It’s been a several years since anyone has ever needed a good excuse to go out of their way to pick a few tacos in the Austin area. There’s usually decent taco joint with in walking distance or a short drive for most of us, but if you live anywhere south of I-183 you have an entirely new reason to fight traffic in search of taco providence. Velvet Taco has just recently opened it’s doors to their first location in Austin at Domain NORTHSIDE and not only are the tacos amazing, it’s funky brand is just eccentric enough to fit in to Austin’s “Keep it Weird” way of life.
Velvet Taco boasts a one-of-a-kind, funky and fast-casual theme that perfectly complements the eclectic menu of unique flavors made from their fresh ingredients. Believe it or not, they’ve managed elevate tacos to an entirely new level of freshness featuring an all-day, scratch-made everything menu which includes daily handmade tortillas, slowly roasted rotisserie meat, freshly made queso, mexican street corn and a hunk of moist homemade red velvet cake.
If their delicious tacos weren’t tempting enough to reel you in, Velvet Taco invites you to make your experience a little shady by walking up to the back door of the restaurant, knock, ask for the Backdoor Chicken special. Hand over a crisp Andrew Jackson ($20 cash) and someone will return with an entire, slowly-roasted Rotisserie chicken, with six tortillas, two sides of Elote-style corn, and homemade Heat Sauce with freshly made pico de gallo. Sounds sketchy as hell for food, but its fun.
What to Order
Spicy tikka chicken – crisp tenders, spicy pepper sauce, buttered cilantro basmati rice, raita crema and thai basil on a flour tortilla
Texas Akaushi bacon burger – peppered bacon, smoked cheddar, lettuce, onion, tomato, pickle and velvet sauce on a flour tortilla
Cuban pig – gruyere cheese, slow-roasted pulled pork, shaved ham, peppered bacon, grain mustard and house-brined pickle on a crisp flour tortilla
Shrimp and grits – creole mayo, blackened shrimp, crispy pepper jack cheese grits, charred tomato poblano salsa and micro-cilantro on a corn tortilla
The WTF – Velvet Taco’s “Weekly Taco Feature” that introduces a new taco creation every week.
Brunch Tacos – Served all day
Sides – Red Curry Coconut Queso, Elote-style Corn, Crisp Tots topped with a local farm egg.
“The best way to describe Velvet Taco’s menu is to take a dish from anywhere in the world and put it in a taco,” said Brian Watkins, Director of Operations. “We like to say that Velvet Taco is where anything goes meets the art of possible. It’s the place to go to get your taco fix, but you won’t find Tex-Mex here. What you will find are tacos made with the same care and quality ingredients as fine dining.”
Velvet Taco also has locations in Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and Chicago. For more information, please visit velvettaco.com.