Oh no. Taco Bell is opening soon near my house.

[levdrakon]

MPSIMS, but it's food.

I only eat at TB every couple few months, as the nearest one is miles away.

I just came back from the local grocery store and they're about to open a new TB.

Damn them! I can resist a taco if it's miles away, but now it's going to be right across from my grocery store, only a mile away. I could walk there! Damn them. I just know I'm going to grab a taco every time I go to the store.

[Darryl Lict]

I live in a town full of terrific Mexican restaurants, but I still eat at Taco Bell probably once every two months. It's not really Mexican food, but I love their dollar and change bean burritos (green sauce and sour cream) and cheap Americanized tacos. Do not however, eat at the Taco Bell on the 395 on the way to Mammoth. How someone can fuck up a bean burrito so disastrously is beyond me! I remember when I was a kid and a taco was 25¢. Hell, even I could afford that.

[Stephe96]

I've heard that if you're gonna eat fast food junk....then tacos really aren't all that bad for you. I have no idea if this is true or not....but it might help relieve the guilt!

[levdrakon]

The area around my neighborhood is quickly developing. Previously, all we had was a Carl's Jr. and a Sonic. Sonic is gross, and I'm usually not that interested in Carl's Jr. too often. It's usually a full meal.

Taco Bell OTOH, is so easy to grab a taco or tostada or burrito. There's rarely a moment I couldn't go for one or the other or all three. Every time I go to the store, it's going to be there right in front of me, calling to me.

[mswas]

Originally Posted by Darryl Lict

I live in a town full of terrific Mexican restaurants, but I still eat at Taco Bell probably once every two months. It's not really Mexican food, but I love their dollar and change bean burritos (green sauce and sour cream) and cheap Americanized tacos. Do not however, eat at the Taco Bell on the 395 on the way to Mammoth. How someone can fuck up a bean burrito so disastrously is beyond me! I remember when I was a kid and a taco was 25¢. Hell, even I could afford that.

Heh Taco Bell more closely resembles the Mexican food I grew up on in New Mexico than most Mexican places I've been to East of Texas.

[neuroman]

I gave up Taco Bell about a year ago. It wasn't easy. There's something wonderful about their seventy-nine cent mystery meat taco, with its cool, crunchy lettuce, and shredded government cheese. Don't forget the slathering of fire sauce.

[levdrakon]

Originally Posted by neuroman

I gave up Taco Bell about a year ago. It wasn't easy. There's something wonderful about their seventy-nine cent mystery meat taco, with its cool, crunchy lettuce, and shredded government cheese. Don't forget the slathering of fire sauce.

Every item I eat gets *at least* one packet of fire sauce, probably more.

[guizot]

I don't consider Taco Bell to be Mexican food, but it's cheap and fast, and when you're in a hurry, it's not too bad. It's better than McDonalds, because it doesn't make you feel sick to your stomach.

If I have a choice, I go to Pollo Loco.

[Ichini Sanshigo]

I've always hated Taco Bell (smells and tastes repulsive), and because I thought it was actually representative of Mexican food, I therefore hated Mexican food. Until I tried real Mexican. Taco Bell is an abomination before the gods of food.

[PopeJewish]

I've always considered Taco Bell to be it's own sort of food. I mean, when I want mexican food, I'd hit up a taqueria, if I wanted a burger I'd go to a burger joint (and therefore never really ate much McDs or burger king) but Taco Bell is a different beast.

See, the only thing that comes close to Taco Bell are those microwave burritos you get at the convenience store. I therefore always considered TB to be the king of microwave burritos, and so have an appropriate place in my heart for them

Originally Posted by mswas

Heh Taco Bell more closely resembles the Mexican food I grew up on in New Mexico than most Mexican places I've been to East of Texas.

I don't know which part of that statement is more disturbing

[levdrakon]

No, it's not authentic Mexican food. No one thinks so. It's acceptable fast food for Mexicans (I see 'em there all the time), and it's acceptable fast food for me. It's so different from the burger chains, and their predominate flavors.

I don't get it when people complain a fast food joint isn't authentic. What part of fast food don't you get? What is McDonald's supposed to be authentic of?

[Uncle Brother Walker]

I agree. Nobody claims Mc'D's is a fine burger joint.

Nobody says TB is authentic mexican food. It's food on the fly.

As long as it's not flies on the food.

[dwyr]

Oh, how I love nachos.

Driving home from work used to take me right past a Taco Bell that stayed open very late (I work evening shift). My car knew the route well. Now that I work elsewhere I no longer drive past a Taco Bell every night. That one little change was good for a twenty pound weight loss.


Good luck.



(I find the abbreviation to TB slightly disturbing. In my line of work that means tuberculosis.)

[sweepkick]

Originally Posted by levdrakon

MPSIMS, but it's food.

Perhaps Great Debates?

[pulykamell]

Originally Posted by levdrakon

I don't get it when people complain a fast food joint isn't authentic. What part of fast food don't you get? What is McDonald's supposed to be authentic of?

I have no problem with Taco Bell's inauthenticity. I have a problem with their food. It's one of only two fast food places I avoid at all costs, the other being Domino's. (As for semi-rhetorical question aboutMcDonald's, well -- it is an authentic burger joint, marketed and franchised to the extreme. Their basic items are pretty much 30s-style hamburgers [thin griddled patty, topped with onions, pickles, mustard and/or ketchup and/or cheese.] It's authentic American fast food--pretty much quintessential Americana. At any rate, it's not a particularly important question for me.)

[levdrakon]

Originally Posted by dwyr

(I find the abbreviation to TB slightly disturbing. In my line of work that means tuberculosis.)

IRL I also call it Taco Barf, but I mean it affectionately.

[Mosier]

Originally Posted by Darryl Lict

I live in a town full of terrific Mexican restaurants, but I still eat at Taco Bell probably once every two months. It's not really Mexican food, but I love their dollar and change bean burritos (green sauce and sour cream) and cheap Americanized tacos. Do not however, eat at the Taco Bell on the 395 on the way to Mammoth. How someone can fuck up a bean burrito so disastrously is beyond me! I remember when I was a kid and a taco was 25¢. Hell, even I could afford that.

My taco bell says green sauce is being discontinued. I probably won't eat there much anymore, if at all.

[Mosier]

Originally Posted by neuroman

I gave up Taco Bell about a year ago. It wasn't easy. There's something wonderful about their seventy-nine cent mystery meat taco, with its cool, crunchy lettuce, and shredded government cheese. Don't forget the slathering of fire sauce.

Unrelated, but I have actually eaten honest-to-goodness government cheese, and it's fantastic.

[levdrakon]

Originally Posted by pulykamell

I have no problem with Taco Bell's inauthenticity. I have a problem with their food. It's one of only two fast food places I avoid at all costs, the other being Domino's. (As for semi-rhetorical question aboutMcDonald's, well -- it is an authentic burger joint, marketed and franchised to the extreme. Their basic items are pretty much 30s-style hamburgers [thin griddled patty, topped with onions, pickles, mustard and/or ketchup and/or cheese.] It's authentic American fast food--pretty much quintessential Americana. At any rate, it's not a particularly important question for me.)

Well, when people criticize TB for being inauthentic, it seems they're saying "it's not like mama made."

McD's is also not like mama made. I guarantee you mama never made McD's food. She wouldn't have the slightest idea how. McD's is as representative of what mama would make as TB is to what a Mexican mama would make. There are websites that show you how to replicate McD's, but I bet most people still can't do it.

At least you can go to the store and buy a Taco Bell taco kit, and the tacos can come out pretty darn close to the original, if you do it right. As far as I know, you can't get a McD's food kit.

Do mamas make hamburgers and tacos? Sure. Neither of them makes Taco Bell or McD's food.

[pulykamell]

Originally Posted by levdrakon

Well, when people criticize TB for being inauthentic, it seems they're saying "it's not like mama made."

I see it more as comparing them to taquerias (which is basically Mexican fast food) or Mexican street food, rather than what mama made at home. But that may be splitting hairs.

[levdrakon]

Humorously, Taco Bell has expanded into Mexico. Jon Stewart of course admires the irony. Blog & video here.

[Zsofia]

Originally Posted by guizot

I don't consider Taco Bell to be Mexican food, but it's cheap and fast, and when you're in a hurry, it's not too bad. It's better than McDonalds, because it doesn't make you feel sick to your stomach.

If I have a choice, I go to Pollo Loco.

What kind of stomach are you carrying around with you?

[Vinyl Turnip]

Originally Posted by levdrakon

Every item I eat gets *at least* one packet of fire sauce, probably more.

Does that include the fire sauce itself, and if so how do you escape the infinite loop?

[levdrakon]

Originally Posted by Vinyl Turnip

Does that include the fire sauce itself, and if so how do you escape the infinite loop?

One doesn't, which is the danger of having a nearby Taco Bell.

[KneadToKnow]

It's gummint cheese, dammit!

[Aesiron]

Originally Posted by Mosier

Unrelated, but I have actually eaten honest-to-goodness government cheese, and it's fantastic.

It is. It goes great in cheese potato soup.

[salinqmind]

I don't like Taco Bell much, but when I'm on the way home and starving to death I will hit the drive through and request "one of those round things", which is easy to eat with one hand and doesn't make a huge mess in the front seat. Can't remember what they call it but it's a crunchy tortilla-and-burrito-filling folded in a round flour tortilla.

The Dollar General was selling a microwavable Taco Bell entree of rice, beans, and mystery meat in sauce, in a little cardboard box. I bought a couple for 'emergencies', and the day before payday I heated it up and folded it into two wheat flour tortillas I had, with some sour cream and hot sauce. Darn good emergency meal for the two of us!

[Zoe]

In the summer of 1985 I got food poisoning from eating at Taco Bell. That's as sick at my stomach as I have ever been. Then for two weeks I couldn't eat much of anything. As soon as my appetite came back, I went back to Taco Bell.

Since I had a gastric bypass, I can eat only one taco supreme and that satisfies my appetite. But when my husband is making a run to the Bell, I usually order about ten of them and eat them cold right out of the frig for three days.

Mind you, I probably have fifteen authentic Mexican restaurants within three miles of my house. Many of my neighbors are Hispanic. But I do love Taco Bell tacos.

Does anyone remember Taco Tico?

[enalzi]

Originally Posted by salinqmind

I don't like Taco Bell much, but when I'm on the way home and starving to death I will hit the drive through and request "one of those round things", which is easy to eat with one hand and doesn't make a huge mess in the front seat. Can't remember what they call it but it's a crunchy tortilla-and-burrito-filling folded in a round flour tortilla.

I believe you want a crunchwrap supreme.

...Which shows the power of advertising. I wouldn't have known what you meant if the commercials hadn't been about how the Crunchwrap is "Good to Go."

I love Taco Bell. I know it's not Mexican, but while all the other Fast Food places are stessing their dollar menu, which gets you a little tiny burger, you can gets a giant cheesy beef and rice burrito for 89 cents!

[Uncle Brother Walker]

Originally Posted by Zoe

...when my husband is making a run to the Bell, I usually order about ten of them and eat them cold right out of the frig for three days.

OH! OH!

I'm the same way. I don't get a chance to eat at TB much (there's only one in the area that I know of). Every once in a while, usually after barhopping*, there will be a food run. I always throw my TB vote in the hat and (if I win) then order a 10-pack of mix and match burritos/tacos/whatever. Of course, to go.

I'm eatin' good for at least two days after a run to the border, as long as the microwave keeps nuking.**


* Okay, that's a lie. There's only two or so bars we go to.

** That's a lie, too. I tend to graze straight from the fridge as well.

[sciurophobic]

I just like the fact that their burritos don't contain a pound of rice. Yes, Chipotle, I'm talking about you.

[guizot]

Originally Posted by Zsofia

What kind of stomach are you carrying around with you?

I don't know, but there's something about the sauces fast places on hamburgers that do that to me. Pollo loco lets you decide what sauce you want.

Originally Posted by sciurophobic

I just like the fact that their burritos don't contain a pound of rice. Yes, Chipotle, I'm talking about you.

Amen to that. That's why Burrito King in LA is the best place to go for a burrito.

[levdrakon]

Originally Posted by Uncle Brother Walker

OH! OH!

I'm the same way. I don't get a chance to eat at TB much (there's only one in the area that I know of). Every once in a while, usually after barhopping*, there will be a food run. I always throw my TB vote in the hat and (if I win) then order a 10-pack of mix and match burritos/tacos/whatever. Of course, to go.

I'm eatin' good for at least two days after a run to the border, as long as the microwave keeps nuking.**


* Okay, that's a lie. There's only two or so bars we go to.

** That's a lie, too. I tend to graze straight from the fridge as well.

Yeah, refrigerated then nuked soggy tacos sound gross, and yet they are still tasty and hit the spot.

[GoodOmens]

When I was in college, a Taco Bell opened on campus, in the student center. They had a system that hooked in to your cafeteria meal plan, so that you could eat there instead of the cafe. That's nothing but pure evil for anyone trying to maintaina healthy diet.

However, I never indulged much, because I find that a trip to Taco Bell is usually followed by the dreaded Taco Belly, which you do NOT want to hit during a 3 hour lecture course.

[tds1273]

Taco Bell's got nothing on Jack In The Box's tacos. Burger King tries to compete, but fails. Deep fried deliciousness, and they're only two for a buck. The commercial where the kid orders 30? That's not a comedy, it's a documentary.

[Troy McClure SF]

There's a KFC/Taco Bell three blocks from my house, and I've never been, even when I was frequentling a bar a block away well before I live in the area.

I'd be proud, but I know that if it were *any* other fast food joint I'd be there at least once a month. The fact that there's an amazing taqueria even closer helps, too.

[levdrakon]

Originally Posted by tds1273

Taco Bell's got nothing on Jack In The Box's tacos. Burger King tries to compete, but fails. Deep fried deliciousness, and they're only two for a buck. The commercial where the kid orders 30? That's not a comedy, it's a documentary.

I've eaten J&theB's tacos. Okay late at night after the bar, but not TB quality. As I recall, the shell is a deep-fried semi-soft thing, and just not the same as the satisfying crunch you get from a Taco Bell taco.

You know, I think the crunch of TB items is a big part of it. I love their burritos, but I always have to have at least one crunchy taco or tostada, too.

[MissGypsy]

Originally Posted by Zoe

In the summer of 1985 I got food poisoning from eating at Taco Bell. That's as sick at my stomach as I have ever been. Then for two weeks I couldn't eat much of anything. As soon as my appetite came back, I went back to Taco Bell.

Since I had a gastric bypass, I can eat only one taco supreme and that satisfies my appetite. But when my husband is making a run to the Bell, I usually order about ten of them and eat them cold right out of the frig for three days.

Mind you, I probably have fifteen authentic Mexican restaurants within three miles of my house. Many of my neighbors are Hispanic. But I do love Taco Bell tacos.

Does anyone remember Taco Tico?

I've had food poisoning from Taco Bell more than once, and I still go back. It's addictive. Now, when my step-daughter and her boyfriend go there, they usually bring me back a little surprise -- a Mexican pizza, nachos, a few tacos. (Not all at once, of course!)

And yes, there was a Taco Tico in my hometown, but it closed down about 30 years ago. I always thought it was just a local place, rather than a chain!

[levdrakon]

Originally Posted by MissGypsy

I've had food poisoning from Taco Bell more than once, and I still go back.

Are you serious? You make it sound like it's not a multinational food chain but rather a corner taco cart. I'm amazed people are claiming food poisoning from a chain as large as Taco Bell.

[guizot]

Originally Posted by tds1273

Taco Bell's got nothing on Jack In The Box's tacos. Burger King tries to compete, but fails. Deep fried deliciousness, and they're only two for a buck.

But they're so greasy. I guess that's a good thing for some.

Originally Posted by levdrakon

Are you serious? You make it sound like it's not a multinational food chain but rather a corner taco cart. I'm amazed people are claiming food poisoning from a chain as large as Taco Bell.

I, too, once got food poison from what I was pretty sure was Taco Bell. Just because it's a chain doesn't mean one location can have lax conditions.

[levdrakon]

Originally Posted by guizot

I, too, once got food poison from what I was pretty sure was Taco Bell. Just because it's a chain doesn't mean one location can have lax conditions.

Seems like two things going on to me:

A: It's Mexican, ergo I'm more likely to get food poisoning.

B: It's not authentic Mexican, why would anyone eat it?

Which is it? No one is anymore likely to get food poisoning from Taco Bell than any other place.

It wouldn't be the Mexican part that makes you think you got food poisoning rather than maybe just eating too much, would it?

[Vinyl Turnip]

Are you calling his gastrointestinal tract a racist?

[guizot]

Originally Posted by levdrakon

Seems like two things going on to me:

A: It's Mexican, ergo I'm more likely to get food poisoning.

B: It's not authentic Mexican, why would anyone eat it?

Which is it? No one is anymore likely to get food poisoning from Taco Bell than any other place.

It wouldn't be the Mexican part that makes you think you got food poisoning rather than maybe just eating too much, would it?

That's a rather insulting question, especially considering that from the ages of 13-18 I worked in my step-mother's Mexican restaurant and ate there as much as possible (because it was free), with no expectation of food poisoning.

And could you be suggesting that when my ex cooked Mexican food for me (she, like my step-mother, is a chilanga) I wanted to call in the county health board?

Insulting and presumptuous.

As for A: I was just mentioning one thing that happened to me. I still will occasionally go to Taco Bell, because it's cheap and fast. Still, it's the only place where I've ever in my life gotten food poisoning, and that takes into consideration places I've eaten at on the beaches on the Caribbean coast of Colombia where they don't really have any running water, and street vendors in Tijuana that sell uncooked seafood cocktails.

B: I don't really care how "authentic" it is. But I still realize the difference.

[guizot]

Originally Posted by Vinyl Turnip

Are you calling his gastrointestinal tract a racist?

Really. Eating too much is called "indigestion," and is a mild discomfort. Food poisoning is violent vomiting over a course of about 24 hours. It's pretty easy to tell the difference, and since it was the only place I'd eaten for half a day, it was pretty obvious.

[levdrakon]

Originally Posted by guizot

That's a rather insulting question, especially considering that from the ages of 13-18 I worked in my step-mother's Mexican restaurant and ate there as much as possible (because it was free), with no expectation of food poisoning.

And could you be suggesting that when my ex cooked Mexican food for me (she, like my step-mother, is a chilanga) I wanted to call in the county health board?

Insulting and presumptuous.

As for A: I was just mentioning one thing that happened to me. I still will occasionally go to Taco Bell, because it's cheap and fast. Still, it's the only place where I've ever in my life gotten food poisoning, and that takes into consideration places I've eaten at on the beaches on the Caribbean coast of Colombia where they don't really have any running water, and street vendors in Tijuana that sell uncooked seafood cocktails.

B: I don't really care how "authentic" it is. But I still realize the difference.

I apologize for offending you. What I meant was people are saying, "It's Mexican; I got food poisoning. Just like when I went to Tijuana and got Montezuma's Revenge." Others are saying "Taco Bell is about as Mexican as McDonald's".

People generally don't say "I got food poisoning at McDonald's." They just say, "I don't like McDonald's, it makes me barf."

But they'll say "I got food poisoning at Taco Bell." Like it's a sleazy Mexican street vendor with poor food handling practices. Hardly! I say.

[Hilarity N. Suze]

As someone who lived across the alley and down four houses from a Taco Bell*...
you'll get used to it. You might even get sick of it.

By the time we moved away from that house, I was only going there when they had free tacos. (If somebody hit a home run during a certain inning, and you had to know in advance, go there between 4 and 6 the next day, and ask. They didn't advertise it, except on the game broadcast.)

*That's right. I didn't even have to cross a street.

[guizot]

Originally Posted by levdrakon

I apologize for offending you. What I meant was people are saying, "It's Mexican; I got food poisoning. Just like when I went to Tijuana and got Montezuma's Revenge." Others are saying "Taco Bell is about as Mexican as McDonald's".

People generally don't say "I got food poisoning at McDonald's." They just say, "I don't like McDonald's, it makes me barf."

But they'll say "I got food poisoning at Taco Bell." Like it's a sleazy Mexican street vendor with poor food handling practices. Hardly! I say.

Okay, I understand your point. In fact, you've brought up an interesting point about popular discourse; it just seems very far away from me. You have to remember that LA is a city where over 40% of the population speaks Spanish at home, and that's largely in part because so many people of Mexican origin are here. So Mexican food is rampant, and few people think that Mexican food in public is any more susceptible to poisoning than Thai food, Armenian food, or Iranian food. I don't know where you are, but it's just not the case in Southern California. Los Angeles, in fact, is the largest city of Mexican population outside of Mexico City. There are more Mexicans in LA than in Guadalajara.

But I have to say that if Taco Bell has a higher incidence of food poisoning--and that's a big "if"--it has little to do with the type of food offered. If, indeed, it has to do with the way the chain is operated, it's about their standards.

[levdrakon]

For what it's worth, I was born in San Diego and have lived most of my adult life in California. I learned to count to ten in Spanish before English. I don't speak Spanish, but when people speak of being Latino I have a moment when I think "so?" It's very normal for me.

[KneadToKnow]

FWIW, "eating too much" is called "overeating."

Indigestion may result from that, but that's not what it's called.