Avocado toast has become ubiquitous on menus at hip cafes, health-conscious joints, and mainstream eateries, and everyone has their own "special" version. We get it.
And while we also get that it's hard to break your loyalty to such a tasty, healthy treat, it's our duty to inform you that more can be had in the magical realm of topping-loaded sliced bread.
Here are some places around the city that are killing the toast game.
The toast menu at the Mill changes seasonally and features weekly specials. Some highlights from their current options include molasses brown bread with butter, jam and sea salt, as well as dark rye with cream cheese, black butter and sea salt. Extras include Riverview Orchard almond butter and housemade "nutella." During Monday pizza nights, a dessert toast is made with citrus pound cake–style bread.
Austin Tovar, manager at the Mill breaks down the epicness behind their toast, divulging the secret weapon (besides, that is, the Josey Baker bread). The secret is the Toastmaster General, otherwise known as Teal Reedy, who figures out the menu, puts seasonal spins on basic toppings, and comes up with new butter compounds that include fresh herbs. // 736 Divisadero St. (NoPa), themillsf.com
This one is a no brainer. From buttery cinnamon to marbled peanut butter and honey to PB&J, Trouble's thick, fluffy slabs of bread smothered in gooey goodness are worth every bit of their OG-of-the-toast-phenomenon distinction. It's also worthy of poetry. As they say at Trouble:
Cinnamon toast is good.
Cinnamon toast is good.
Cinnamon toast is god.
Trouble herself.
// 4033 Judah St (Outer Sunset), troublecoffeeco.com
While Cafe St. Jorge has a "famous avocado chili toast" that is, indeed, killer, you can satisfy your sweet tooth with versions that have an almond-butter base, topped with your choice of chia or ground flax, banana and California honey, or strawberries and jam. The organic cream cheese option can be topped with berries and honey for breakfast, or tomato, arugula and fresh ground pepper for lunch. Or just go with the classic butter and sea salt.
Ali Saleh, the son of the cafe's owner, says that one of their most popular toasts is the smoked salmon, which comes with peppery arugula, cream cheese, and a drizzle of olive oil on a thick slice of pan de mie bread. // 3438 Mission St. (Mission), cafestjorge.com
Toast galore at Mazarine! What's your pleasure? Fig jam and ricotta with honey, sea salt, and cracked pepper on toasted pain de mie? Chocolate ricotta, raspberry chia seed jam, and cocoa nibs? Cherry tomatoes, ricotta cheese, basil, pesto, pecorino cheese, and toasted panko on whole wheat bread?
"At the end of the day, our strategy is to use delicious breads as a platform for our toasts and complement them with fresh, seasonal, and delicious ingredients," says manager Jason Reed Miller. "It is as simple as that." // 720 Market St. (Union Square), mazarinecoffee.com
Head to Seed + Salt for guilt-free savory and sweet toasts. Heartier selections include the green garbanzo hummus toast with harissa; the cream cheese and sunflower sprouts toast; and lentil-mushroom-walnut paté with roasted mushrooms. For sweet eats, try our favorite, the almond butter and chia jam, which tastes nothing like PB&J, for those of us who dislike PB&J (there are few among us).
"Everything is made in house: Our nutella, our lemon curd, our bread, everything we do is right underneath the roof," says Michelle Pfieffer, the restaurant's director. Plus, all the bread is GF, DF, and soy-free. Rejoice. // 2240 Chestnut St. (Marina), seedandsalt.com
At this sustainable micro cafe, the daily toast is not only delectable, but also Instagram-worthy. A lightly toasted slice of pain de mie is slathered with housemade mascarpone and topped with local, seasonal farm-fresh fruit and nuts. Come early and snag a spot at the communal table inside and enjoy it with a housemade hibiscus lemonade.
Sarah Deigert, co-owner of Farm:Table, says, "The most important part of our toast is that we make it! We like where we work, the people we work with, and the people we serve. In my mind, that makes everything taste better." // 754 Post St. (Tendernob), farmtablesf.com
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