Cava, a Mediterranean-inspired restaurant, is opening two new locations in Mission Viejo and Costa Mesa this year. The eatery, with locations in Irvine and Los Angeles, includes a build-it-yourself menu that is customizable (salads, grain bowls or pitas) and made from scratch in-house. (Courtesy of Cava)

Cava, a Mediterranean-inspired restaurant, is opening two new locations in Mission Viejo and Costa Mesa this year. The eatery, with locations in Irvine and Los Angeles, includes a build-it-yourself menu that is customizable (salads, grain bowls or pitas) and made from scratch in-house. (Courtesy of Cava)

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Cava, a Mediterranean-inspired restaurant, is opening two new locations in Mission Viejo and Costa Mesa this year. The eatery, with locations in Irvine and Los Angeles, includes a build-it-yourself menu that is customizable (salads, grain bowls or pitas) and made from scratch in-house. (Courtesy of Cava)

Costa Mesa-based El Pollo Loco’s delivery test with DoorDash has passed muster and is now available at some 280 of its 470 restaurants. El Pollo Loco began testing home delivery last September in its home base of Orange County and Las Vegas. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Three tenants at Center Street Promenade in Anaheim have departed the center in recent weeks, including Ink & Bean, a coffee shop. (Courtesy of Ink & Bean)



Center Street Cheese at Center Street Promenade in Anaheim bid its adieu Feb. 27 via Facebook. (Courtesy of Center Street Cheese)

The preppy world of Tory Burch has come to Nordstrom at South Coast Plaza. The shop-within-a-shop launched March 5 and closes March 25. The popup will feature seasonal items from Burch’s spring 2018 collection including apparel, shoes, handbags, home, swim, accessories and a new fragrance, Just Like Heaven.(Photo by Jeff Schear Visuals)

The preppy world of Tory Burch has come to Nordstrom at South Coast Plaza. The shop-within-a-shop launched March 5 and closes March 25. The popup will feature seasonal items from Burch’s spring 2018 collection including apparel, shoes, handbags, home, swim, accessories and a new fragrance, Just Like Heaven.(Photo by Jeff Schear Visuals)

The preppy world of Tory Burch has come to Nordstrom at South Coast Plaza. The shop-within-a-shop launched March 5 and closes March 25. The popup will feature seasonal items from Burch’s spring 2018 collection including apparel, shoes, handbags, home, swim, accessories and a new fragrance, Just Like Heaven.(Photo by Jeff Schear Visuals)

Photography by Jeff Schear Visuals



The preppy world of Tory Burch has come to Nordstrom at South Coast Plaza. The shop-within-a-shop launched March 5 and closes March 25. The popup will feature seasonal items from Burch’s spring 2018 collection including apparel, shoes, handbags, home, swim, accessories and a new fragrance, Just Like Heaven. Seen here is the Block-T Stud tote for $558.(Photo by Jeff Schear Visuals)

The preppy world of Tory Burch has come to Nordstrom at South Coast Plaza. The shop-within-a-shop launched March 5 and closes March 25. The popup will feature seasonal items from Burch’s spring 2018 collection including apparel, shoes, handbags, home, swim, accessories and a new fragrance, Just Like Heaven. Seen here is the Half-Moon balloon stripe purse for $598.(Photo by Jeff Schear Visuals)

The preppy world of Tory Burch has come to Nordstrom at South Coast Plaza. The shop-within-a-shop launched March 5 and closes March 25. The popup will feature seasonal items from Burch’s spring 2018 collection including apparel, shoes, handbags, home, swim and accessories. Seen here is the ruffle sneaker for $228(Photo by Jeff Schear Visuals)

Star Slipock and Dana Martens shop for herb and vegetable plants during the Fullerton Arboretum annual Veggiepalooza sale at Cal State Fullerton on in 2017. The Fullerton Arboretum hosts its annual Veggiepalooza on March 17-18. More than 100 varieties of tomato plants alone will be for sale – the catalog includes tomatoes of every size and color.(Photo by Ana P. Gutierrez-Garcia, Contributing Photographer)

Plants of garden salsa hot peppers during the Fullerton Arboretum annual Veggiepalooza sale at Cal State Fullerton in 2017.The Fullerton Arboretum hosts its annual Veggiepalooza on March 17-18. The plant sale – believed to be the largest in the region – will feature more than 300 varieties of tomatoes, peppers and other vegetables good for home gardening.(Photo by Ana P. Gutierrez-Garcia, Contributing Photographer)



Liz Comisso looks at vegetable and herb plants to purchase during the Fullerton Arboretum annual Veggiepalooza sale at Cal State Fullerton in 2017. The Fullerton Arboretum hosts its annual Veggiepalooza on March 17-18. The plant sale  believed to be the largest in the region  will feature more than 300 varieties of tomatoes, peppers and other vegetables good for home gardening.(Photo by Ana P. Gutierrez-Garcia, Contributing Photographer)

Here’s the latest in restaurant and retail news for March 9.

Cava expanding

Cava, a Mediterranean-inspired restaurant, is opening two new locations in Mission Viejo and Costa Mesa this year.

The eatery, with locations in Irvine and Los Angeles, includes a build-it-yourself menu that is customizable (salads, grain bowls or pitas) and made from scratch in-house.

The Mission Viejo location at 27750 Crown Valley Parkway will seat 50 guests inside, with an additional 20 seats on the exterior patio. It’s slated to open sometime in April. The Costa Mesa location at 350 E. 17th St. will include 38 seats inside and an additional 24-30 on a patio. It’s due this summer.

The Cava concept was founded in 2011 by first-generation Greek American childhood friends Ted Xenohristos, Ike Grigoropoulos, and executive chef Dimitri Moshovitis. The company also produces a line of dips and spreads from a Culver City kitchen, which are available in more than 200 Whole Foods Markets.

Chicken on the go

Costa Mesa-based El Pollo Loco’s delivery test with DoorDash has passed muster and is now available at some 280 of its 470 restaurants.

El Pollo Loco began testing home delivery last September in its home base of Orange County and Las Vegas. The service now expands across Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, the Bay Area, Sacramento and the Dallas/Houston markets.

Guests can order online at www.elpolloloco.com/order or by using the new El Pollo Loco app, available for download now in both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

Mega-veggie sale

The Fullerton Arboretum will host its annual Veggiepalooza the weekend of March 17-18.

The plant sale – believed to be the largest in the region – will feature more than 300 varieties of tomatoes, peppers and other vegetables good for home gardening.

More than 100 varieties of tomato plants alone will be for sale – the catalog includes tomatoes of every size and color.

The Jigsaw, Atomic Starfish and Shishitos will be among the 70 varieties of pepper plants available.

The plants are grown by volunteer gardeners in the arboretum’s nursery and the proceeds from the sale will help with the botanical garden’s environmental and educational programs.

If you go:

When: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 17 and 18

Where: Fullerton Arboretum, 1900 Associated Road, on the north side of the Cal State Fullerton campus

Cost: Prices mostly start at $3.50

Information: fullertonarboretum.org

— Heather McRae, staff writer

Closed in Anaheim

Three tenants at Center Street Promenade in Anaheim have departed the center with at least one new concept on tap.

Ink & Bean, a coffee shop with a local fan base, closed shop in late February.

In a note on its Facebook page, the managers said “It’s ‘bean’ great getting to know you all! Thank you for the wonderful couple of years on Center Street. We couldn’t have done it without your love and support of our business.”

Customers on the Facebook page were not happy.

“Aww… this makes me sad. Though I’m not really surprised. Many changes in the past year and none of the for the better. The only constant was the coffee,” wrote Christina Alexandra.

“Center Street is losing some of its character with the closing of Ink and Bean and the cheese shop,” Heather Fuller wrote.

The shop Fuller mentioned was Center Street Cheese, which also bid its adieu Feb. 27 via Facebook.

“We don’t want to come off cheesy but we really appreciate all of our customers! Thank you so much for all your love and support of our business.”

A sign at the shop indicates a bakery is coming, though no more details were available.

A bar called Good (or Good Things on Yelp) also has shuttered. It sold beer, wine and rotating bites “from across the four corners of America,” according to a website banner for the retail center.

Also at the center, a restaurant space that previously was Primo Sports Bar & Grill but has been empty has a sign up indicating it soon will be Decades, opening this spring and advertising “Rock of the ’80s and ’90s.”

The center is owned by Shaheen Sadeghi who also owns the popular Anaheim Packing House.

New at SCP Nordstrom

The preppy, upscale fashion of Tory Burch has made its way to Nordstrom at South Coast Plaza. The shop-within-a-shop launched March 5 and closes March 25.

Tory Burch also has a full-size retail store at the Costa Mesa mall.

The popup will feature seasonal items from Burch’s spring 2018 collection including apparel, shoes, handbags, home, swim, accessories and a new fragrance, Just Like Heaven. Merchandise also will be available on Nordstrom.com.

Soft Surroundings

Soft Surroundings, an apparel and home decor chain, is opening a location this summer at the Shops at Mission Viejo. Another location is due in Rancho Cucamonga in the near future, according to a press release.

The Soft Surroundings’ website features a variety of clothing from maxi dresses to casual stretch pants and tops with built-in underwire. Bedding and home options include silk sheets, rugs, wall art and window coverings.

The retailer got its start as a catalog and expanded into online sales, then brick and mortar locations, according to St. Louis Post Dispatch.

The company is expanding by 16 new locations across the U.S., including the two Southern California sites. The St. Louis-based company will operate some 75 stores by the expansion’s conclusion.

Staff writer Wendy Fawthrop contributed to this report.

Send news of new eats and retail to Samantha Gowen at sgowen@scng.com