Picnic Chicken Tacos with Queso Blanco at Velvet Taco. Photo by Jynnette Neal

Picnic chicken tacos with queso blanco at Velvet Taco. Photo by Jynnette Neal

The Advocate’s usual dining stories stay neutral; we do not review restaurants. We tell the stories of local owners or chefs and the dining experience for our neighbors. But this is not a typical dining feature, and I am not a typical editor. I’m the long-time Senior Art Director and current Chief Creative Officer with a love for Velvet Taco and a story to tell. A story of love, betrayal and surprising customer service.

Velvet Taco and I have a long history, going back at least 10 of the restaurant’s 15 years. Though I didn’t think they even knew I existed. Like the cute older boy across the high school cafeteria, I thought the relationship was very one-sided, and like my teenage crush era, my feelings waxed and waned.

What could get me to turn against my taco true love that features what their website calls “the liberated taco?” With flavors like beer-battered cauliflower and spicy chicken tikka, they are not traditional in any way. The brand also has what they call the “wtf” or weekly taco feature with a rotating cast of unique creations. Favorite wtf memories of mine are a soft shell crab taco and their recent meatball smash. Assistant manager at the Greenville location, Marisol Molina says of her favorite wtf, “I liked the cordon bleu, that was my favorite. Actually, there was a  pho one that we had, like a banh mi. I forgot what it was called. That one was my favorite, actually … It came with a side of broth, like the actual pho broth. It was like years ago when I first started.” That was four years ago. Molina finds it hard to choose one favorite and still remembers the flavors from years ago. That is the beauty of the wtf: delicious and memorable, but fleeting.

However, it is their standard menu that kept me coming back. Occasionally I’d try the wtf, but what I walked in the door for was the picnic chicken taco.

The picnic chicken taco is a flour tortilla filled with rotisserie chicken, cubed potatoes dressed in honey Dijon and topped with avocado crema as well as … wait for it … crispy chicken skin. The picnic chicken is a perfect taco with creaminess and the subtle crunch of the chicken skin. It is something otherworldly.  Delicious and worthy of this love letter.

Then it was gone.

 

Velvet Taco, in a move that anecdotally made many feel betrayed, introduced their bowl menu. Many of the same taco flavors now came in a bowl, presumably to satisfy the low-carb audience (though swapping rice for tortillas is a net loss).

 

Not only did they, in the eyes of fans like myself, lose sight of what they did best — the taco — they removed picnic chicken from the menu.

 

I will admit that I’d not visited as frequently as years before, and I feel a bit responsible for not supporting my beloved picnic chicken taco. I took it for granted. Then it was gone.

 

Molina says, “The way the tacos work is they take an average of all the restaurant sales of the tacos two times a year — the ones that sell the most and the ones that don’t sell the most. The ones that don’t do a lot or we’re not executing or selling a lot, they reconsider and take off the menu. They change things up a little bit. It also depends on the way they are made. Some tacos are harder to make than others. They will include that in the decisions.”

 

Velvet Taco changed its menu to include bowls in Spring of 2025, according to prnewswire.com. With this menu change, they removed the picnic chicken, though it was available “off menu” for about 6 months for those of us bold enough to complain or ask politely. Finally, though, I was told they did not have the ingredients to make the taco, and I thought I’d never taste my crispy chicken skin-topped taco again.

 

I was angry. I felt betrayed.

 

But could I stay away? No. I found other tacos that I enjoyed. Going about four times a year, others replaced my beloved picnic chicken, like Mediterranean Mushroom (which has recently been taken off the menu in the latest update) and the newly added French Dip (which made the leap from wtf to permanent menu).

 

You may have guessed that I am not the type to go quietly into a picnic chicken-free world. No. I voiced my complaints on social media, from comments on posts to DMs. I was that woman, but all the time thinking I was complaining into a corporate void.

 

Then last week, Velvet Taco won my heart anew. I received a message in Instagram DMs:
“You had to be the first to know…
Picnic Chicken is back as the #WTF from July 27–August 4. See you Wednesday. “

 

I feel seen. They heard me. They know I exist and they care. Now, I don’t know if this was an automation. After all, what I think of as the local little Taco shop once on Henderson is now a corporate franchise with local locations on Greenville Avenue, Deep Ellum, Uptown, Preston Forest and the suburbs. Texas Monthly last year reported it has “46 locations in seven states.”

 

I asked in the chat how many received similar alerts but have not heard back. My hope for human interaction in this AI world springs from the fact that the message got the dates wrong. WTF tacos change every Wednesday, and this indicated a Monday release. The chat acknowledged that the picnic chicken wtf was from July 29-August 4. As you read this, the picnic chicken is probably gone again. I’m sorry for teasing you with the description of the tasty taco and feeling the disappointment I felt as it disappeared.

 

However, there is hope. The Velvet Taco crispy tots & sunny egg, featuring tater tots covered in goat cheese, shredded cheese, avocado crema, peppered bacon, chives and topped with a sunny-side-up egg, were removed from the menu. Internet outrage ensued from a faction that probably included some of the same picnic chicken lovers but obviously more. They were loud enough to have the restaurant reinstate the tots on the menu. Molina says, “I know there is debate about the picnic chicken and the same thing with the tots. A lot of people were like raging over it and fighting for it. Those came back. Who knows about the picnic chicken, to be honest.”

 

I have done my part. I have dined on picnic chicken tacos three times during the wtf period. The “2 for $10” special of tacos and a drink or the “Velvet for Two” that includes four tacos, two individual sides and two drinks for $25 helped increase our frequency. Molina says the recent deals have tacos outselling the bowls, which also brings a glimmer of happiness to my eye.

 

Overall, the recent menu update and an impressive encounter with the customer service DM have softened my stony heart that resists change. I see now that with so many recipes coming through the store as wtf tacos and a crowded taco shop market, Velvet has to do what they can to stay relevant. With the implementation of the permanent French Dip and the reinstatement of the tots, my hope is renewed. Whatever mechanism got the Velvet Taco Instagram to remember I was a vocal fan of the picnic chicken made me feel that they cared. It is the innovative flavors, the local restaurant feel and quality of ingredients that I love about Velvet Taco … not just their picnic chicken.