Overpriced artisanal toast is the San Francisco craze that refuses to die - so we gave it a try

Melia Robinson/Business Insider

An Australian real estate tycoon set the internet ablaze in May when he suggested that more millennials could afford to buy homes if they gave up their pricey smashed avocado toast.

Like chocolate, cheese, and coffee before it, toast has turned into an artisanal product. In San Francisco, you can find thick-cut slices of doughey goodness slathered in locally-sourced butters, jams, and yes, avocado. At a price of $4 to $8, depending on toppings, this decadence doesn't come cheap.

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The trend kicked off in San Francisco in 2014, after a highly publicized profile on Trouble Coffee and Coconut Club - considered the original proprietors of artisanal toast - aired on NPR's "This American Life." The city's obsession with glorified bread shows no sign of slowing.

These days, you can find cafés serving overpriced toast in almost every major city nationwide.

We visited San Francisco's The Mill to see why toast is the greatest thing since sliced bread.