Nestlé Toll House Café

Nestlé Toll House Café was a United States and Canadian franchise concept centered on the Nestlé Toll House cookie brand. The chain was established in 2000 by Ziad Dalal and Doyle Liesenfelt through Crest Foods, Inc., which operated under the business name “Nestlé Toll House Café by Chip.” Its initial base was Dallas, Texas, and Crest Foods served as the master franchisor responsible for developing the concept in the United States. The business was designed as a mall- and shopping-center-oriented bakery café. Its principal offer was freshly prepared Nestlé Toll House cookies, supported by cookie cakes, brownies, ice cream, milkshakes, smoothies, and hot and frozen coffee beverages. This combination positioned the chain between a conventional cookie store, a dessert outlet, and a café. The format was intended to give Nestlé USA a branded retail presence in the prepared-cookie and mall-dessert segment, where Mrs. Fields Famous Cookies was an established competitor. Unlike a conventional company-operated restaurant chain, Nestlé Toll House Café was primarily a franchise system. Crest Foods developed and supported locations while franchisees operated individual cafés. Stores were commonly located in enclosed shopping malls and other retail centers, where the concept could benefit from foot traffic, impulse purchases, and the appeal of freshly baked sweets. The menu also allowed the brand to address multiple dayparts: coffee and breakfast-style beverages, snacks, desserts, and take-home or celebration products such as cookie cakes. In May 2022, FAT Brands, a California-headquartered restaurant franchising company, announced that it had acquired Nestlé Toll House Café for an undisclosed amount. The transaction brought the concept into FAT Brands’ larger portfolio of franchised restaurant businesses. Subsequent reporting confirmed that the remaining Nestlé Toll House Café locations were to be converted to Great American Cookies locations by the end of 2022. The conversion effectively ended Nestlé Toll House Café as a distinct operating chain, while allowing locations, franchise relationships, and retail footprints to continue under another FAT Brands banner. The brand is therefore best understood as a defunct franchise concept rather than an active standalone café chain. Its historical significance lies in the extension of the Nestlé Toll House name from packaged baking products into an experiential retail format, and in its later absorption into a broader multi-brand franchising platform.

Nestlé Toll House Café originated in 2000 when Ziad Dalal and Doyle Liesenfelt established Crest Foods, Inc. in Dallas, Texas. The company traded under the name “Nestlé Toll House Café by Chip” and became the master franchisor for the concept. Its role was to develop and expand cookie-store franchises in the United States using the Nestlé Toll House name and product identity. The concept emerged during a period when branded cookie stores were a visible part of shopping-mall food retail. Crest Foods’ development program gave Nestlé USA a way to compete in the prepared-cookie and dessert-store market, particularly against Mrs. Fields Famous Cookies. Rather than relying primarily on packaged grocery products, the café format emphasized freshly prepared food, visible bakery production, and immediate consumption. Locations were generally placed in malls and shopping centers. The retail environment suited a menu based on impulse purchases and snack occasions, while the café format broadened the offer beyond cookies. Customers could purchase individual cookies, cookie cakes for celebrations, brownies, ice cream, milkshakes, smoothies, and both hot and frozen coffee drinks. The product mix allowed stores to function as dessert shops while also attracting customers seeking coffee or cold beverages. The chain operated through franchising, with Crest Foods serving as the principal development and franchising organization. This structure enabled the brand to expand through independently operated locations rather than a wholly company-owned network. The concept operated in both the United States and Canada, although the available reference material does not establish a complete store count, detailed geographic breakdown, or a separate corporate headquarters for the retail brand beyond Crest Foods’ Dallas base. The later history of the brand was defined by consolidation. In May 2022, FAT Brands, a California-based restaurant franchising company, announced that it had acquired Nestlé Toll House Café for an undisclosed amount. FAT Brands subsequently confirmed plans to convert all Nestlé Toll House Café locations into Great American Cookies locations by the end of 2022. This decision ended the brand’s operation as a separate franchise identity and transferred its locations into another cookie-focused brand within FAT Brands’ portfolio. The conversion marked a strategic shift away from maintaining two related cookie concepts under separate names. Nestlé Toll House Café therefore became a historical brand rather than an active chain. Its legacy consists of the retail extension of the Nestlé Toll House name, the café’s combination of cookies and beverages, and its role in the mall-based franchised dessert sector. In January 2026, FAT Brands entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection while seeking to address billions of dollars of debt. That later corporate event affected the parent company, not an independently operating Nestlé Toll House Café chain, which had already been discontinued through the 2022 conversion program.

• 2026

  FAT Brands entered Chapter 11 protection

  [1]Nestlé Toll House Caféen.wikipedia.org

  The parent company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection while seeking to reduce or restructure billions of dollars in debt.

• 2022

  Acquisition by FAT Brands

  [1]Nestlé Toll House Caféen.wikipedia.org

  FAT Brands announced that it had acquired Nestlé Toll House Café for an undisclosed amount.

• 2022

  Locations converted to Great American Cookies

  [1]Nestlé Toll House Caféen.wikipedia.org

  FAT Brands confirmed that the remaining Nestlé Toll House Café locations would be converted to Great American Cookies locations by the end of the year.

• 2000

  Crest Foods established the café franchise concept

  [1]Nestlé Toll House Caféen.wikipedia.org

  Ziad Dalal and Doyle Liesenfelt founded Crest Foods, Inc. in Dallas, Texas, operating the concept as Nestlé Toll House Café by Chip.

A mall-based dessert and coffee franchise built around the Nestlé Toll House cookie identity, combining freshly prepared baked goods with café beverages and frozen desserts.

• Baked goods · 2000

  Nestlé Toll House cookies

  The core product line consisted of freshly prepared cookies associated with the Nestlé Toll House name. Cookies formed the central identity of the café and were sold as individual treats and as part of the chain’s broader dessert offer.

• Celebration desserts

  Cookie cakes

  Large-format cookie cakes extended the brand into birthday, party, and other celebration occasions. They complemented the individual-cookie business and gave franchise locations a higher-value custom dessert product.

• Desserts

  Brownies and frozen desserts

  Brownies and ice cream broadened the café beyond cookies. These products supported snack and dessert purchases in mall and shopping-center locations and could be paired with beverages or other baked goods.

• Café beverages

  Coffee and blended beverages

  The beverage menu included hot and frozen coffee drinks, milkshakes, and smoothies. This range gave the franchise format a café component and helped it serve both dessert-focused and beverage-focused customer occasions.

• 2022

  Acquire Nestlé Toll House CaféM&A

  Background

  FAT Brands expanded its franchised restaurant portfolio by acquiring the Nestlé Toll House Café concept.

  Action taken

  FAT Brands purchased the brand in a transaction whose value was not disclosed.

  Aftermath

  The acquisition was followed by a decision to convert the remaining locations to the Great American Cookies brand.

  Source

• 2022

  Convert all locations to Great American CookiesStrategy

  Background

  After acquiring the concept, FAT Brands had overlapping cookie-focused franchise brands within its portfolio.

  Action taken

  The company confirmed that all Nestlé Toll House Café locations would be converted into Great American Cookies locations by the end of 2022.

  Aftermath

  Nestlé Toll House Café ceased to operate as a distinct retail brand, while the locations continued under the Great American Cookies name.

  Source

1. 1Nestlé Toll House Caféen.wikipedia.org