Taco Bell: Classic or Dud?

You forgot to talk about the quality ingredients in actual Tex-Mex food, i.e., Taco Bell actually does a pretty good job matching the lard and grade-C meat criteria.

WOW THIS IS AMAZING

Now, the quality of TB may have sharply declined since I left the States but I REALLY LOVE IT. Fast food tends to be shittier in the cities on the coasts generally, seen as fit only for junkies, but in the middle it's better and seems hella fresher. TB and Wendy's do the best junk food, America-wise, and I say this having chef skillz in Mexican food and and a first job at a PROPER DRUGSTORE SODA FOUNTAIN where I would make killer burgers. The one time in my life where I was rendered psychologically unable to eat (bereavement) ended in front of two orders of TB chicken fajitas (we were on our way to the State Fair, where it was hoped fried things on sticks would cure my refusal to eat). Obviously, things like PARENTALLY-PURCHASED pot(!), steak, Vietnamese food etc. had failed and it was time to call in the big guns.

Top notch!

I want one.

I'm partial to the massive Grilled Stuft Burrito - that mofo weighs like ONE POUND. Also, I miss the awful Taco Bell commercials, especially the one with the enthusiastic man playing a piano on a flatbed trailer, hurtling down the highway, singing the praises of "59 / 79 / 99." The "let's rearrange ingredients to make a ostensibly new menu item" strategy is getting ridiculous. Well, actually, I like the double-decker taco, but the cheesy gordita crunch just has a weird, unpleasant texture. I can imagine their next monstrosity, possibly involving a chalupa shell, a gordita shell, a soft taco tortilla, a hard taco shell, an insane amount of cheese, and the option to get sour cream, guacamole, or an angioplasty.

How about Del Taco? I fondly remember their "$.39 Taco Sunday" (and this was only like three years ago). Or Mighty Taco (is this just an upstate NY establishment?)?

Perhaps I should stop via the supermarket and get guacamole. Actually I must get washing powder anyway so HOORAY for my skills of thinking.

Sigh I wonder if I will brave THE TUNNEL tonight.

I've tried to eat Taco Bell food. Every time I do, however, I end up throwing it up. It is vile and disgusting and I do not think it's in any way good. In fact, even the thought of it makes me turn my stomach.

Around where I live, there's a great Tex-Mex restaurant (that's part of a local chain) called Las Palapas. The best chicken fajitas within a five-mile radius of my home, plus the potato & egg [breakfast] tacos are really delish. It's really amazing. Also, if I'm feeling up to it, I take the fifteen-mile drive over to the other side of town to this one Tex-Mex place called Eddie's that makes these amazing soft rolled chicken tacos that have this yummy tomato-based sauce on top and, in a pleasant surprise, no grease whatsoever. I think they use only minute amounts of oil in everything they make, because they know how to use their spices.

Real Mexican food, however, is supposed to be much lighter and not involve nearly as much grease as Tex-Mex. I've been to several real Mexican food restaurants, one of which was a seafood place, and all of them are really nice and refreshing. Chicken mole [moh-leh, not mol] and grilled fish with lime and cilantro are two of my personal favorites. And forget about the refried beans -- borracho ("drunk") beans are waaaaaay better, and done absolutely wonderfully at proper Mexican restaurants.

Hmmm. Now I'm hungry. I want soft rolled chicken tacos now.

I don't see how you can separate the two. The reason something tastes better is because of the quality of the ingredients and how they were prepared, isn't it? I've eaten plenty of Taco Bell (and Del Taco) in my day, so I know that of which I speak - and to be perfectly frank, there are still even rare occasions today when I will crave one of their tacos (and usually end up regretting it later) - but I really can't get on board the "Taco Bell = good Tex Mex" train.

I'm a bit of a food snob. I've had some really good, high-quality Mex/Tex-Mex meals, and I can tell you all about them. But I enjoy a burrito from Taco Bell every now and again. Does that make me a philistine?

Apparently you don't live in the south. It seems like most of the best stuff here, from Tex Mex, to gumbo to fried chicken, is just food people made from whatever was around. I think equating the quality of the ingredients to good taste is like equating the quality of a guitar to a good song -- I figure it's mostly a matter of who's doing the preparing, and who's on the receiving end.

friday night nerd night for john fail involved going to taco bell and getting a chili cheese burrito (originally called the chilito, but renamed due to an unfortunately slang term for 'small penis'), big beef meximelt, or tostada.

when i turned vegetarian at age 16 i continued to go to taco bell, getting soft tacos with beans, baja gorditas with beans, and tostadas. i quit eating at taco bell about the time the chalupa came out. it disgusted me so much, and made me open my eyes to how disgusting the food was. the chalupa tasted like a burrito inside a donut, and what also pissed me off was how the gordita shells changed after the chalupa was introduced. fuck you pepsico.

sometime last year i had a 7 layer burrito because a friend was going through drive through and i thought 'what the hell'. it was my first taco bell in at least two years, and it was fucking nasty.

there's a weird taco bell knockoff called Taco Maker Express. there's one in breezewood, PA (town of motels) and i always stop there on road trips. it's actually worse than taco bell, but it's this weird novelty to me. the burritos have some special "salsa" or sauce that tastes basically like ketchup. their mascot is named Taco the Cat. they have a thing called a Taco Burger. and tater-tots!

We already have that here! Almost.

39. San Loco
There's nothing "authentic" about this East Village favorite, like a hippie dreaming of Mexican food. Corn and flour tortillas met for the first time in their taco loco, married by refried beans, inspiring Taco Bell's rip-off. The beef enchiladas and fish tacos are also great, especially swabbed with Stupid, the very hottest salsa.

Notice that Taco Bell did not place.

I've been there! It's the only place on the east coast I've ever had a remotely good burrito. The worst was in New York, at a place promising "San Francisco, Mission-style" burritos; which they were somehow trying to do without offering pork or anything other than black beans. Fucking terrible!

I know it can be done "right" -- but I like Taco Bell!!

(Del Taco was gross the one time I had it.)

in texas last month i saw a lot of Taco Buenos - is that any better than taco bell?

I am in love with Suzy now thanks to her post on this thread.

It only makes sense to have this chain in the ponography capital of the United States.

YOU. ARE. INSANE. Eww. They're so greasy and mushy. No way they can compare to some decent sit-down restaurant ones.

el pollo loco loses MAJOR hps (2d20+6) for no refried beans.

San Diego has the -berto's/-berta's family of mex-am chains... 3 rolled tacos with guacamole at 3am after a particularly draining physics lab was my pallid "real genius" episode.

Having joined the AF, however, and been privy to the joys of chow hall cuisine, I now find Taco Bell to be a welcome change of pace whenever I find myself in a position to grab three gorditas and whatever's new on the menu plus maybe a crispy taco or two and no I don't want a fucking Coke with that I have Miller High Life at home. I must admit that there are times when I find that nothing else but Taco Bell will hit the spot. That shit be quintessential to the American life. I bet Madonna hates Taco Bell. Well Madonna can stuff a baja chalupa all up in her ass.

Bought out by Carl's Jr. That should tell you all you need to know.