Le Mil’s, the Bay Area roaster born from a family farm in southern India, is getting ready to put down roots on Polk Street this summer. The owners, Milana Ram and her husband, Himanshu Bhaisare, launched the company to save Ram’s family estate in Chikmagalur and say the Polk shop will be the city’s only permanent café devoted to Indian specialty coffee. Expect South Indian filter coffee and spice-forward specialty drinks, not the fruity, high-acid profiles most specialty roasters tend to spotlight.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Le Mil’s will open at 1330 Polk St. on Aug. 15 and aims to introduce Bay Area customers to Indian flavor profiles that often lean toward caramel and chocolate. The Chronicle notes that Ram brought Le Mil’s first shipment of beans to the United States in 2023 and expanded imports the following year as demand grew. The founders have said the Polk location is meant to serve as an educational home for those flavors.
From Chikmagalur To Berkeley
Le Mil’s traces its beans to Navilumane Estate, Ram’s family farm in Chikmagalur, and the company says it roasts in small batches in Berkeley to keep things fresh. The couple emphasize direct sourcing and a tighter supply chain that they say gives farmers a bigger share of the value, according to Le Mil’s. The business started as an online shop and a farmers‑market popup before moving toward a permanent storefront.
Menu That Marries Tradition And Tinkering
On opening day the shop is set to serve pour‑overs, drip coffee and lattes made from a Malenad blend of Arabica and Robusta, plus a South Indian filter coffee that includes chicory. Specialty drinks, including a low‑caffeine Pink Panther built from cascara, kokum and hibiscus over tonic and finished with salted coconut cream, are part of a menu that mixes traditional recipes with inventive touches. Those menu details were laid out in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Le Mil’s has already built a wholesale presence, and its Find Us page lists vendors such as Chayakada in San Jose and Parachute Bakery at the Ferry Building, and it still sells at the Newark Farmers Market. The founders say that community support helped make a brick‑and‑mortar café feasible and that they hope a permanent shop will shift how Indian coffee is perceived in specialty circles, from filler to single‑origin product, per Le Mil’s.
When Le Mil’s opens on Aug. 15 at 1330 Polk St., it will step into a crowded coffee landscape with a very specific mission: to put Indian‑grown beans and South Indian brewing traditions front and center. The owners say the Polk shop is as much about preserving a family farm as it is about feeding curiosity, so the café is poised to operate as a cultural project as well as a neighborhood coffee counter.
