Featured on Entrepreneur Franchise Directory
More Than a Café. A Brand People Talk About.
✦ People flew in from across Europe just to visit. No advertising. No PR. Just a brand worth traveling for.
✦ Opened in a city with zero bagel culture — became its most talked-about café within months.
✦ Influencers and content creators show up without being asked. The space markets itself.
✦ The same customers came back every single morning. That's the business model.
✦ Featured in press without having to spend a dollar on PR.
That was the point — proving the behavior matters more than the market.
Why LE.SAL + CO. Works as a Franchise
Simple menu. No complexity.
Five ingredients. No specialist chef. No complicated kitchen. Your team can execute it from day one.
Low waste by design.
A focused menu means tighter inventory, less spoilage, and more predictable food costs.
Built for daily repeat traffic.
Coffee and bagels are morning rituals — not one-time visits. Your busiest hour repeats every single day.
The brand does the marketing.
The space markets itself. Influencers show up without being asked. Word of mouth built in.
Operational clarity from day 1.
~75 hours of structured training. Documented processes. System designed to work before you open, not after.
Two formats. One standard.
Start lean with the Specialty Café from $77K or go full flagship with the NY Style Bagel Café from $180.5K.
Own a design-led café brand people already love.
NY-style bagels. Specialty coffee. A proven system behind it.
What keeps guests coming back
Simple products. Strong daily demand. Built to repeat.
See how the model works
Ready to learn more? Fill out the form above.
Why LE.SAL+CO.
Most café concepts look good or perform well. We built one that does both.
Clean-label bagels made fresh daily. Specialty coffee.
A design-led space people return to - and a business model built around that loyalty.
A system engineered to work.
A focused menu, efficient operations, and a product people genuinely come back for every day. This isn't a concept we invented to franchise. It's one we built, proved, and are now opening to the right partners. The partners who come in at the beginning don't just open a location. They become part of what this brand is.
WHAT YOU ARE INVESTING IN
A complete system. A distinct brand. And the people who built it, in your corner.
Design-led spaces
Calm, minimal interiors that attract and convert daily traffic.
Premium product
Five-ingredient bagels. Built for consistency at scale.
A brand with real pull
Recognizable. Photographable. Positioned above the category.
Operational simplicity
No specialist staff. No complex equipment. No unnecessary complexity.
Proven Café Model
A concept built around daily habits and consistent operations.
Direct founder access
Not a support ticket. The people who built this, in your corner.
BY THE NUMBERS:
~75 hours of structured training
2 formats - NY Style Bagel Café & Specialty Café
5 clean ingredients.
Zero shortcuts.
1 standard across every location.
Two Formats. One Standard.
Same brand values. Same operational discipline. Different scale, different market fit.
LE.SAL + CO.
Specialty Café
A design-led café built around specialty coffee and a curated selection of baked goods. Minimal footprint, streamlined operations, and the full LE.SAL + CO. brand experience - scaled for urban locations and operators who want to start lean and grow.
-
Compact footprint
-
Lower initial investment
-
Coffee and baked goods focus
-
Designed to scale up
LE.SAL + CO.
NY Style Bagel Café
The full flagship experience. Slow-fermented New York–style bagels made fresh daily, specialty coffee, and an all-day café that becomes a daily ritual for its neighbourhood.
-
Full bagel production
-
Complete brand expression
-
Built for destination traffic
Both formats share the same brand standards, training program, and operational systems.
The choice comes down to your market, your space, and your investment level - not your ambition.
Built to Run Well
A bakery system that requires no specialized equipment and minimal training.
No star chef required. No specialist team.
Just a clear system your team can execute from day one.
Designed for simplicity. Built for consistency.
Focused menu. Lower waste. Efficient operations.
A training program built around how your café actually runs, so your team is ready before you open, not after.
The result: a business that performs because the system works.
Meet the Founders
Founded by two creatives with roots in New York and a vision for global, modern café culture.
LE.SAL + CO. wasn't built in a boardroom. It was built by two people who couldn't find what they were looking for, so they made it themselves.
Meli is an award-winning art director and designer. Every detail you experience in a LE.SAL + CO. space - the calm, the clarity, the feeling that everything is intentional - comes from her belief that design drives behavior, not just aesthetics.
David is a born-and-raised New Yorker whose family has been making bagels in Brooklyn for generations. His great-great-grandfather ran a bagel shop in Borough Park. When he makes a bagel, he isn't following a recipe he found - he's carrying something forward.
Together they took that heritage to Sarajevo - a city with no bagel culture - and built the most talked-about café in the market. Not because they followed a formula. Because they refused to.
"We built it in Sarajevo to prove it could work anywhere. Now we're showing what it looks like everywhere."
— Meli & David, Co-Founders
A space designed to attract and retain daily traffic.
Design-driven interiors blending New York energy with European café culture.
Everything You Need to Open and Operate
A Complete Franchise System - Built for Real Operations
From the first conversation to your grand opening, our team guides you through every step.
• Comprehensive operations manual
• Standardized recipes + production guides
• Café design concept + interior templates
• Brand guidelines + marketing assets
• Barista training + food preparation training
• Protected territory rights
• Launch strategy + social media rollout
• Ongoing support + quality assurance
This is not a system you figure out as you go. Everything is documented, tested, and ready before you open your doors.
Who This Is For
We're not looking for the most franchisees. We're looking for the right ones — people who want to build something meaningful in their city.
Our strongest operators share:
• Ownership mindset
• Commitment to brand and system
• Customer-first hospitality
• Financial discipline
• Community connection
• Clear, open communication
You bring the drive, we bring the system.
Investment at a Glance
Transparent, Simple
Investment Structure
LE.SAL + CO. Specialty Café
Investment: $77,000 – $160,000
LE.SAL + CO. NY Style Bagel Café
Investment: $180,500 – $456,000
Investment ranges vary based on location, market, and build-out requirements.
Typical investment includes:
-
Renovation and build-out
-
Equipment
-
Initial inventory
-
Furniture and fixtures
-
Permits and licensing
-
Working capital for initial operations
Our focused menu and streamlined production system are designed to keep build-out and operational complexity lower than typical food and beverage concepts.
For a detailed breakdown tailored to your market, we review full investment details and timelines during the discovery process.
* Investment ranges reflect US market costs and are disclosed in our US Franchise Disclosure Document. For European market inquiries, please contact us directly.
Expanding selectively.
The right partners.
The right cities.
One global brand.
We’re expanding LE.SAL + CO. into a limited number of markets with carefully selected partners.
The concept has already generated interest across the U.S. and international markets - because the fundamentals are clear:
A product people return to.
A system built to run.
We’re not looking to grow everywhere.
We’re looking for the right partners in the right cities.
Is your city one of them? Start Your Inquiry
Loved by customers.
Built for repeat business.
Don't take our word for it. Here's what people say when they walk through the door for the first time and keep coming back.
Disclaimer:
This franchising information is not intended as an offer to sell a franchise or the solicitation of an offer to buy a franchise. Certain states regulate the offer and sale of franchises. If you are a resident of one of these states, we will not offer or sell you a franchise unless and until we have complied with the applicable presale filing, registration, and disclosure requirements in your state. No offer of a franchise will be made or accepted until at least 14 calendar days after delivery of a complete Franchise Disclosure Document.