This week our search for the best tacos in Chatt Town brought us to a new restaurant that opened June 9 – White Duck Taco-Chattanooga.
Don’t expect your typical Mexican Street tacos here, folks. The culinary geniuses at White Duck have created a special menu that takes us beyond Mexico and into India, Vietnam, Thailand, America, and Greece.
This new restaurant features a huge outdoor dining area, local craft beers and full liquor bar, an upcoming in-house brewery and spacious dining facility.
They’ve been busy too. So much so that they had to close for one day last week and this Monday in order to restock and give their staff a break since their grand opening.
When you enter there is a full bar to the left along the white painted brick wall. Walk over to the right and place your order with the cashier. She will give you a number to place on your table. Grab your drink at the fountain and some utensils next to the front door. There is plenty of seating inside and outdoors.
The outdoor area is massive and features a grass lawn, natural shade, dedicated kids and dogs' area. They plan to add a stage for music and movie nights.
Inside they even have a few couches you can lounge in while you wait for your food or to sleep off the food coma afterwards. There is a large open space towards the back of the building where the brewery will be. They expect to have in-house beer by summer of next year.
During my first visit I tried their lamb gyro and their pork belly taco. The lamb gyro had grilled lamb, lettuce, cucumber pico, tzatziki, and feta cheese. It was exactly like a typical gyro except served on two tortillas instead of pita bread. The taco was loaded to the point that I ate some of it with a fork until I could pick it up without having everything spill out of the shell.
There was plenty of sliced lamb and the tzatziki was delicious. I love gyros and this was a unique twist. I didn’t miss the pita bread at all.
The pork belly taco had fried pork belly, pickled watermelon rind, and green onion aioli. The chilled pickled watermelon rind was something I didn’t think would pair well with the fried pork rind, but it did. The sauce brought it all together. The pork belly was tender and crunchy.
They have chips and queso as an appetizer as well as their trio specialty that is chips with their house made roasted red salsa, salsa verde, and their chipotle crema. They have a kid's menu, some side items and dessert.
I can’t wait to go back and try something they just added to the menu four days ago – a Korean beef Bulgogi taco with kimchi and chili aioli. Plus, I want to try their Thai Peanut taco with grilled chicken, cabbage, tropical salsa and peanut sauce and their Tikka Masala taco with grilled chicken, lettuce, tikka, fried tortillas and yogurt sauce.
The bar carries local craft beers. They have beers from Hutton and Smith, Five Wits, Chatt Brew, Oddstory and Wanderlinger brands as well as some other beers on tap or can. They have a few assorted white and red wines, specialty cocktails and mocktails.
Honestly there isn’t a taco listed on their menu that I don’t want to try and will likely keep coming back until I do. Visit their website to check out their menu.
White Duck Taco-Chattanooga
- Location: 1519 McCallie Ave., Chattanooga
- Hours: Open 11:30 a.m. until 10 p.m. every day (unless posted on their Facebook)
- Website: whiteducktacocha.com
- $$ - $$$
What’s your favorite taco place and why? Send me an email at Pattyl@brewermediagroup.com
