Dallas’ Great Taco Shuffle — One Hot Taco Restaurant Closes to Make Way for Another

Here’s something to taco ‘bout: Urban Taco is closing its Uptown location to make way for another Tex-Mex restaurant, Velvet Taco. The restaurant, which has resided in the space on McKinney Avenue for nine years, will close its doors after dinner service this Saturday, March 31.

According to Urban Taco’s creator and partner Markus Pineyro, the brand has “outgrown” the location and chose not to renew the lease, but plans to relocate the Uptown restaurant to a new neighborhood. The partners feel that Velvet Taco will be a better fit for the space.

“It’s been a seamless and easy transition so far. We’ve been discussing moving the Uptown restaurant to a location that is better suited for our clientele,” Pineyro says in a statement.

Del Sur Restaurant Group (management company for Urban Taco, Hook Line & Sinker and Hookline) plans to use the recently revamped Urban Taco at Mockingbird Station as the platform and model for all future Urban Taco restaurants.

“We are very much alive and well at the Mockingbird Station restaurant and look forward to taking the newly designed and branded concept to other areas. Uptown is no longer in our business plan but we know Velvet Taco will do very well there,” Pineyro says.

Unlike Urban Taco, Velvet Taco has late-night hours everyday, making it a perfect fit for McKinney Avenue, Uptown’s nightlife hub.

This is just one of a few new Texas locations that Velvet Taco has planned. There’s another Dallas restaurant opening in Preston/Forest this summer, and an Austin location opening in fall 2019. The McKinney Avenue restaurant is expected to open in late summer to early fall.

No announcements have been made about Urban Taco’s next move, but you can expect its next outpost to have the same modern, colorful look as its showcase Mockingbird Station restaurant.