From Inquiry to Opening

The path to a Kati Roll franchise has two halves. The first runs from your inquiry to a signed agreement, in five steps that usually take 4 to 6 weeks. The second runs from the agreement to opening day: the site, the lease, the build and the training. That can take as little as 4 to 6 months. This post walks through both halves, step by step, and what each step asks of you.

Step 1: inquiry

You start the application from our franchise page. It takes a few minutes. When you apply, tell us where you want to open; the next step, the introduction call, is where we talk it through. Questions before you start can go to franchise@thekatirollcompany.com.

Step 2: introduction

A quick call to learn about each other, and about where you want to open. Bring your first questions. If you are still deciding whether you fit, What It Takes to Own a Kati Roll lays out what we look for.

Step 3: application

You submit your details, receive our Franchise Disclosure Document and take your time with it. The current edition is dated April 30, 2026. Read all of it, and consider reading it with a franchise attorney and an accountant of your own. What a Kati Roll Franchise Costs explains the figures you will find in it.

Step 4: discovery

You come to New York. You eat with us, meet the team and see the stores. There are four in Manhattan: Greenwich Village on MacDougal Street, where it started in 2002, Midtown West, Midtown East and World Trade.

Each store shows a different side of the same food. MacDougal Street is the original, opened in 300 square feet and still open until 3am on Friday and Saturday nights. Midtown West sits a block south of Bryant Park, and World Trade, on Maiden Lane in the Financial District, closes at 8pm. Order the classics, then something you would not have picked. The questions you leave with are the ones worth asking before you sign.

Step 5: agreement

If we like each other, we move forward and sign the franchise agreement, and the second half of the path begins. Your territory is set in that agreement, and the standard term is 10 years. Our post on Kati Roll franchise questions covers how the territory works.

After the agreement: the site

You choose the location and the area, with our guidance, and we give final approval of the site. We help with site selection and with lease negotiation. Our stores sit on walkable blocks with people at lunch and through the evening. For a sense of scale, our downtown Dallas store, on a block full of office workers, is 2,200 square feet, seats up to 50 and trades mainly in the daytime.

The build

Once the site is approved, we provide the design and blueprints and guide you through the leasehold improvements. The look is ours, too. In Dallas, a brick wall above the counter is covered in Bollywood film posters, the same idea as the poster wall on MacDougal Street. You buy most of the equipment and furniture directly from approved suppliers, and a few specialized pieces come from us.

Training and opening day

Before you open, you complete our comprehensive initial training, in the kitchen and on the floor, and you get playbooks for operations, hiring and training. POS, online ordering and digital loyalty are set up for you, and the spice blends, sauces and breads arrive from our kitchen. How We Train and Support Our Partners covers that support in full.

What sets the pace

Opening in as little as 4 to 6 months depends on five things: site selection, financing, approvals, training and construction. Two of them you can prepare before the first call. Have your capital ready, since we do not provide financing, and know the part of town you want, since the site search starts with you.

Our first franchise partner opened Dallas and Plano in 2024, and another partner opened Journal Square in Jersey City in 2026. The next store starts with an inquiry on the franchise page.

This post is not an offer to sell a franchise. An offer is made only by a Franchise Disclosure Document delivered in accordance with applicable law.