Expect fast growth from Dallas restaurants Velvet Taco and Shell Shack, each sold to new owners
Two Dallas restaurant companies, Velvet Taco and Shell Shack, announced separate acquisitions this week. Here’s the news on each one.
Velvet taco
Leonard Green & Partners has acquired a majority stake in Velvet Taco. The company has more than $ 50 billion in assets, including investments in the Container Store, 1800 Contacts, Joann fabric store, and Zaxby’s chicken chain.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Velvet Taco was previously majority-owned by private equity firm L Catterton.
Velvet Taco has been a popular after-bar spot over the years. The original on Henderson Avenue in Dallas closes at 3 a.m. on the weekend.(Alexandra Olivia)
Velvet Taco started out as the only late night taco shop in the Knox-Henderson neighborhood of Dallas in 2011. It has since grown to 29 restaurants and already had an aggressive expansion plan overseen by current CEO Clay Dover. He joined the company when it only had four Velvet tacos shortly after the North Texas-based FB Society (formerly Front Burner Restaurants) sold a controlling interest in L Catterton.
One of Dover’s main focuses will be the opening of the restaurant in college cities like College Station, Texas, Lubbock, Texas, and Norman, Oklahoma, he said in an interview in late September 2021. In North Texas, the company is planning a new Velvet Taco in Grandscape, the region’s largest retail and restaurant development, which spans 433 acres. Others are coming soon in Denton and Allen.
The company expects to have 40 restaurants by the end of 2022 and the company is exploring geographic areas across the United States, a spokeswoman says.
100 company-owned restaurants are to be built over the next five years.
Velvet Taco’s niche is fast-casual tacos, which are “just a little bit extraordinary,” explains Dover. The bestseller is the spicy chicken tikka masala taco. The kitchen tests unusual recipes in a weekly “WTF” taco, which includes sriracha with crickets, chicken parmesan, alligator, as well as chicken and waffles.
“It’s a lot of fun,” says the CEO.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/dmn/LMVZ7ZDWGJCMDFKEFU4KWCO4ZU.jpg)
Shell hut
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/dmn/JJKGDITUNDAE5L5XTTGW4KZ4JU.jpg)
Shell Shack is a fish house and restaurant in North Texas in Arlington, Plano, Fort Worth, and Mesquite.(Shell hut)
The private equity group TriSpan has acquired 56% of Shell Shack, a seafood restaurant that was founded in Dallas-Fort Worth.
Shell Shack joins a portfolio of restaurants that TriSpan calls the “Rising Stars Fund,” which has invested in Yardbird Southern Table & Bar – which opened in Dallas in 2020 – as well as other brands not yet in D-FW, such as Naya Mediterranean and Maman Coffee and Bakery.
Shell Shack’s CEO, Dallas Hale, will continue to own the company and will continue to be its CEO.
Shell Shack currently has six restaurants in Texas and one in Florida, a franchise business. It is planned to add five stores per year with funding from TriSpan.
The restaurant is a casual fishmonger with an alligator tender, crab-filled tater tots, and oysters. Those who opt for seafood cooking can choose a flavor – cajun, garlic, lemon pepper, or kitchen sink – mixed with crab, prawn, and lobster.
For more food news, follow Sarah Blaskovich on Twitter @sblaskovich.
[ad_1]
https://www.dallasnews.com/food/restaurant-news/2021/12/01/expect-aggressive-growth-from-dallas-restaurants-velvet-taco-shell-shack-sold-to-new-owners/
