Downtown folks at The Martin Agency and Virginia Commonwealth University students at the Monroe Park campus might originally know of Goatocado as a food cart.
Downtown folks at The Martin Agency and Virginia Commonwealth University students at the Monroe Park campus might originally know of Goatocado as a food cart. Meanwhile Carytown regulars have been experiencing Goatocado in a slightly different way – inside of Carytown Bicycle Co..
Now this Fall, all Goatocado enthusiasts can look forward to an official fast and casual restaurant opening up on 1823 West Main Street.
Goatocado, known for their fresh and local food featuring various quinoa bowls, macaroni and cheese, and drinks like pomegranate gingerade and mint-lime iced tea, thrive on their reputable customer service. They providing a fast pace service experience while also focusing heavily on the quality of their food and produce.
Goatocado’s owner, Ian Newell, went to Thomas Dale High School and graduated from VCU in 2009 with a dual degree in philosophy and religious studies. After graduation, while at one of Richmond’s many festivals, Newell, with a college friend Jarrett, decided on a whim that it didn’t seem all that difficult to start their own catering service. They wanted to provide healthy options to the people of Richnmond and so Goatocado began.
With little kitchen experience, but big aspirations to make something that has “purpose and meaning”, they went through a ton of trial and error experiments. All those tests lead to Goatocado developing from a pop-up restaurant and catering service to a central kitchen hub they’ll now be calling their restaurant.
Newell said the experience of partnering with Carytown Bicycle Co. co-owner Tim Mullins worked well because they had similar businesses goals.
“We kind of had the same vision of having healthier food inside a bike shop and being able to create that experience and environment for people to go into and enjoy rather than just going into a retail space to buy stuff… It’s more of hanging out and being part of that culture and lifestyle,” said Newell, “Tim and his whole staff are all about that so it’s awesome to work alongside of a company that shares a lot of the same values.”
Goatocado has offered their catering service to private as well as public events like the Dominion Riverrock festival, the Richmond Folk Festival, Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, Firefly Music Festival, All Good Music Festival, and many more all along the East Coast.
While things are always changing and developing in their project, Goatocado is happy to announce some variety to their current menu.
“We’re going to be introducing a lot of new things, instead of just offering the quinoa bowls, you’ll essentially be able to get all the same ingredients on a freshly made flatbread… Which I’m sort of making it in spirit of Naan, an Indian flatbread, but I’m using Coconut milk as my base instead of yogurt,” said Newell.
Mostly, they want to assure their ingredients remain healthy and fresh by limiting their use of preservatives to practically none and sticking to their rule of staying far away from fryers.
Newell stresses how food is vital and aims to surround Goatocado’s brand towards a mindful, healthy lifestyle, and rich experience in food that will feed bursts of positivity to it’s audience.
Newell has a clear idea of how he wants the floor plan of the new restaurant to feature and enhance the idea that Goatocado will provide an environment that will make you and your friends want to come in and have quick service but also relax and enjoy the experience of healthy dining.
It’s been quite the journey for Goatocado but make sure to keep up with them for details on an opening date in the Fall.
