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Velvet Taco Uses ChatGPT to Create Menu Item

Velvet Taco Chat GPTaco billboard
Velvet Taco’s Chat GPTaco was displayed on billboards across Dallas as well as included on air on Dallas Radio Stations.

Last month, Velvet Taco had a limited-time offer and the newest installment of the brand’s Weekly Taco Feature (WTF), the Chat GPTaco. 

This is the first AI-generated menu items for the fast-casual restaurant. Velvet Taco’s Director of Culinary, Chef Venecia Willis, combined her creativity with Chat GPT to spark innovation and unique flavor combinations .

 

A Technology-Created LTO

Using Chat GPT 4, Willis created the  taco named the Chat GPTaco. 

Willis said she was inspired by Chat GPT's technological knowledge and leaned into its AI to support the Velvet Taco's culinary team's creativity to come up with a unique taco just for Velvet Taco. "As for the future, we want to see how this taco does with our guests, but we are definitely thinking about using AI for further menu development," Willis explained to HT.  

 
Willis sought support and inspiration from Chat GPT’s  in creating unique ingredient pairings and creative flavor combinations. Ultimately, using assistance from Chat GPT, she produced the taco of the future, engineered with Velvet Taco’s proprietary taco formula and ingredient list in mind.


The winning taco creation features flank steak, blackened shrimp, red chile aioli, chimichurri, crispy potatoes, grilled onion, queso fresco, jalapeno and cilantro on a corn tortilla. This WTF was available July 12 - 25 at all Velvet Taco locations.

 “Using the software from Chat GPT for a recipe piqued my interest, and I was pleasantly surprised with the combinations it created. I believe chefs can embrace the technology to enhance our menu ideation process and use it as a tool to support the creative elements that go into producing and executing a cohesive menu item,” she said.

To market the next-gen taco, Velvet Taco went old school, promoting the Chat GPTaco on the radio airwaves and on billboards across Dallas. 

“Velvet Taco is all about breaking barriers and delivering the unexpected. We want our whole home town to know about the ChatGPTaco and make sure they have a chance to visit one of our restaurants and give it a try. The ChatGPTaco represents the marriage of food and tech and creativity in a way I’ve not seen before in the restaurant space. We’re really excited,” says CEO and Taco Maker Clay Dover. 

Velvet Taco first brought their diverse, globally inspired tacos to the city of Dallas in 2011. Since then, the brand has continued to break taco barriers with their scratch made tacos and added over 40 locations across the U.S. with plans to continue growing through the foreseeable future.

 

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