Velvet Taco, the Dallas-based fast-casual restaurant defining adventurous eating with their unique tacos, provides guests and Team Members with an exciting opportunity to influence their menu. The brand’s staple Weekly Taco Feature menu, better known as the “WTF,” offers guests 52 chances each year to enjoy specialty tacos inspired by everything from classic comfort foods to dishes from around the world. Now, they are inviting Velvet Taco fans to throw their taco in the ring.
The Weekly Taco Feature (WTF) is all about constant and creative innovation. Their WTF schedule often coincides with holidays and seasonal trends like their upcoming Mango Jerk-Churri taco for National Mango Day (available July 20-26, 2022); or their Velvet Griddle (available Sept. 7-13, 2022) and Brisket Hash (available Sept. 21-27, 2022) for National Breakfast Month in September.
Says Chef Venecia Willis, director of culinary innovation, “We know that tastes change (…weekly), which is why we create a new globally-inspired flavor every week, and we are so excited to announce that our guests can finally have a formal seat at the culinary innovation table. Our culinary vision is to transform the simplest of ingredients and offer it as something you can’t get anywhere else – we are inviting the public to have just as much fun as the culinary team has with their ideas.”
The brand invites guests, for the first time ever, to submit their best taco recipes for a chance to be featured on Velvet Taco’s WTF menu during National Taco Day in October. The winning recipe will not only take home some cash and serious bragging rights, but they will also get to work side-by-side with Chef Venecia.
This is the public’s chance to join the elite group of Velvet Taco’s own chefs who compete annually, in an internal contest called Taco Chef, for their own WTF feature on the menu. The Taco Chef competition shakes down in three rounds, first at the restaurant level, then regional and then each region has a chef that battles at the annual leadership conference. This year’s grand prize-winning recipe is the PB&J Burger Taco from Jonathan Barrera of Velvet Taco’s Greenville location.
“Every taco has a story. Just like every guest has their own story or connection to our brand. The WTF contest allows our social media and most loyal fans to influence not only the menu but one of our most important aspects of our brand: the Weekly Taco Feature.” Says Cassie Cooper, marketing director for Velvet Taco. “Our guests are already sending us their taco ideas organically through social media DMs, why not reward them for their creativity?”
#WTF Recipe Submission Contest
Entrants should submit their best Weekly Taco Feature (a.k.a. WTF) idea for a chance to win a private prep session with Velvet Taco’s Culinary Innovation Director in a Velvet Taco kitchen, $250 Velvet Taco gift card and a featured spot on their WTF menu to run during National Taco Day (October 4, 2022). Click here to submit your recipe. All entries must be submitted by July 25, 2022, at 11:59 p.m. CST. See official rules for details.
The contest judging panel is composed of Velvet Taco’s very own chefs, and the winning WTF recipe will be exclusively available to dine-in and mobile app guests and promoted on social media. The brand also features the WTF through their loyalty program, The Velvet Room, where the top five engaged loyalty members have a chance to earn a trip to Dallas and attend a taco tasting each year.
