A Lebanese fast-casual chain that started as a single fine-dining restaurant in 2008 just opened its fourth Brooklyn location. NAYA opened its 50th location on Wednesday at 311 7th Avenue in Park Slope, handing out free bowls, rolls or salads to the first 100 guests and offering 50 percent off online pickup and delivery orders at locations nationwide for the rest of the day.
The milestone caps an aggressive stretch of growth for a brand that founder and CEO Hady Kfoury launched in New York City in 2008, according to QSR Magazine. NAYA's very first restaurant started out as a traditional Lebanese fine-dining spot before the company converted it into the build-your-own, Chipotle-style format that now defines the chain, a shift QSR Magazine traces to the brand's early years. That fast-casual model, built around fresh, customizable meals rooted in Lebanese tradition, has since spread across five states.
Park Slope now becomes NAYA's fourth Brooklyn restaurant. The chain already counts 32 restaurants in New York City alone, with the rest of its footprint spread across New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts. A Conshohocken, Pennsylvania location is slated to open later this month, which QSR Magazine notes will become NAYA's second restaurant in that state.
A Menu Built for Families, Too
The Park Slope shop isn't just NAYA's Brooklyn debut — it's also the first Brooklyn location to carry the chain's kids meal, which is available seven days a week, according to QSR Magazine's report. Kfoury told the outlet that he judges every new opening by a simple standard: whether the food still tastes like what NAYA served on its very first day.
That consistency has apparently paid off. NAYA operated 48 company-owned restaurants when Fortune profiled the chain in August, reporting that its restaurants average roughly $3 million in annual sales and that catering makes up about 10 percent of total revenue. Fortune also reported that Kfoury's next target is 200 NAYA locations by 2030 — a goal he reiterated in a LinkedIn post, writing that he believes the brand is capable of reaching around 200 stores nationwide by then.
Riding a Mediterranean Boom
NAYA's expansion lines up with a broader surge in Mediterranean fast food. Fortune reported that fast-casual Mediterranean chains generated just under $2.5 billion in sales in 2025, with sales across the category jumping 16 percent that year — nearly triple the 6 percent growth of the broader fast-casual segment. Technomic tracks roughly 30 leading Mediterranean fast-casual chains with a combined footprint of about 1,500 restaurants, the outlet's report noted.
Within that crowded field, NAYA has posted strong same-store numbers. Same-store sales rose 20 percent in suburban locations and 35 percent in New York City, according to QSR Magazine. That report also said NAYA planned to open 17 new locations in 2026, a figure echoed by fastcasual.com in its own coverage earlier this year, while the September 16 report on the Park Slope opening described it as the chain's ninth restaurant of 2026, with four more planned before year's end for a total of 13 — a discrepancy in the reported pace of openings that has not been resolved in available reporting.
NAYA still trails the segment's biggest player by a wide margin. Cava ended its latest quarter with 476 restaurants and $3.1 million in average unit volume, per Fortune, and Cava is aiming for 1,000 locations nationwide by 2032. Restaurant Business also reported that NAYA plans to open between 15 and 25 company-owned restaurants per year across the five states where it currently operates.
A Playbook Already Tested on Long Island
NAYA has used similar grand-opening promotions before. When the chain opened a 2,200-square-foot restaurant in Oceanside, Long Island last September — its second Long Island location and first outside a mall setting — it offered $5 bowls and rolls and donated 20 percent of proceeds to Island Harvest, according to Long Island Business News. The Park Slope debut followed a lighter-touch version of that formula, leaning on free food for early guests and a sitewide delivery discount rather than a charitable tie-in.
For Park Slope residents, the opening adds another fast-casual option to a neighborhood already dense with quick-service competition — but it's also a milestone for a brand that spent its first decade proving out a single fine-dining concept before betting on rapid, company-owned growth. Whether NAYA closes 2026 with 13 new restaurants or a different number, the Park Slope shop marks NAYA's fourth Brooklyn restaurant, four restaurants deep in the borough and counting.
