Upon arriving in South Carolina, Jamila Musayeva, owner of Avocado Toast SC, was a new mom whose son had a great love for avocados. On their weekly Saturday trips to Soda City, though, Musayeva said they noticed a lack in healthy food options.
She said she believed avocado toast needed to be brought to Soda City. For roughly six months, Musayeva waited, thinking somebody would start something, but nobody did. So, she took it upon herself to bring avocado toast to the heart of Columbia each Saturday morning. As avocado toast trends took off in 2017, Musayeva was ahead of the curve when she opened Avocado Toast SC in May of 2016.
Musayeva said she holds her food to high standards.
“It has to be fresh. It’s never a premade mash or guacamole as a base. It’s always fresh avocado that’s cut in front of a client,” Musayeva said.
Avocado Toast SC uses up to 240 avocados in a given day and sells out every week. The base is always the same sourdough bread with mashed avocado. From there, fresh lime is squeezed on top, and the toast is seasoned with salt and pepper.
If customers wish to take it a step further, they can choose to add hard boiled eggs or various seasonal ingredients to their toast. This includes items such as squash, goat cheese, grilled tomatoes, cucumber and parsley salad with corn.
“We also try to source locally. A lot of our ingredients come from the surrounding area. We get microgreens from City Roots,” Musayeva said.
Avocado Toast SC aims to create nutritionally dense food that enables people to get the most out of their breakfast or lunch.
Grace Hamilton, a first-year environmental studies student, said she enjoys the freshness of avocado toast.
“For breakfast, it’s really nice to just get some good produce,” Hamilton said.
For Hamilton, Soda City is a close and convenient way to get off campus.
“You can truly see the diversity that Columbia has to offer. Being a part of that is an honor,” Musayeva said.
Musayeva said Soda City provided her with the opportunity to start a business without an extremely large overhead. As a result, she is able to make money and work towards opening a brick-and-mortar restaurant. In fact, Musayeva is working on opening a plant-based cafe on State Street in Columbia in 2020.
“That’s all thanks to Soda City. I would not have been able to do it without Soda City,” Musayeva said.
Musayeva said she has been surprised by how well-received Avocado Toast SC has been, as not very many people are drawn to plant-based diets in South Carolina. She said it is pleasing to see customers branch out of their comfort zones and try avocados for the first time.
Avocado Toast SC can be found at Soda City on Main Street every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.