Brooklyn’s first avocado bar is expanding to Manhattan. Less than a year after opening, Avocaderia has plans for a second location at the Terminal Warehouse in Chelsea, at 271 11th Ave., between West 27th and 28th streets.
Avocado shortages aren’t stopping the brand from expanding. The Italian avocado enthusiasts behind the avo-company, Francesco Brachetti, Alberto Gramini, and Alessandro Biggi, hope to turn Avocaderia into a full-fledged fast-casual chain, and they have some big investors to help make that happen. Biggi appeared on Shark Tank to pitch the all-avocado cafe in an episode that aired on February 11, and Mark Cuban and Barbara Corcoran both invested $200,000 each in the business, valuing the company at $2 million.
Avocaderia debuted in Sunset Park’s Industry City in April 2017, bringing Brooklyn’s avocado obsession to a whole new level with a menu of all avocado everything: avocado toasts, avocado-topped bowls and salads, avocado-based smoothies, avocado-chocolate mousse, and an “avo-burger” that is just an avocado made to look like burger buns with a “patty” of smoked salmon. The concept proved so popular that the restaurant ran out of ripe avocados within three hours of opening.
Avocaderia already has some competition in Manhattan: Avocado Appetit opened on the Lower East Side this month with a similarly avocado-focused food menu and avocado-based smoothies. But Biggi told AMNY that he thinks having competition “is amazing.” The Avocaderia team has ambitious plans to launch 20 new locations in NYC and then eventually take the concept to Los Angeles, San Diego, Miami, and Texas. The owners have also signed a cookbook deal, expected to come out in December 2018.
The Chelsea location is currently under construction but is set to open this spring.