According to the San Diego Union Tribune, Luna Grill's brand of Mediterranean food seems to be appetizing to investors.

The fast-casual food chain recently secured nearly $30 million in financing from private investment firm CapitalSpring, which will be used for expanding and updating restaurants. The most it had received in a funding period before this was roughly $4 million.

The 12-year-old company has 30 restaurants and is constructing 18 more in the next year.

Sean Pourteymour, founder and CEO of Luna Grill, said Wednesday that the company was 'pleasantly surprised' by the amount of money it received.

'It gives us a lot of breathing room to focus on our culture, and the opening of Luna Grills that we have in the pipeline,' he said.

Pourteymour said the money will be used for research and development, upgrading infrastructure and building the 18 restaurants, which are mostly in Southern California and the Dallas-Forth Worth area.

Luna Grill will move its headquarters to a new 10,500-square-foot office building in Carmel Mountain Ranch, more than double the size of its previous location.

Food analyst John Gordon, founder and principal of Pacific Management Consulting, said Mediterranean food is popular right now with investors because it has a balanced draw of men and women. Also, it tends to have a consistent pull of customers at lunch and dinner.

'Mediterranean is hot,' he said. 'Daytime, when many restaurants are slower, Mediterranean is able to attract nice business.'

Gordon said there are private equity firms that do nothing but scout restaurants' chances for potential growth.

'The restaurant space in the United States is very crowded, very busy,' he said. 'But, there is always room for new brands, which take on a life of their own.'

Pourteymour said by the time the new restaurants open, it will have added 400 to 500 new employees. It currently has more than 700 workers.

He said the restaurant has aspirations to spread throughout the United States but will be careful about it.

'We want to do this in a very methodical way,' Pourteymour said. 'We are 12 years old and most of our growth has happened in the last three to four years. We want to be responsible, not just put up stores because we can. We want to be cautious but not complacent.'