Goatocado to expand with new spot in Forest Hill

For its second location in the city, restaurant Goatocado is heading south across the river where it’ll set up next to a new fishing shop.

The fast-casual eatery is planning to open an outpost in the strip center at 1205 Westover Hills Blvd., while keeping its existing West Main Street location in the Fan.

Its 3,800-square-foot Southside storefront will be next to Current Culture Fly, a fly fishing shop that opened earlier this year.

Goatocado owner Ian Newell said he’s taking over the remaining two suites in the center: one going to Goatocado and the other for a to-be-determined concept.

“Goatocado is still doing well. I think it’s a solid model, it’s a good offering for both locations – fast-casual, kind of health food,” Newell said, adding that the menu at the Southside location will be similar to that of the Fan location.

Newell said he’s planning to take his time in opening in Forest Hill, for a couple of reasons.

“The plan is for Goatocado to move in there at some point, but the restaurant industry’s still not great. So there’s not a rush on that,” he said.

Current Culture Fly opened earlier this year.

He’s also running a farm along Old Osborne Turnpike in Varina, where the greens for Goatocado’s bowls are grown and harvested.

“I just have so many projects going on right now,” he said, laughing.

Newell and Goatocado were recruited to the Southside by Ethan Lindbloom, a local investor with stakes in both the business and real estate of Current Culture and nearby bike shop/market Outpost Richmond. Lindbloom is also a vice president at wealth management firm Janney Montgomery Scott.

Last spring Lindbloom bought the building at 1205 Westover Hills Boulevard for $475,000 and struck a deal last fall to give Newell a stake in the real estate on the condition that he open Goatocado there.

Goatocado’s new neighbor, Current Culture, was founded by Reid Parker and Simón Valencia. The shop offers fly fishing rods, tackle, waders and other equipment,  as well as guided fly fishing trips and free classes.

“We try to make it really easy for people to get into the sport and connected with the water,” Valencia said. “We have people come in who have never fly fished before. Those are probably my favorite conversations to have.”

Current Culture’s fishing trips go all over the state, casting into the likes of the James and Chickahominy rivers, Chesapeake Bay and streams at Shenandoah National Park in search of all varieties of fish dependent on the season. Its trips range from $100 to $950.

Valencia, a Colombia native, said he moved to Richmond from California about eight years ago and got “full-on fish-brain” and dove into the sport.

“I realized in Virginia we have such amazing biodiversity when it comes to fishing and I think it’s uncontested by any other state,” Valencia said. “The number of fish species and variety we can target (in a two hour’s drive), it’s hard to find another place on earth that’s like this. It’s a pretty magical place.”