If you want the best tacos in Dallas, look no further than Velvet Taco. These aren’t your everyday street tacos. Velvet Taco has revolutionized what a taco can be, with knock-out flavors like Chicken Tikka Masala, and Bacon Cheeseburger. Located in the popular Lower Greenville area, Velvet Taco stands as a staple on Knox/Henderson Ave, known as a hotspot for restaurants in Dallas.
If you’re a night owl like me, you have even more reason to celebrate this place. Open until 2 AM Sun-Wed, 3 AM Thursdays and 5 AM Friday and Saturday nights, its obvious why Velvet Taco is a favorite hangout for college students and young professionals in the area.
The inside of the restaurant has limited seating, and it’s usually packed. I prefer to sit out on the large patio. They have a section that is covered, and one that is uncovered near the street. I know what your thinking, “Kellie! You sit out on the patio in the Texas summer heat? You’re crazy!” But have no fear, Velvet Taco takes care of us, and has misters every few feet, giving off sweet relief from the baking sun.
You’ll need to step inside to place to your order, though. If it’s your first time, head over to the menu wall, and check out all your options while you’re in line. Don’t forget the WTF (weekly taco feature), their chef-inspired taco, which rotates out each week. You can find the WTF on a handy white board near the cash registers.
Behind the friendly face taking your order, you can peek into the kitchen, and see the chickens on the rotisserie, and all your favorite tacos being constructed. (Pro-tip: next time you have a hankering for rotisserie chicken, don’t go to your local grocery store, come to Velvet Taco to get the best. For just $20 and a knock on their back door, you get a whole Rotisserie Chicken, 2 sides of Elote Style Rotisserie Corn, 6 Corn Tortillas, Roasted Corn Pico De Gallo and Heat Sauce. BONUS: All this is $10 on Mondays! Run! Don’t Walk!)
Their menu is larger than some taco joints, so allow me to guide you through some of my favorites. For starters, I recommend the Red Curry Coconut Queso, which has hints of curry flavors blended into a great queso dip, served with blue corn tortilla chips. If tots are more your thing, order the Crisp Tots & Local Egg.
These tots are topped with herbed goat cheese, smoked cheddar, avocado crema, chili butter, bacon, and a sunny-side-up egg. I love breaking the egg on top and letting that delicious yolk run down over the tots and mix with the avocado crema sauce. You wont need any condiments to eat these tots with, trust me.
For tacos, my absolute go-to is the #12, Slow Roasted Angus Brisket. This is what I recommend to all of my friends. I could sit down and eat 5 of these. And they are large! In addition to the slow roasted shredded angus brisket, it has queso blanco, comté cheese, avocado relish, with micro cilantro and red chili mayo on top, all inside a soft flour tortilla with crispy encrusted cheese around it. Winner Winner Taco Dinner.
If you prefer something spicy (and I always do), try the #3, Spicy Tikka Chicken taco. It takes your favorite Indian classic and twists it with buttered cilantro basmati rice, raita crema and thai basil all in their fluffy flour tortillas. The title should serve as a warning though – when a Texan tells you its spicy, it’s spicy. This taco is not for the faint of heart.
My husband prefers the #10, Texas Akaushi Bacon Burger taco. It’s a burger. It’s a taco. It’s a bacon burger taco! In addition to the Akaushi Beef burger and peppered bacon this taco has smoked cheddar cheese, lettuce, onion, tomato, pickle, velvet sauce (their take on a fast food “special sauce” or “spread”), in a flour tortilla. Its one of those tacos that sounds like it shouldn’t work, but Velvet Taco makes these miracles happen.
If you’re in a fish taco mood, look no further than the Shrimp and Grits taco. It’s by far the best taco on their fish menu, and it is heaping full of flavor. Imagine the perfect harmony of creole mayo, blackened shrimp, crispy pepper jack cheese grits, charred tomato poblano salsa and micro cilantro in a corn tortilla. Just trust me on this one.
My last taco recommendation should be a favorite of any true Texan. We here in the Lone Star take our brunches seriously, especially when it comes to breakfast tacos. All three of their Brunch menu tacos are great, but I have to say my favorite is the #21, Barbacoa Brisket, Egg Frittata taco. It has juicy shredded Angus brisket, corn pico de gallo, salsa verde, queso fresco and cilantro inside their made-from-scratch hibiscus corn tortilla.
All of Velvet Taco tortillas are made in-house, but the Hibiscus Corn tortilla is another unique Velvet specialty. The hibiscus brings the flavor up a notch from your typical bland corn tortilla, but it’s not strong enough to overpower anything inside the taco.
Be sure to finish off your meal with my FAVORITE red velvet cake in Dallas, maybe the world. It’s the “velvet” in “Velvet Taco”, after all. It’s so soft and has the perfect cream cheese frosting on top that’s not too sweet. Then, they give you a side of ooey-gooey dulce de leche sauce to pour on top, as if it wasn’t already perfect enough. You’ll miss out if you don’t try this at least once.
When your order is ready, they’ll call your name over the speakers and you can pick up your tacos and sides at the counter. They serve the tacos in metal taco trays, so you don’t have to worry about all the fixings falling out onto your plate on your way out to the patio. And then the best part happens: you feast!
I can’t wait for you to try my one of my all time favorite spots in Dallas. Whether its lunch time, or way past your bedtime, Velvet Taco will satisfy your taco cravings, and maybe even change what you thought a taco could be (and don’t forget the cake).
