Five Sandwiches on Day One. ₹1 Crore Later, Lexis Has Its Own Stores

Lexis Gourmet Sandwiches did not begin with a restaurant, professional kitchen or elaborate launch plan. It started inside a college hostel, followed by a campus pop-up where the founders managed to sell just five sandwiches on their first day.

Founded by Masters’ Union students Ayush Melwani, Rhea Melwani, Alex Francis and Naveen Balaji, Lexis emerged from a simple observation: while burgers and pizzas had become mainstream delivery choices, premium sandwiches had not built the same kind of consumer pull. The students decided to test whether they could change that themselves.

The slow first day became part of the learning process. The team experimented with food quality, packaging, pricing, delivery and customer feedback while continuing to refine theproduct. Then social media changed the pace of the business. According to the founders, an Instagram reel went viral and pushed daily orders beyond 100.

Growing demand and repeat customers eventually helped Lexis cross ₹1 crore in sales. The menu now includes products such as chicken katsu sandos, truffle mushroom ciabatta, grilled onion and bacon sandwiches, and The Bombay Broski. The brand also drew attention after comedian Samay Raina tried its lamb birria sandwich.

What began as a student experiment has since moved well beyond campus. Lexis now operates physical outlets in Gurugram and Delhi and is also available through Swiggy and Zomato.

The more interesting part of the story is not simply the ₹1 crore milestone. Lexis went from five first-day customers to a functioning food business by repeatedly testing the product in public — with a viral moment accelerating something that had already been shaped through direct customer feedback.