Taco News

Velvet Taco circles back to Dallas with new restaurant near SMU

Velvet Taco will open a second Dallas location in November.

Photo courtesy of Velvet Taco

Upscale taco chain Velvet Taco is going for round two in Dallas with a second in-city location opening at 4622 Greenville Ave., in a former Pollo Tropical, which closed in October 2016.

This will be the sixth location of Velvet Taco; the original opened on Henderson Avenue, not exactly far from SMU, in 2011. There are also branches in Fort Worth, Houston, Chicago, and Austin, which opened in March 2017.

Velvet Taco was founded by the owners of Twin Peaks with the idea that tacos don't have to be associated with Tex-Mex cuisine and can be made with the same care and premium quality ingredients as fine dining.

The chain's wide selection of tacos explores multi-regional and multi-cultural boundaries, such as Indian-style tikka chicken, Mediterranean vegetarian falafel, Japanese ahi poke, and Cuban pork. There's brisket and flank steak and they do a fabulous "Nashville-style" hot tofu.

Also in March, the company hired Clay Dover to fill the newly created position of president; Dover previously worked at Pei Wei Asian Diner and Raising Cane's.

The opening makes this patch of Greenville Avenue a little taco crazy and represents a battle for the hearts and minds of SMU students. There is already the original location of Rusty Taco, just one block up Greenville Avenue; and Torchy's Tacos, which has a location around the corner on SMU Boulevard.

To sum up: There is no shortage in the area of well-made gringo tacos.

Dover says that the Velvet Taco will open in late November with features that are entirely new.

"The biggest thing is that the location will have a pick-up window, which means you can pick up your order without leaving your car," he says. "That feature was something that came with the location."

They'll also do the "back door" rotisserie chicken initiated in 2012, wherein you go to the proverbial back door and get a rotisserie chicken with tortillas and elote-style corn for $20, with a $10 deal on Monday nights.

And as befits the target audience, they'll be open late — until 2 am on school nights, and 5 am on weekends.

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Fried Chicken News

Chicago restaurant debuts its fried chicken and boba tea in Frisco

Chi Tea

Chi Tea burgers and chicken sandwiches.

A new restaurant serving boba tea and fried chicken just opened in Frisco: Called Chi Tea, it's a chain from Chicago that opened its first location in Texas at 4760 Preston Rd. #228, in a former Bonchon Korean in Frisco Village.

According to a release, It opened November 1.

The concept was founded in Chicago in 2020 by brothers Zak Ayyubi, Aman Siddiqui, and friend Abdurahman Sharif, with an unusual goal to pair fried chicken sandwiches, fries, and bubble tea drinks. They've since opened two more locations in Illinois; Frisco is the fourth and the first outside the state.

The name is a little misleading, as it implies it's a beverage place, but there's equal emphasis on the sandwiches and fries. They also tout their welcoming vibe, encouraging customers to eat, drink, and linger.

Their menu features three sandwiches — Nashville hot fried chicken sandwich, a grilled chicken, and a burger with grilled onions, jalapenos, pickles, cheese, and Chi-sauce — which can also be ordered in a smaller slider size.

There are also fries, loaded fries, popcorn chicken, chicken tenders, and mac & cheese, which can be customized with bacon, beef, fries, and other toppings.

Prices typically range from $5 for a single Chi Tea Classic slider to $13 for four-piece chicken tenders.

Boba drinks are entirely customizable, starting with choice of blended smoothie or over ice, with choice of flavor ranging from pineapple to brown sugar milk tea to horchata; and toppings, like popping pearls or cream cheese foam. A regular starts at $5 and a large starts at $6.

Notably, Chi Tea was among the restaurants selected in the recent Spongebob Krabby Patty promotion during October that took place in 12 cities across North America, included a dozen restaurants in Dallas.

"We are very excited to finally bring a taste of Chicago to the Greater Dallas area," says Ayyubi in a release. "This move has been very promising and we cannot wait for the community to welcome us and for us to serve this beautiful city."

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