White Duck Taco Shop Downtown — Restaurant in Asheville

So I was an employee at white duck until Hurricane Helene came through in September. They told all the employees to sign up for unemployment until they got water back. I know they lost there River location but I thought the employer would contact us when they opened back up. I knew I couldn't live off the unemployment so I seeked other work until in my understanding I would be contacted when the downtown location that I was working at that had no damages opened back up, but that was not the case. I only come to find out they were open when I road by and saw it was. Me along with a lot of workers heard nothing of the reopening and quite frankly I think even an apology or an explanation would have been nice, like sorry but you didn't make the cut. It really hurts my feelings that I worked with a company and people I had respect for, and I didn't hear a thing. The ones that didn't make the cut were never reached back out to either, and frankly I feels like a kick while we were down. We are all struggling because of the impact of hurricane Helene, but imagine thinking you have a job and then realizing you were let go of especially during a disaster. It could have been managed better. Many others that I worked with have expressed the same problem that they never heard a thing from them that they had reopened. It's really disheartening the way that we were treated. All could have been spared with a simple text or email. I will not be going back as an employee, or a customer they have completely lost my business and I'm sure...

So let’s start this review with saying, they are POPULAR! We got there when they opened and there was instantly a line. And there was a long line during our entire time eating, so if you plan to go keep that in mind. Now I looooove me a good taco and these are pretty good. My favorite place is still DGT in Colorado, but this spot has looooots of options and are vegetarian friendly! We were able to make substitutions for any meat taco with jackfruit. We ordered the Mexican street corn, watermelon with mint, cherry wine slushee (non-alcoholic), banh mi grilled tofu, Bangkok shrimp (subbed with jackfruit), zorba falafel, chicken tikka masala (subbed with jackfruit), and Thai peanut chicken (subbed with jackfruit), and the chocolate pot de creme. The street corn was very bland - I don’t recommend. The watermelon with mint was delicious, but I love watermelon! The Bangkok shrimp was my favorite next to the zorba taco. I loved the seasoning and balance of flavors. There was an issue with our Thai peanut chicken (they gave us chicken)… so we did have to send it back and they quickly prepared a new one. The chocolate dessert was soooooo dense and rich, I’d skip unless you really have a sweet tooth. Overall really good spot for some...

Not much to look at, ambiance-wise, but judging by the dishes we tried, the food more than makes up for it. These are not your ordinary Mexican-style tacos - more like, "Taco meets imagination of gourmet chief without a better paying gig somewhere else." If I lived around here and could frequent the place, I imagine that I'd eventually try nearly everything on the menu - and like it. But, if I ever get a chance to go back someday, I can also imagine filling up the my favorite of the two tacos I had today: the Bangkok Shrimp was to die for! I really appreciated that they used soft corn tortillas - the flour variety clearly the invention of a presumptuous man of European descent - and cleverly two per taco, anticipating their fragility. They appear to have put an equal amount of thought into developing some interesting "snacks", sides, desserts, and something for the kids. Plus, there's a menu of alcoholic beverages, if you're into that. And, I suppose that the napkin art under the table glass is somewhat...