated unit at 1640 Camino Del Rio North, Suite FSU-15, inside Westfield Mission Valley. The restaurants hope to be open by this summer. For more information, visit mendocinofarms.com and cava.com.