# How come we don't have Taco bells in England **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 21, 2003, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-we-dont-have-taco-bells-in-england/170092 "2003-04-21T18:34:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2003, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-we-dont-have-taco-bells-in-england/170092/21 "2003-04-21T21:01:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ticker \* > **Taco Bell is not the only US chain not to make it in the UK. Subway made a brief appearance** I ate at a Subway in Glasgow only a month or so ago. ---
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2003, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-we-dont-have-taco-bells-in-england/170092/22 "2003-04-21T21:07:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ruadh \* > \*\*I ate at a Subway in Glasgow only a month or so ago. \*\* Maybe they are making a second attempt to get established. Startup costs outside London are probably more attractive. Certainly I haven’t seen one around here for a couple of years ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2003, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-we-dont-have-taco-bells-in-england/170092/23 "2003-04-21T21:25:06Z")
Let’s see… could it be because there’s already too much bad food and they’re afraid of the competition? Taco Bell is THE WORST fast food. I’ve eaten there exactly once. Let me make a suggestion. There are a number of quite good Mexican (gringo style) fast food chains. Lobby for one of them (Burrito Fresh, High Tech Burrito, Una Mas to name a few). ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2003, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-we-dont-have-taco-bells-in-england/170092/24 "2003-04-21T21:43:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ticker \* > \*\*Maybe they are making a second attempt to get established. Startup costs outside London are probably more attractive. Certainly I haven’t seen one around here for a couple of years \*\* I’ve seen a few around quite recently, and [here’s a list](http://search.yell.com/search/DoSearch?state=INI&screen=VAL&targetName=&businessType=&companyName=subway&location=&Submit.x=35&Submit.y=12) from the yellow pages website. I wouldn’t exactly recommend Subway, but it’s only a sandwich shop after all. I s’pose the only recommendable sandwich chain would be [Pret a Manger](http://www.pret.com/flash.html). I’ve never eaten in a Taco Bell and don’t plan to after the comments above, but I’m sure you could use yellow pages to search for Mexican restaurants as well. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2003, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-we-dont-have-taco-bells-in-england/170092/25 "2003-04-21T22:11:50Z")
My city has no Taco Bell either. Hmmm. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2003, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-we-dont-have-taco-bells-in-england/170092/26 "2003-04-21T22:49:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rayne Man \* > **Here we go again slagging off British food.** Yup, I’m really surprised that nobody has yet chimed in with “Eewww, Kidney pie!” (when there is no such thing outside of the imaginations of people who consider Dick Van Dyke’s cockney accent to be remarkably accurate). ---
**Author:** ![OxyMoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9a140/32.png) [@OxyMoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OxyMoron)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2003, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-we-dont-have-taco-bells-in-england/170092/27 "2003-04-21T22:53:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Johnny L.A. \* > \*\*British food is good. > > Taco Bell has one, and only one, thing in its favour: It’s cheap. \*\* I wish I could remember which friend of mine it was who noted that Taco Bell was cheaper than food. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2003, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-we-dont-have-taco-bells-in-england/170092/28 "2003-04-21T22:58:42Z")
It is always surprising that people who would eat at taco bell have the effrontery to say British food is bad. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2003, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-we-dont-have-taco-bells-in-england/170092/29 "2003-04-21T23:35:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by toadspittle \* > \*\*Yes, YUM is apparently in 17 countries … they just won’t name which ones on any of their web sites, for some annoying reason. \*\* Huh? The link provided by **syncrolecyne** has YUM’s top 25 countries, broken down by country, brand and store count on it. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2003, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-we-dont-have-taco-bells-in-england/170092/30 "2003-04-21T23:46:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\*Yup, I’m really surprised that nobody has yet chimed in with “Eewww, Kidney pie!” (when there is no such thing outside of the imaginations of people who consider Dick Van Dyke’s cockney accent to be remarkably accurate). \*\* Well, I’ve heard on good authority (in SDMB, I think) that there is such a thing as steak & kidney pie. Was I misinformed? I would have no problem with the steak part, but have no stomach for organs of filtration. Not anywhere. Obviously, a lot of reactions to out-of-one’s-home-country food are just that it’s different. British breakfasts are not inherently bad, for example, but Americans are used to sausages having a quite different texture, for example. I bet British folks find our sausage to be weird, too. You get the same thing within the U.S. with regional things. Most Yankees think grits are nasty; most southerners think breakfast is not complete without them. ---
**Author:** ![caveman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caveman/32/7242_2.png) [@caveman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caveman)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-we-dont-have-taco-bells-in-england/170092/31 "2003-04-22T00:26:15Z")
Get y’all a Taco Cabana instead…they’re actually not that bad, and are open 24 hours… ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-we-dont-have-taco-bells-in-england/170092/32 "2003-04-22T00:29:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by caveman \* > \*\*Get y’all a Taco Cabana instead…they’re actually not that bad, and are open 24 hours… \*\* Problem with those is the hideous pink color of the buildings. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-we-dont-have-taco-bells-in-england/170092/33 "2003-04-22T00:48:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MLS \* > \*\*Well, I’ve heard on good authority (in SDMB, I think) that there is such a thing as steak & kidney pie. Was I misinformed? I would have no problem with the steak part, but have no stomach for organs of filtration. Not anywhere. > > Obviously, a lot of reactions to out-of-one’s-home-country food are just that it’s different. British breakfasts are not inherently bad, for example, but Americans are used to sausages having a quite different texture, for example. I bet British folks find our sausage to be weird, too. You get the same thing within the U.S. with regional things. Most Yankees think grits are nasty; most southerners think breakfast is not complete without them. \*\* Oh, there most definitely is such a thing as steak and kidney pie and it is delicious. I can’t think of an objective reason for avoiding kidney as a food (unless it is part of a scheme to avoid all offal). It is my firm belief that much of the impression of ‘poor food abroad’ is rooted in habitual eating; if (say) pizza is an art form in your country and you eat it every day, then you are likely to be disappointed when you try to find good pizza abroad. IMO, It can only be the case\* that Americans who believe British food to be poor are doing so because: [ul][li]They picked bad examples of dishes -perhaps things that they eat back home (there are plenty of mediocre examples of ‘American’ stuff like burgers, pizza etc here).[/li][li]They got sucked into tourist traps.[/li][li]They genuinely have differing tastes in food, but they don’t realise that “I don’t like this” is not automatically synonymous with “this is bad”)[/li][li]They are just repeating what they heard other people say.[/li][/ul] \*I say it can only be the case because I know for a fact that there is a great deal of fine food available here. I’m sure I am being overly defensive, but I get irked of the whole kidney pie thing. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-we-dont-have-taco-bells-in-england/170092/34 "2003-04-22T00:56:02Z")
Mangetout, with all due respect, I wouldn’t eat kidney, or liver, or sweetbreads, or chitlins. Not tongue or head cheese. Not pate de fois gras, liver and onions, nada. Otherwise I agree 100% with the rest of what you said. It’s really irksome to hear people come back from travelling and complain that they couldn’t get a hamburger or whatever. Jeez, if you want to experience nothing but what you get at home, then stay home! ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-we-dont-have-taco-bells-in-england/170092/35 "2003-04-22T01:11:25Z")
I think a lot of people try to get homestyle food abroad. (they be nuts). I went to a retreat with a friend a few years back; the guy driving really hated McDonalds, and told us why. On a field trip to France (from Canada - this is a long way to go here), his group got breakfast, lunch, but were on their own for dinner. Where’d the rest of them wanna go? McDs. He’d say “For that price, you can get a super meal at a good restaurant, wine, the works, c’mon!”, but apparently they went on a trip to be scared of culture, cause burgers was what they always got. If there **was** a Taco Bell in the UK, I think it would be frequented mostly by westerners, who would return home saying the food was really bad. 😉 P.S. - I don’t personally like kidney, but it’s not a mind boggling thing for me; I don’t like mushrooms either. As for other food, gimmie all the pork pies you’ve got. Or fish & chips in a newspaper. Or Indian take out… ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-we-dont-have-taco-bells-in-england/170092/36 "2003-04-22T01:32:27Z")
I was in London last month and didn’t have a single bad meal. I had bangers and mash, fish and chips, meat pie, Indian food, Chinese food, Italian food and Lebonese food. I barely scratched the surface of all of the great food available there. Taco Bell? Are you kidding me? Haj ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-we-dont-have-taco-bells-in-england/170092/37 "2003-04-22T02:06:42Z")
Mangetout: You are correct. I take back my slam at British Food. When I was in England, I really enjoyed “pub food”. And the breakfasts were great-- same bacon/eggs style stuff as in the US, but just tasted a lot better. Especially the bacon. But think about it this way. Take a country like the US. Especially here in the SF area, there are tons of great resaurants with choices of cuisines from every corner of the world. But I can’t remember the last time one of friends said, “Let’s go get some British food tonight”. ---
**Author:** ![greenteeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@greenteeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/greenteeth)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-we-dont-have-taco-bells-in-england/170092/38 "2003-04-22T02:28:26Z")
I lived in England 2 years and feel pretty qualified on their food. Taco Bell as well. TACO BELL = Not great BANGERS = GROSS MUSHY PEAS = GROSS The aforementioned pie = TOTALLY PUKISH YORKSHIRE PUDDING = Pretty Good FISH AND CHIPS = GOOD The British Indian Food = very good WIMPY burger = finger down the throat gross Salt and vinegar chips (I know we can get them here too) = ungodly gross. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-we-dont-have-taco-bells-in-england/170092/39 "2003-04-22T02:41:55Z")
don’t forget cadbury’s. particularly the creme eggs. love em. ---
**Author:** ![LolaCocaCola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7cd45c/32.png) [@LolaCocaCola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LolaCocaCola)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-we-dont-have-taco-bells-in-england/170092/40 "2003-04-22T02:45:54Z")
You can _totally_ get Cadbury Creme Eggs at Rite Aid! At least I did over Easter. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-we-dont-have-taco-bells-in-england/170092.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-we-dont-have-taco-bells-in-england/170092.md?page=3)