White Duck Taco Charlotte - This Asheville staple brings its creative tacos to CLT.
Whenever I chat about the Asheville food scene with people, there are always a few different things mentioned. Getting brews at one of the many breweries, checking out the Biltmore estate and winery, and getting some funky tacos at White Duck Taco Shop often come up. When I saw that they’d be opening a Charlotte location, of course I got excited as I’d heard so many good things about it!
Well, the time has come! White Duck (very) quietly opening this past weekend with a simple post on their Instagram. This is quite the opposite of how many of the businesses have been opening lately by getting shout outs from local media about their openings, which gets them slammed while trying to work out the initial kinks of starting a business. Those soft openings quickly get kind of crazy so at least they had a couple of days before the rush.
I sent them a quick message to confirm that they are now open officially and off I went to check it out! Located at 1020 East 10th Street, it’s easy to find and dare I say it - they have a small parking lot in the back of the building! You can also park at the lab school across the street on nights and weekends thankfully. Upon entering, you’ll immediately be enthralled into the funky decor with huge murals all over the walls, bright colors EVERYWHERE, and a handwritten chalkboard menu. The whole thing about White Duck is being unique and creative, and the decor fits this vibe well.
Since not many people knew they were open at the time of my visit, there was no wait. I chatted with the staff and they were all friendly and made a few recommendations. I ended up going with the pork belly tacos with pickled watermelon rinds, mole roasted duck, and a shrimp and grits taco. Yes, shrimp and grits. Pricing was between $3.75 and $4.50 per taco. I’ll talk more about each taco that I tried below in detail, but they have a ton of creative tacos that sound great. They also have alcohol but did not quite have their alcohol license yet so we didn’t try anything. I’ve heard the watermelon sangria is killer.
Each taco was unique, and had thoughtful, creative flavors. My overall favorite would likely be the pork belly taco. The watermelon paired well with it and pork belly and balanced the taco out. I ordered the shrimp and grits taco off of intrigue, and I must say it was good. I figured it would be some sort of grit cake or new odd way to incorporate grits, but it turned out it was good old fashioned grits in the taco which I appreciated. How they prevent the tacos from falling apart after adding grits I’m not sure, but it worked. The red pepper, pico, and bacon made it really good. Lastly, I got the mole roasted duck. The meat was tasty, but this taco was a little sweet for me with the apples and cranberries. Adding a bit of hot sauce balanced this taco out really well and made it much better with a bit of a spicy-sweet combination.
I’ll be going back to try some of the other tacos that they are whipping up at White Duck, along with some of that watermelon sangria when its available. I like visiting unique places, so they are a welcome addition to Charlotte. I’m sure they’ll do well!
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