The taco has shed its image of once being just a crispy taco shell with ground beef, cheese, and sour cream. Today, tacos are now innovative delicacies made with high-quality ingredients, exotic flavors, and a touch of creativity. Velvet Taco knows this creativity all too well, as the restaurant chain has added a few must-try tacos to its menu.

Velvet Taco is known as the “template for the liberated taco.” They offer a wide range of gourmet tacos with vibrant colors and your choice of protein, which includes chicken, fish, or beef. The restaurant makes everything from scratch daily, including its slow-roasted chicken and corn.

The restaurant has never been shy about its taco experimentation, and I recently had a chance to try some of its new menu items at the brand’s Montrose location.

The Caribbean Jerk Mahi taco is one of the new heavy hitters on the menu. The taco is made with grilled Mahi Mahi, coconut rice, black beans, papaya salsa, cilantro, and a crispy plantain chip on a corn tortilla. The fish is incredibly fresh, and the combination of the coconut rice and papaya salsa made the taco a tropical treat I couldn’t get enough of.

Other newcomers on the menu include Crispy Calamari, Chimichurri Steak, and Mediterranean Mushroom. These new tacos bring international flavors to the menu, which makes Velvet Taco a major player in the gourmet taco arena.