Leaf & Grain

What Leaf & Grain does

Leaf & Grain is a privately-held, Houston-based healthy fast-casual restaurant chain founded in 2016, operating approximately six retail storefronts across the Houston metropolitan area (Memorial, Briargrove-Tanglewood, West University, Chase Tower, Shops at Houston Center, One Allen Center) plus thirteen corporate lobby-delivery stations serving Class-A office towers downtown. The company sells made-from-scratch grain bowls, salads, plates, and sandwiches built around cage-free proteins, organic greens, and non-GMO ingredients, with explicit positioning around "consistent quality, Texas-Size flavor, and high-quality proteins." Menu architecture spans customizable bowls starting at $8.50, pre-designed salads/grain bowls ($9.98-$14.98), plates ($12.48-$15.18), sandwiches ($10.48-$13.98), plus desserts and beverages, with a parallel vegan sub-line.

The technology layer is light: a Squarespace-hosted marketing site (eatlg.com), a web-based ordering storefront (order.eatlg.com) supporting multi-location pickup and delivery, PDF-distributed menu and nutritional/allergy documentation per location, and a catering microsite. There are no mobile apps, no APIs, and no disclosed AI/ML capabilities. Distribution is fully direct-to-consumer through retail walk-in, pickup ordering, corporate lobby delivery drops, and catering.

The business model is a single revenue stream - direct food sales at unit pricing on a pay-as-you-go basis - with two go-to-market motions: a consumer-facing storefront/online-ordering channel aimed at Houston-area consumers seeking fresh, customizable healthy meals, and a B2B corporate-delivery channel serving ~13 named office tenants. Catering serves as an event-driven extension of the same revenue model. The company is independently operated, privately held, and headquartered in Houston with approximately 33 employees and no disclosed external funding.

Name

Leaf & Grain

Legal name

Leaf & Grain

Website

https://eatlg.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Leaf & Grain is a privately-held Houston-based healthy fast-casual chain operating six retail storefronts and thirteen corporate office-tower delivery stations, selling made-from-scratch grain bowls, salads, plates, and sandwiches to Houston-area consumers and corporate tenants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Healthy Fast Casual Restaurants

NAICS

Vegetable and Melon Farming (1112)

SIC

Canned, Frozen & Preservd Fruit, Veg & Food Specialties (2030)

akta.pro primary industry

Leafy Greens & Salad Processing Packhouses (Fresh-Cut) (AFAOAGAI)

Keywords

• Healthy fast casual
• Grain bowls
• Salad restaurant
• Catering services
• Corporate meal delivery

Headquarters

HQ city

Houston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices19 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Direct Food Sales: Revenue generated from direct customer purchases of made-from-scratch grain bowls, salads, plates, and other healthy food items. Customers order online for pickup or delivery. Also includes catering menu orders.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Leaf & Grain is a Houston-based healthy food restaurant chain that prepares and sells made-from-scratch grain bowls, salads, plates, and sandwiches using cage-free, organic, and non-GMO ingredients. The company operates six retail locations across the Houston metro area plus thirteen corporate delivery stations serving office buildings and business parks, with an online ordering platform enabling pickup and delivery. It also offers a catering menu for events and corporate functions.

Product overview

Leaf & Grain is a healthy food restaurant chain operating in Houston, Texas, offering a unified dining experience centered on made-from-scratch grain bowls, salads, plates, and sandwiches. The product portfolio consists of core menu categories including Seasonal Menu items (Peach Panzanella), Plates (Pesto Chicken Plate, Mediterranean Protein Plate, French Country Plate), Grain Bowls (The Alamo, Common Table, Good Greek, Alamo Black Beans), Salads (Pollo Laredo, Thai-ger King, MFH Veggie Boost 2.0, Caesar, Classic, MFH Veggie Boost), a Vegan Menu (Vegan MFH Veggie Boost, Vegan Alamo 2), a customizable Custom Bowls option, Sandwiches (Chicken Pesto, Caprese), Desserts (L&G Cookie, Rosemary Shortbread Minis, Cayenne Brownie Minis), and Beverages (Bottled Water, Poppi Strawberry Lemon, Poppi Doc Pop). Supporting the physical locations is an Online Ordering Platform for web-based ordering with pickup and delivery options, plus a Catering Service for events.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Custom Bowls Build-your-own salad or grain bowl with choice of greens and/or grains, four standard ingredients, and one house-made dressing; starting at $8.50.
• Grain Bowls Pre-designed grain bowl menu including The Alamo, Common Table, Good Greek, and Alamo Black Beans Veg, built on brown rice or kale bases with cage-free proteins, priced $10.28 to $14.28.
• Salads Pre-designed salads including Pollo Laredo, Thai-ger King, MFH Veggie Boost 2.0, Caesar, Classic, MFH Veggie Boost, and the seasonal Peach Panzanella, priced $9.98 to $14.98.
• Plates Protein-focused plate options including Pesto Chicken Plate, Mediterranean Protein Plate, and French Country Plate, priced $12.48 to $15.18.
• Sandwiches Made-from-scratch ciabatta sandwiches including Chicken Pesto and Caprese, priced $10.48 to $13.98.
• Vegan Menu Plant-based menu options including Vegan MFH Veggie Boost and Vegan Alamo 2, using non-GMO tofu in place of cage-free chicken.
• Desserts House-made dessert items including L&G Cookie, Rosemary Shortbread Minis, and Cayenne Brownie Minis, all priced at $2.00.
• Beverages Bottled water ($1.25) and Poppi sparkling prebiotic drinks in Strawberry Lemon and Doc Pop varieties ($3.00).
• Online Ordering Platform Web-based ordering system at order.eatlg.com that lets customers browse menus, customize orders, and schedule pickup or delivery from multiple Houston-area Leaf & Grain locations.
• Catering Service Catering menu offering bulk food options for events, gatherings, and corporate functions, available with PDF download from the company website.

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Pathways for Little FeetminorGTM or Marketing PartnerLeaf & Grain cooked for Pathways for Little Feet, a charity event. This represents a community partnership for a special cause.
• Belong Kitchen HTXcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLeaf & Grain partnered with Belong Kitchen HTX to offer a special version of their salmon dish every Wednesday in October. Chef Edward and team collaborated with the Belong team to prepare ingredients.
• Chef Jess TimmonsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with Chef Jess Timmons on the El Rey dish - a TexMex salad. The collaboration took a couple of months of intensive work to develop a light and bright flavor profile.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• CoreLife Eatery: Multi-region fresh-bowl concept offering grain bowls, salads, and protein plates with a focus on fresh ingredients. Comparable customizable bowl model though smaller footprint and less established brand.

Direct peers

• Sweetgreen: National fast-casual salad and grain bowl chain with multiple Houston locations. Closest direct competitor — same product category (customizable grain bowls/salads), same DTC + digital ordering model, same premium positioning targeting health-conscious urban professionals.
• Salad and Go: Arizona-origin salad chain that has aggressively expanded into Texas. Directly competes in the same Houston-area market with a similar fast-casual salad/bowl format at a comparable price point.
• Honeygrow: Philadelphia-based fast-casual chain offering salads, grain bowls, and stir-fry with made-from-scratch positioning. Closely aligned on made-to-order format, healthy customization, and similar AUV per unit.
• CAVA: Mediterranean-inspired grain bowl and salad chain with expanding Texas footprint. Directly comparable customizable bowl format with similar price point and target customer; key Houston-area competitor.
• Dig (Dig Inn): NYC-based farm-to-counter bowl/salad concept with comparable focus on fresh, customizable protein-and-grain plates. Similar DTC ordering platform and corporate delivery orientation to Leaf & Grain.
• Chopt Creative Salad Co. East Coast salad chain with customizable bowls and similar premium ingredient positioning (organic, locally sourced). Comparable DTC fast-casual salad model with the same corporate catering focus.
• Salata: Houston-based salad-focused fast-casual chain founded in 2005. Directly comparable concept, headquartered in the same market, and competes for the same lunchtime grain-bowl/salad customer across the Houston metro.

Broad incumbents

• Panera Bread: National fast-casual chain with broad menu including soups, salads, and grain bowls. Overlaps with Leaf & Grain on healthy lunch occasions and corporate catering, but operates at much larger scale with broader category coverage.
• Chipotle Mexican Grill: Dominant fast-casual chain with customizable bowl format. While more Tex-Mex focused, Chipotle competes for the same lunchtime grain-bowl occasions and corporate delivery customers across Houston.

Market position

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/theleafandgrain
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/leaf-grain

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Leaf & Grain