Open the Torchy’s catering storefront, pick any item, and read to the end of its description. The last sentence is the same one every time. No Special Instructions Allowed. It sits on the taco packs, on the bars, on the bagged lunches, on a jug of tea and on a box of churros.
Twelve restaurants were read for this guide and the sentence appeared on every item at every one of them. The storefront is not hiding a notes box somewhere else, either: the platform has the field, sets it to fifty characters, and switches it off on every catering product. So the order form will not carry a word from you about the food.
That makes the menu itself the whole conversation, and Torchy’s writes more onto it than most chain catering lists bother with. Two letters ride inside the product names, VE and VG, and they are not decoration. Learn which is which and you can order this menu for a mixed room without typing anything.
In this guide
- What a Torchy’s catering order contains, group by group
- The sentence at the end of every single item
- VE and VG, and the four rows that show the difference
- The one meat-free choice in each pack, and why its code moves
- Two avocado tacos, two different letters
- Where the allergen information sits when there is no code
- Serving counts, ordering steps and collecting the order
What a Torchy’s catering order contains
The catering page on the main site is a signpost rather than a menu. It names eight groups and links each one into a separate catering storefront, and you have to pick a restaurant before any prices or items appear. The list that loads afterwards is short. Just over twenty items, all of them built for a group, and none of them sold as a single portion.
| Group | Items | What it holds |
|---|---|---|
| Breakfast (Available All Day!) | 1 | A ten-taco breakfast pack |
| Taco Pack | 1 | A ten-taco lunch pack |
| Build Your Own Bars | 2 | A Taco Bar and a Fajita Bar, each stated at ten |
| Bagged Lunches | 2 | One-taco and two-taco bags, packed per person |
| Group Sides + Salads | 11 | Rice, beans, veg, two salads, the tots and three tortilla options |
| Chips & Dips | 3 | Salsa, queso and guacamole, each with chips |
| Large Beverages | 1 or 2 | Tea, and a lemonade at most restaurants |
| Desserts | 0 or 1 | Churros with dulce de leche |
Look at the shape rather than the length. Six items carry the meal: two packs, two bars and two bags. Everything else goes around it. That is a useful thing to know before you start, because it means the interesting decisions on this menu are side decisions, and the sides are where Torchy’s does its dietary labelling. Teams sizing a comparable order from an independent kitchen can browse the Zerocater directory for Mexican catering, tacos or a build-your-own taco bar in Austin.
The sentence at the end of every item
Now the line that shapes everything else. Every product description on this catering menu closes the same way, and it closes that way at every restaurant checked.
| What was read | Count |
|---|---|
| Restaurants pulled, across eight states | 12 |
| Catering item descriptions read | 272 |
| Ending “No Special Instructions Allowed” | 272 |
| Items where the storefront shows a notes field | 0 |
The field is not missing from the software. Open any catering product and the storefront carries a notes setting with a fifty-character limit, switched off. Torchy’s has decided this menu travels as written, and the practical effect is easy to plan around once you know it. Nobody in your office can add “no cheese on two of these” at checkout. Anything you want said has to be said on the phone to the restaurant, and everything you can settle at the menu, you should settle at the menu.
That is why the next three sections matter more here than they would on a chain menu with a notes box. The published code is the instruction.
VE and VG, and the four rows that show the difference
Two letters appear inside the product names on this menu. VE is vegetarian. VG is vegan. The brand glosses the first one on the menu itself: the churros carry VE and their description calls the dulce de leche vegetarian. It glosses the second by contrast, because on the regular menu the bean and cheese taco carries VE while the meat-free, cheese-free FoSho carries VG.
The clearest demonstration sits in one option group on the Fajita Bar, where the brand asks you to choose two from four. Two of the four are VG and two are VE, and the brand’s own allergens document says why.
| Item | Code | What the allergens document lists | What that means for the room |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cilantro Lime Rice | VG | Soy | Vegan and vegetarian |
| Black Beans | VG | Nothing listed | Vegan and vegetarian |
| Torchy’s Mexican Rice | VE | Soy | Vegetarian |
| Refried Beans | VE | Milk, soy | Vegetarian, and it carries dairy |
Refried beans with milk in them is the row most people get wrong, and it is the row that proves the code is doing real work. Nothing in the name or the picture tells you. The two letters do.
The rice rows deserve a word of their own, because they do not split for the reason the beans split. Both rices carry the same short allergen entry, and only one carries VG. If the two codes disagree with what you expected, take the VG item. It is the one the brand has put its name to. For a vegan colleague that means Cilantro Lime Rice rather than Mexican Rice, every time.
Nine catering items carry VE, three carry VG across the menu and its option lists, and eleven carry no code at all. The uncoded eleven are the packs, the bars, the bags, the tortillas, the tea and the tots. Five of those are uncoded because you choose what goes inside them, which is the next section. The tots are uncoded for a reason their own description gives away: queso and bacon.
If you are ordering for a room with several needs at once, our guide to catering for mixed dietary needs covers the sequencing, and the Zerocater directory lists kitchens by vegan, vegetarian and dairy-free capability.
The one meat-free choice in each pack, and why its code moves
Every group-sized item on this menu offers exactly one choice without meat or shellfish in it. That consistency helps. The letter on that one choice moves from product to product, and it decides whether the choice covers your vegan colleague or only your vegetarian one.
| Product | Choices offered | The meat-free one | Code | Covers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taco Pack | 6 | Avocado (FoSho) | VG | Vegan and vegetarian |
| One and Two Taco Bagged Lunch | 6 | Avocado (FoSho) | VG | Vegan and vegetarian |
| Breakfast Taco Pack | 3 | Potatoes, Egg & Cheese | VE | Vegetarian only |
| Taco Bar and Fajita Bar protein | 11 | Fried Avocado | VE | Vegetarian only |
Read across that table and the planning rule writes itself. Order the lunch pack or a bagged lunch and one of your six picks covers both diets. Order the breakfast pack and it does not, because egg and cheese are in the taco. Book a bar and it does not either, for a reason worth knowing.
Two avocado tacos, two different letters
Torchy’s sells two meat-free avocado tacos through its catering storefront and they are not the same taco. The Taco Pack offers the FoSho, which the menu marks VG. The bars offer Fried Avocado, which the menu marks VE. The difference is the batter, and the allergens document lines up with the codes exactly.
| Taco | Where you find it | Code | What the allergens document lists |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avocado (FoSho) | Taco Pack, Bagged Lunch | VG | Soy |
| Fried Avocado | Taco Bar, Fajita Bar | VE | Eggs, milk, soy, wheat |
Two items, one ingredient in both names, four allergens between them. If someone in the room eats vegan, the FoSho is the taco, and the pack or the bag is the product that carries it. Say that to whoever places the order and you have removed the single likeliest mistake on this menu.
One more thing to know about the bagged lunches. Both salsa choices carry VE, and so do all five of the sides you can bolt on, so a fully vegan bag is the FoSho and the chips. Fix it from the Group Sides list rather than the bag: a Black Beans and a Cilantro Lime Rice next to the bags gives that colleague a full plate, and both feed ten so one of each covers a table.
Where the allergen information sits when there is no code
The diet code answers one question. For the rest, this menu writes in two other places, and knowing which is which saves you a phone call.
Five catering items end their description with a short allergen line. Refried Beans says dairy and soy. The queso, the guacamole and the salsa each say dairy and soy and avocado, and the salsa adds eggs. The churros spell theirs out as egg, milk, soy and wheat. That is the whole set.
| Where the information sits | Items | Example |
|---|---|---|
| A code in the product name | 12 | Large Black Beans (VG) |
| A short allergen line in the description | 5 | Refried beans: dairy, soy |
| The ingredient sentence only | The rest | Airstream Salad names cotija cheese and pistachios |
The third row is the one to read twice. Neither the Airstream Salad nor the Street Corn carries an allergen line, and both name cheese in their own ingredient sentence. The salad names pistachios too. So on anything without a line, read the sentence rather than assuming there is nothing to find.
Two of the option groups on the bars print the sides without their suffixes, so Fajita Veggies and Mexican Rice appear bare there while the beans and the cilantro rice keep their letters. Read the codes off the main Group Sides list, where every item carries its own, and treat the option groups as an ordering screen rather than a reference.
None of this is allergy, dietary or medical advice. A published code tells you what a kitchen intends an item to be. It does not tell you how the item was made on the day, so speak to that location directly about any serious allergy. Our guides to gluten-free office catering and dairy-free office catering cover the questions worth asking.
Avocado on the allergen line
One word on those five lines is worth pausing on. Three of them name avocado, and avocado is not among the nine allergens Torchy’s lists at the top of its own allergens document. Fish, egg, milk, peanuts, shellfish, sesame, soy, tree nuts and wheat are the nine. Avocado is an addition the brand has chosen to make.
For a taco menu that is a sensible thing to publish and an easy one to use. Avocado reactions are real, they are not rare enough to ignore in a room of thirty, and the guacamole, the queso garnish and the salsa all carry it here. If someone has told you about a latex or avocado sensitivity, this menu has already given you the three items to leave off.
Serving counts, and the number that keeps repeating
Sixteen of the items on this menu state a serving count in their own description. All sixteen say ten people. The taco packs hold ten tacos, the bars say they serve ten, every large side serves ten, and the churros arrive ten to a box with ten dips beside them.
| Item | What the description states |
|---|---|
| Taco Pack and Breakfast Taco Pack | Ten tacos |
| Taco Bar and Fajita Bar | Serves ten, with plates, cutlery and serving utensils |
| Every large side and salad | Serves ten people |
| Each dip with chips | Serves approximately ten |
| Churros and dulce | Ten churros, ten dips |
| Bagged lunches | Packed per person |
One unit across almost the whole list is a gift for a room of any size, because sizing becomes multiplication. Twenty-eight people is three packs and three sides with change, not an exercise in converting pans into portions. The bagged lunches are the one product priced and packed per head, which makes them the right reach for an odd number or for a team that eats at different times. Our office lunch ideas guide covers matching the format to the day.
How to order Torchy’s catering for a group
The sequence matters here, because the storefront hides the menu until you have picked a restaurant and it will not let you write anything down afterwards.
- Start on the catering storefront, not the main ordering site. The two carry different menus and only one of them is group-sized.
- Pick the restaurant first. Prices sit on the restaurant, so the same Taco Bar is not the same number in two cities.
- Choose the format before the food. Packs for grab and go, bars for a room that builds its own plate, bags for per-person.
- Do the dietary work at the choices. The FoSho for a vegan colleague, a VG side to go with it, and the ingredient sentence read on anything without a code.
- Pick the sides on purpose. They are where the codes live, and they are what turns one taco into a meal for the person who can only eat one thing on the table.
- Phone the restaurant for anything else. The form takes no note, so a serious allergy, a delivery quirk or a swap belongs in a conversation with that location.
Pickup, delivery and the pickup window
The catering storefront offers pickup and delivery at every restaurant, and a third option at a small number of them called Pickup Window, which is the drive-thru. Most restaurants show the first two only, so check the card for the one you are ordering from before you tell a colleague they can collect without parking.
Either way, send someone with a flat surface in the car. A Taco Bar arrives as a stack of components in a carrier bag with plates and utensils inside, and the brand’s own description asks you to have a table big enough for it waiting at the other end. If the order has to land by a fixed time, our last-minute office catering guide covers what to confirm.
What to check before you send the order
- The code on every side you picked. VG covers both diets, VE covers one.
- The meat-free choice inside the pack. FoSho in a lunch pack or a bag, and note that the breakfast pack’s version carries egg and cheese.
- The ingredient sentence on anything with no code and no allergen line, and read it on both salads.
- The serving count against your headcount. Almost everything feeds ten.
- The collection method on that restaurant’s card, and who is fetching it.
- Anything you would have typed in a notes box. That conversation has to happen before you check out, not during.
A better option for recurring office meals
A published two-letter code is a good thing on a catering menu and this one is better than most. It still asks you to do the same work every week: open a storefront, remember which letter covers which colleague, and hold the room’s needs in your head while you click.
Zerocater exists for the version of this that repeats. Tell CaterAi who is eating and what they can eat, and it builds the order against a directory of local kitchens that already record their vegetarian and vegan capability, so the dietary check happens once rather than on every order. For a Texas team that wants the same food from an independent kitchen, the directory lists Tex-Mex catering in Austin and kitchens such as El Xolo Tacos, and it runs the same listings for Taco Tuesday, guacamole and churros.
Plan office catering with CaterAi
Frequently asked questions
Does Torchy’s Tacos do catering?
Yes, and it runs on its own storefront rather than on the regular ordering site. The brand’s catering page links across to it, you pick a restaurant first, and the menu loads afterwards. You get a short, purpose-built list rather than the counter menu: eight groups holding just over twenty items, all of them sized for a group. Nothing on it is sold as a single portion.
What is on the Torchy’s catering menu?
Eight groups. Breakfast, which the menu marks as available all day and which holds one item. Taco Pack, also one item. Build Your Own Bars, holding a Taco Bar and a Fajita Bar. Bagged Lunches, holding a one-taco and a two-taco version. Group Sides and Salads, which is the biggest group at eleven items and includes the tortillas. Chips and Dips. Large Beverages. Desserts. The twelve restaurants read for this guide, across eight states, all carried the same list bar a lemonade and a dessert.
What do VE and VG mean on the Torchy’s catering menu?
VE is vegetarian and VG is vegan, and the letters sit inside the product name rather than in a filter or a footnote. The brand glosses it on the menu itself: the churros carry VE and their description says the dulce de leche is vegetarian. The beans prove it twice over. Refried Beans are VE and the brand’s allergens document lists milk against them. Black Beans are VG and the same document lists nothing. Our vegetarian office catering guide covers what the two words cover.
Can you add a note to a Torchy’s catering order?
No. Every item on the catering menu ends its description with the sentence No Special Instructions Allowed, and the storefront switches the notes field off on all of them. Plan around it rather than against it: pick the items whose published code already says what you need, and put anything else in an email or a phone call to the restaurant. This is not allergy, dietary or medical advice, and you should speak to that location directly about any serious allergy.
Is there a vegan option on the Torchy’s catering menu?
Three items carry VG. Cilantro Lime Rice, Black Beans, and the Avocado taco the brand calls the FoSho, which is one of the six choices inside the Taco Pack and the Bagged Lunch. Order those three together and you have a plate rather than a side dish. Watch the near misses: the guacamole, the salsa, the refried beans and the street corn all carry VE, not VG. Our vegan office catering guide covers the wider question.
How many people does a Torchy’s catering item feed?
Ten, almost everywhere. Sixteen of the items state a serving count in their own description and every one of those sixteen says ten people. The taco packs hold ten tacos, the bars say they serve ten, the sides serve ten and the churros arrive ten to a box with ten dips. So the headcount maths is a multiplication rather than a conversion, which is rarer than it sounds. Our guide to office catering costs runs the same question across formats.
What is the difference between the Taco Pack and the Taco Bar?
The pack arrives rolled and the bar arrives in parts. A Taco Pack is ten pre-rolled tacos and you mix and match across six choices. A Taco Bar is two proteins from a list of eleven, a tortilla choice, a salsa, and the plates, cutlery and serving utensils, packed together. For a room that wants to build its own plate the bar wins; for a room that wants to grab and go, the pack does. Our boxed lunch versus buffet guide walks through the same trade-off.
Does the Torchy’s catering menu list allergens?
On some items. Five of the catering items carry a short allergen line at the end of their description, and one of the words on those lines is avocado, which is not one of the nine the brand names at the top of its own allergens document. The rest of the items put the information in the ingredient sentence instead, which is where you find the cotija in the street corn and the pistachios in the salad. Read the ingredient sentence on anything without a line. Our guide to catering for food allergies at work covers what a menu cannot do.
Can you collect a Torchy’s catering order at the drive-thru?
At a few restaurants. The catering storefront offers pickup and delivery everywhere, and a third choice called Pickup Window at a handful of locations, which is the drive-thru. Check the restaurant’s own card on the storefront before you promise it to whoever is collecting, because most restaurants list only the first two. Sending someone with a flat surface in the car is worth doing either way.
What is the smallest useful Torchy’s catering order?
One item, because everything on the list is sold in increments of one and nothing carries a published floor beyond that. The practical floor is a headcount question instead: almost every item feeds ten, so a room of six leaves four servings on the counter. The bagged lunches are the exception and the reason to reach for them, because they price and pack per person. Our guide to budget-friendly office lunches covers the same trade-off elsewhere.
Menu groups, product names, diet codes, option lists and serving counts in this guide were read from the brand’s own catering page and catering storefront in September 2026, across twelve restaurants in eight states, and corroborated against the allergens document linked in the site footer. Menus and prices change. Check the storefront for the restaurant you are ordering from, and speak to that location directly about any serious allergy.
