OUR STORY
We started with a sandwich. We're building something much bigger.
We've learned a lot in our 14 years of bringing grilled cheese happiness to the world.
A MESSAGE FROM THE CEO
I came to Melty from the creative agency world, initially as an investor who fell in love with what this brand could become. The food is extraordinary — but the real opportunity is in what it represents: genuine happiness delivered through a perfectly-made grilled cheese. That sounds simple. It is simple. And that's exactly the point.
When we started franchising, I made a commitment: every person who puts their name on a Melty franchise will be supported like a partner, not managed like a number. That starts with our Business Coach model, which puts a dedicated human being in your corner from day one.
We're not trying to be the biggest. We're trying to be the best — and to bring the right people along for the ride.
DAVID NIBLEY
CEO, Melty Franchising
Watch a video of Dave talking about Melty's beginnings
THE HISTORY OF MELTY
MELTY BEGAN WITH SUSHI? YES. YES IT DID.
In 2011, Rob Hale was a sushi chef in Park City, UT finalizing a deal to buy the sushi restaurant where he worked. When that deal fell through in the 11th hour, Rob turned his disappointment into determination, and decided to open his own sandwich concept.
As he was brainstorming the menu, he fixated on the grilled cheese. “Everyone loves grilled cheese,” he thought—that delicious, buttery-toasty-cheesy staple of American comfort food straight out of everyone’s childhood. His gut told him to go with it, and Melty Way soon debuted as a pop-up shop on the street in the Park Silly Farmers Market, complete with about eight amazing variations on the glorious grilled cheese.
The concept was a hit from the get-go, and soon became an actual restaurant in the South Salt Lake area of northern Utah.
Dave Nibley on the Melty Way food truck in 2014.
Rob Hale works the melt press line in 2012.
Dave Nibley joined the company early on, and became CEO in 2013. Over the next few years the brand grew and improved. The menu and operations went through a whole series of changes, like new and even more innovative variations on the grilled cheese, significantly faster cook times, a food truck version, and much more. Along the way, Dave refined the brand itself to the one word that says it all: Melty.
MELTY IS A FRANCHISE, RIGHT?
Often, Dave was asked if Melty was a franchise. This got him thinking, because in lots of ways—from the branding to the menu to the tight operations—Melty was already looking and acting like a developed franchise. In 2022, Melty Franchising opened the first franchised location in Utah. Now the concept — and the culture — are available to franchise owners across the country, and with locations open or in active development from Utah to Arizona to Tennessee to South Carolina, Melty is growing with intention.