As I recently lamented in another thread, I’ve had to give up on Taco Bell. I’ve given it a couple of tries post-Covid and it’s no longer good, no longer cheap, and no longer fast based on my recent-ish, terrible experiences. I don’t eat at fast food places often, so I definitely don’t claim to be an expert here, but of the fast food places I’ve eaten at in the past 5 or so years, Taco Bell has declined the worst, by far.

Also, I learned how to make my own crunch wraps at home with black jack and hookers. I mean with higher quality ingredients tailored to my and my family’s preferences. It’s not difficult, just a little time consuming. Still not something I’d eat regularly, but nice to have once in awhile now that Taco Bell fails so hard.

Realtalk: The $7 “decades” menu item or the $7 Luxe Cravings Box is one of the best deals in fast food right now.

These usually have a taco, a “fancier” taco (like a double decker), and a burrito, AND chips and queso AND a drink. If you want a large drink it’s $.20 more. So for about $8 you can get a lot of food.

Compared to McDonald’s that somehow charges like $11+ for a Double Quarter Pounder meal now, it’s a great deal.

I may be lucky in that the Taco Bell near me has line cooks that actually know what they are doing. I know that’s not a luxury everyone has. But I’ll never turn down some Taco Bell.

That without any sauce… no thank you. Add some mild, medium or hot sauce? I’ll eat 12.

Order the Crunchwrap with shredded cheese instead of nacho cheese. Their nacho cheese is gross.

Last time I went the only thing I finished was the drink I ordered, that was over 10 years ago, never again.

Taco Bell has always been a good friend to vegetarians everywhere

They are decent for the right price. The boxes where you get like 3-5 items and a drink for under 7 dollars are great, but the rest of their shit is usually overpriced and not worth the hassle of using their kiosk or app or worse, having to order at the counter cause they decided to only allow certain deals when you order at certain places. Oh and also FUCK them for making the kiosk almost mandatory and then making the good deals not available on them!! Why’d you put them there if you want me to order the cheap shit at the counter?!

Aight, let’s be real a minute here.

Taco Bell is good, for a given value of “good”

You’ve got relatively intense spices that aren’t hot hot. You’ve got salt, fats, and umami in plentiful amounts, with a smattering of carbs wrapped around it. You can have acidity and sweetness if you want them.

That’s literally the recipe for stimulating as many of your taste receptors as possible while avoiding bitter, which requires more skill to keep balanced out

There’s no depth of flavor, it’s all shallow and single note, even the spices since they’re in a mix for their entire process from factory to store.

But they’re “good enough”. They’ll put some food in your belly that doesn’t leave you without some taste to make it seem like it was food. Compare that to some protein bar where you’re cramming in calories and nutrients that are almost universally bland as hell. Justified healthier for sure, but there’s something you have to convince yourself is worth eating. Even the best brands are just edible.

me and my inner raccoon

Hahahaha, I’ll be borrowing that, thank you

Don’t ever talk to me or my Crunchwrap again.

I’m officially giving up “Taco Bell Fridays” next week. It’s just not worth it the next day.