A new San Francisco coffee shop is bringing specialty Indian coffee to Polk Street while helping protect the family farm that supplies its beans. Le Mil’s, founded by Milana Ram and her husband, Himanshu Bhaisare, is now open at 1330 Polk Street.
The couple created the business after Ram’s family farm in Chikmagalur, Karnataka, southern India, faced the prospect of being sold. The café offers customers coffee sourced from the estate, allowing the family to continue cultivating and selling its own crop.
Le Mil’s officially held its grand opening on 15 August 2026. The company says its beans are shade-grown, hand-picked, sun-dried and roasted fresh in California. ([lemils.com](https://lemils.com/pages/find-us?utm_source=openai))
Ram and Bhaisare, who moved to the United States to study at San Francisco State University, previously worked as engineers. Their coffee venture began as an effort to preserve a farm that had been in Ram’s family for five generations.
The farm includes Arabica and Robusta plants, with the couple promoting Indian-grown beans as specialty coffee rather than treating them simply as a component in blends. Le Mil’s has also sold its coffee at farmers’ markets and supplied local businesses, including Parachute Bakery and the South Indian café Chayakada. ([sfgate.com](https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/sf-indian-coffee-shop-22357496.php?utm_source=openai))
The café serves espresso drinks, pour-over coffee and South Indian filter coffee, alongside more experimental non-alcoholic drinks made with ingredients including cascara, hibiscus and Indian mangosteen syrup. Pastries are supplied by Saltwater Bakeshop. ([sfgate.com](https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/sf-indian-coffee-shop-22357496.php?utm_source=openai))
For the owners, the shop is intended to do more than sell coffee. It is also a way to tell the story of the Chikmagalur farm and introduce San Francisco customers to the flavours and brewing traditions of Indian coffee.
