#eatingforinsta at Avocaderia, the Toast of Industry City

By Sarah Zorn

By 10:30am in the otherwise hushed, meandering food hall of Industry City — well before actual building tenants begin making their way down for lunch — a determined looking crowd of 20-somethings have grouped outside of the glassed-in walls of Avocaderia; hands grasped in anticipation around their camera phones. The eatery actually ran out of their signature item mere hours after opening the day before, and this crew is resolved to emerge triumphant on a renewed quest for the ultimate #forkyeah shot.

bkmag_avocaderia_janebruce_037 One of the exalted muses of the Instagram world—alongside dangling ramen noodles, triple-stacked burgers, glittering acai bowls and aqueous-centered eggs—avocados were ripe for picking as the focus of this single-concept spot. Yet instead of being helmed by Aussies (credited with ushering in the quirky trend via “avo smashes” at their sunny, all-day cafes), or even crunchy granola SoCal bros, this enterprising Avocaderia is run, improbably, by Italians.

While they dutifully cite health stats (potassium builds muscle! Fiber promotes fullness! Folic acid benefits moms and babies!) as the driving force behind their menu (which includes “Let it Beet” toasts with ruby hummus and avocado slices, “Super Green” kale, arugula and avo salads, and hollowed out shells with guac), the iPhone toting clientele—posing their pistachio dukkah-speckled smashes against a foliage-adorned wall—reveal the ultimate draw here: the perfect avocado Insta. Cynical? Certainly. Exasperating? Yeah. But in today’s fickle food industry, you can’t fault a band of canny paesans for going after the green.