Velvet Taco, the popular Dallas-based brand featuring a variety of globally inspired tacos made in-house with fresh local ingredients and bold flavors, is on a roll.
In September alone, the brand opened three new locations in College Station, Texas, Norman, Oklahoma, and Charlotte, North Carolina. A Nashville, Tennessee, location is set to open in November. And eleven more locations are planned for 2022 in Texas, Oklahoma and North and South Carolina.
Velvet Taco started 2021 with 17 locations and will have 30 by the close of the year. CEO and Chief Taco Maker Clay Dover credited the brand’s dedicated team for its incredible rapid growth. “Our relentless innovation with our menu, our chef-crafted tacos and the unique atmosphere we’ve created in our restaurants have set us apart,” Dover said. “We know who our guests are — adventurous, risk-taking foodies — and that they expect the unexpected.”
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the food and beverage industry saw many restaurants temporarily close or shut down permanently. But not Velvet Taco. The brand actually opened several locations that shattered company sales records, crossing the $100K sales mark during their opening week. This success can be credited not only to Velvet Taco’s innovative menu, but also to its innovative business processes.
To efficiently handle the increase in orders made through the Velvet Taco app and website, the brand made use of dedicated pickup windows. It reconfigured its kitchen into two separate production lines, one for indoor dining and the other for delivery and takeout orders. Finally, the brand overhauled some of its food preparation processes to cut average ticket times by more than half. Locations that have implemented the new processes have seen sales increase by 15%.
The Velvet Taco concept and menu is unique, to say the least, featuring a range of international taco flavors, creative sides and red velvet cake. Everything is made in-house, from scratch with the finest, freshest ingredients. The brand is also known for its popular WTF (weekly taco feature) tacos and Kick Ass Margaritas.
Founded in 2011, Velvet Taco has received dozens of local accolades, was named Nation’s Restaurant News’ 2016 “Hot Concept” and in 2020 won a Nation’s Restaurant News MenuMasters Award in the category of Best Limited-Time Offer for its Weekly Taco Feature.
Visit velvettaco.com for more information and follow the brand on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.
