What It Takes to Own a Kati Roll

Owning a Kati Roll means owning a counter that grills fillings on skewers, rolls them in paratha and hands them over hot in paper, from the lunch line into the night. It is a hands-on business built on a short menu, and before anything else it asks for three things: the right person, enough time and enough capital.

Operators who care how it tastes

We look for operators who want to build a store of their own and who care how the roll tastes every day, on the first order and the last.

What a partner does all day

The food sets the rhythm. Every filling is marinated the day it is served and grilled in-house. Parathas are layered and lightly fried on a cast-iron griddle. Each roll is built in the same order: bread, filling, lime-cilantro chutney, onions and chaat masala, then wrapped in paper and handed over.

So the day starts with prep and runs on the line. Our stores trade from lunch onward, and in Dallas and Plano they stay open until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. The Dallas store sits on a downtown block full of office workers and trades mainly in the daytime. On MacDougal Street, the first store still trades until 3am on Friday and Saturday nights.

The system comes with the store. The recipes are ours, the spice blends, sauces and breads that carry the flavor come from our kitchen, and playbooks for operations, hiring and training come with the store. Why the Kati Roll Format Works takes the store apart as a system.

Who we look for, in practice

We publish five criteria, and each one means something specific at a Kati Roll counter.

• Franchise or business experience in food. Operational experience or relevant business leadership is strongly preferred.
• A strong local presence and a growth mindset. You choose the site, with our guidance, and we approve it, and you know your own streets better than we can from New York. Our first franchise partners will define Kati Roll in new markets, and multi-unit agreements for 3 to 5 units are strongly preferred.
• Alignment with our values and the way we treat people. Our motto is Real Food. Happy People. Our principle is respect: respect yourself, respect your team, respect the food.
• Financially prepared. We do not provide financing, so the capital has to be in hand.
• Passionate about food, people, culture and hospitality. The roll is Kolkata street food, made in New York since 2002, and it is for everyone. You need to want to serve it well.

Three ways in

Partners come to us from more than one direction, and each direction has its own post in this guide.

• Existing operators who already run units and want a short-menu concept beside them. Read our post for restaurant operators.
• First-time owners who are new to franchising. Read owning a Kati Roll as a first-time owner.
• Families and partners building it together. Payal Saha opened the first store with one assistant, and Anil Bathwal joined her that year. Read owning with family or a partner.

The time it takes

There are five steps from inquiry to agreement: inquiry, introduction, application, discovery and agreement. Together they usually take 4 to 6 weeks. Discovery is a trip to New York to eat with us, meet the team and see the stores. Opening can follow in as little as 4 to 6 months after the agreement, depending on site selection, financing, approvals, training and construction. From Inquiry to Opening walks through every stage.

The capital

Being financially prepared is one of our five criteria, and because we do not provide financing, it means having the capital ready before you sign. What you need depends on the site, the market and the build. Our post on what a Kati Roll franchise costs sets out the published figures and explains what each one covers.

What comes with the store

Before you open, we help with site selection, design and blueprints, lease negotiation and the leasehold improvements, and we train you in the kitchen and on the floor. The menu comes set, with our proprietary recipes, and POS, online ordering and digital loyalty come set up. After opening there are playbooks for operations, hiring and training, targeted marketing services and operational support as you grow. How We Train and Support Our Partners has the detail.

If this sounds like you, the franchise page is where the application begins, and the next step is a call with our team. If you want to taste it first, MacDougal Street has been rolling since 2002, and Our Story tells how it started.

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.