# Idle's ongoing mission to try many things at Taco Bell (complete with opinions/thoughts). \[Ed title\]

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idles-ongoing-mission-to-try-many-things-at-taco-bell-complete-with-opinions-thoughts-ed-title/728279
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [August 19, 2015, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idles-ongoing-mission-to-try-many-things-at-taco-bell-complete-with-opinions-thoughts-ed-title/728279 "2015-08-19T19:25:12Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 4

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### Author: ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2015, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idles-ongoing-mission-to-try-many-things-at-taco-bell-complete-with-opinions-thoughts-ed-title/728279/61 "2015-08-21T00:42:13Z")

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Get the apple empanada.

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### Author: ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2015, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idles-ongoing-mission-to-try-many-things-at-taco-bell-complete-with-opinions-thoughts-ed-title/728279/62 "2015-08-21T01:17:28Z")

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> [@DrDeth](#):
>
> Yeah. Some asked me if I was going to that Mexican restaurant in WaltDisneyWorld, and i told her “Florida? Hey, I am a Californian, do you know what we call ‘Mexican food’ here?” “no?”. “_Food_”.

You really should have tried it… I assume you actually meant at Epcot (inside the pyramid). They actually have great Mexican food… and yes I travel a fair amount and have made several trips to Mexico for work (so not just a resort catering to Americans). I haven’t been there in years, but when I was I was impressed that they had lots of dishes from all over Mexico and not just that which we normally call “Mexican.” Mexico is a big place and the cuisine varies just like it does if you would try to say we are getting “American” tonight.

As for the post about Taco Bell being a different beast than “real” Mexican food, and the same is true with McDonald’s and White Castle. Way back when dinosaurs roamed the earth I was in college and Burger King ran an ad campaign all about how much more “authentic” their burgers were… using real onions, flame grilling, etc. I was with 5 other guys and we all agreed that sometimes you are just in the mood for McDonald’s and it doesn’t really matter about the rest because it is an unique taste we love (ok, maybe just a craving we get sometimes).

We ended up all piling into a car and going to McDonald’s that night. Kind of a backfire for BK.

Total Hijack… Where we were watching the commercial that night was in an apartment that is attached to “Jared’s Subway” where he lost all the weight. This was way before then and it was a greasy spoon back then but I was floored when I saw an article with a picture of the old apartment.

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### Author: ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2015, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idles-ongoing-mission-to-try-many-things-at-taco-bell-complete-with-opinions-thoughts-ed-title/728279/63 "2015-08-21T01:18:30Z")

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My order in high school was 2 supreme steak chalupas and 12 soft tacos. Now that I’m fat and not working out I go with 12 soft tacos and split them with my wife and her Nacho’s bell grande.

I didn’t go to Taco Bell for about a decade but now I’m going close to weekly. I’ve found that the quality of the soft tacos varies by which store I got to and the day of the week. When I get lucky they have lots of meat and cheese and when I don’t there is barely anything in the tortilla. The supreme steak chalupa is way expensive for taco bell but damn is it almost perfect Taco Bell food. I still remember the ads for chalupas that came out with that awful Godzilla 2000 movie but they totally worked and I’m still eating them 15 years later

One bummer from someone who is eating more then he should of Taco Bell is that they recently had a special release of Diablo sauce which was amazing but now I’m back to Fire with my order teased by the memory of something that was actually spicy with only two packets.

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### Author: ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2015, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idles-ongoing-mission-to-try-many-things-at-taco-bell-complete-with-opinions-thoughts-ed-title/728279/64 "2015-08-21T02:27:41Z")

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> [@Spud](#):
>
> You really should have tried it… I assume you actually meant at Epcot (inside the pyramid). They actually have great Mexican food… and yes I travel a fair amount and have made several trips to Mexico for work (so not just a resort catering to Americans). I haven’t been there in years, but when I was I was impressed that they had lots of dishes from all over Mexico and not just that which we normally call “Mexican.” Mexico is a big place and the cuisine varies just like it does if you would try to say we are getting “American” tonight.

One is pretty bad, about TB level. The other two are good but vary, and one is quite authentic. But they are not quite as good and twice+ as expensive as places i can walk to.

This is the best of the three:

> **[Review: San Angel Inn in Epcot's Mexico Pavilion | the disney food blog](https://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2014/02/02/review-san-angel-inn-in-epcots-mexico-pavilion/)**
>
> We are heading back into the Aztec Pyramid for dinner at San Angel Inn Restaurante in Epcot's Mexico Pavilion at Walt Disney World!

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### Author: ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2015, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idles-ongoing-mission-to-try-many-things-at-taco-bell-complete-with-opinions-thoughts-ed-title/728279/65 "2015-08-21T02:41:40Z")

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> [@Spud](#):
>
> As for the post about Taco Bell being a different beast than “real” Mexican food, and the same is true with McDonald’s and White Castle. Way back when dinosaurs roamed the earth I was in college and Burger King ran an ad campaign all about how much more “authentic” their burgers were… using real onions, flame grilling, etc. I was with 5 other guys and we all agreed that sometimes you are just in the mood for McDonald’s and it doesn’t really matter about the rest because it is an unique taste we love (ok, maybe just a craving we get sometimes).
> 
> We ended up all piling into a car and going to McDonald’s that night. Kind of a backfire for BK.

The odd thing is I feel that BK burgers taste even less like “real” burgers than McDonald’s. They have this peculiar taste I can only describe as lighter fluid–it’s the one fast food burger establishment I actively avoid. I can understand how people like them, but, like Taco Bell, it’s just not a taste I ever developed.

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### Author: ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2015, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idles-ongoing-mission-to-try-many-things-at-taco-bell-complete-with-opinions-thoughts-ed-title/728279/66 "2015-08-21T02:43:04Z")

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> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> The odd thing is I feel that BK burgers taste even less like “real” burgers than McDonald’s. They have this peculiar taste I can only describe as lighter fluid–it’s the one fast food burger establishment I actively avoid. I can understand how people like them, but, like Taco Bell, it’s just not a taste I ever developed.

In& Out is the FF burger that tastes most like a burger. Five guys, maybe.

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### Author: ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2015, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idles-ongoing-mission-to-try-many-things-at-taco-bell-complete-with-opinions-thoughts-ed-title/728279/67 "2015-08-21T02:58:20Z")

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> [@DrDeth](#):
>
> In& Out is the FF burger that tastes most like a burger. Five guys, maybe.

You’ll get no argument from me. I&O is my favorite of the fast food group, bar none (and burgers in general. I like my fast food burgers). Five Guys is pretty close, too.

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### Author: ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2015, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idles-ongoing-mission-to-try-many-things-at-taco-bell-complete-with-opinions-thoughts-ed-title/728279/68 "2015-08-21T04:32:35Z")

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> [@puddleglum](#):
>
> The Mexican pizza is two flat crispy flour tortillas with beans and meat in between and cheese tomatoes, and a sauce on top. It is really good with their mild sauce on top.

That’s what I always get - but no beans and with guac and sour cream.

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### Author: ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2015, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idles-ongoing-mission-to-try-many-things-at-taco-bell-complete-with-opinions-thoughts-ed-title/728279/69 "2015-08-21T04:36:52Z")

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> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#):
>
> Ghost Pepper Griller - WOW, this thing had some heat on it. It was definitely spicy. Opened my sinuses up and my nose is running a little now.  
> I like spicy things, though. I’m a big fan of the hot and spicy…and I’d rate this about a 4 on a scale of one to ten, where one is “hardly spicy at all, not much heat detected” and ten is “HOLY SHIT, SEARING, INTENSE BURNING, SPICIER THAN ALL GET OUT, EXTREME HEAT, MOUTH AND THROAT ARE ON FIRE”.  
> Like I said, it had some heat behind it and I could feel it in my mouth for a bit afterwards. I’d say it was one of the actual, geniunely spicy thing I’ve had at a fast food place and certainly at TB. I mean, so many times, something is advertised as “spicy”, but the spiciness is fairly lacking. Not in this. This delivers. You WILL feel the heat/spice.  
> In terms of FLAVOR, though, it was absolutely DELICIOUS. I loved it. Very strong flavor and an excellent blend of sauce and spice mixed with…well, whatever they have in it. I enjoyed this a lot. About as much as I did the Beef Taco Salad.

Yeah, I have to say that the Ghost Pepper Griller is one of the best things Taco Bell has released in a while and I had the similar “oh, it’s ‘ghost pepper’, we’ll see” type of initial thought and was pleasantly surprised by how spicy it actually was and how tasty. I also hear the Habanero Griller is tasty as well.

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### Author: ![brad\_d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@brad\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brad_d)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2015, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idles-ongoing-mission-to-try-many-things-at-taco-bell-complete-with-opinions-thoughts-ed-title/728279/70 "2015-08-21T05:51:02Z")

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My go-to order is a beef quesarito (already mentioned several times) and a spicy potato soft taco. I tried one of those once on a whim, and found it surprisingly tasty.

I live in the Los Angeles area; sometimes, Taco Bell just sounds good. I hit it for lunch once every few weeks or so.

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### Author: ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2015, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idles-ongoing-mission-to-try-many-things-at-taco-bell-complete-with-opinions-thoughts-ed-title/728279/71 "2015-08-21T18:15:24Z")

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> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> You’ll get no argument from me. I&O is my favorite of the fast food group, bar none (and burgers in general. I like my fast food burgers). Five Guys is pretty close, too.

If Five Guys only had I&O "spread’ (which is just 1000island) I’d say they qualify as their fires are very good. But they steadfastly refuse to carry it. I dunno why, makes no sense.

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### Author: ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2015, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idles-ongoing-mission-to-try-many-things-at-taco-bell-complete-with-opinions-thoughts-ed-title/728279/72 "2015-08-21T20:18:15Z")

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> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#):
>
> Ghost Pepper Griller - WOW, this thing had some heat on it. It was definitely spicy. Opened my sinuses up and my nose is running a little now.  
> I like spicy things, though. I’m a big fan of the hot and spicy…and I’d rate this about a 4 on a scale of one to ten, where one is “hardly spicy at all, not much heat detected” and ten is “HOLY SHIT, SEARING, INTENSE BURNING, SPICIER THAN ALL GET OUT, EXTREME HEAT, MOUTH AND THROAT ARE ON FIRE”.

I felt the same way about Wendy’s Ghost Pepper Fries. Guess I should try this Griller at Taco Bell.

For me, a ten would be that chicken vindaloo from a local Indian restaurant. Whoo!

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### Author: ![tenacious\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@tenacious\_j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tenacious_j)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2015, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idles-ongoing-mission-to-try-many-things-at-taco-bell-complete-with-opinions-thoughts-ed-title/728279/73 "2015-08-22T01:07:14Z")

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I don’t know how I could want Five Guys this soon after a great dinner, but you guys did it!  
I don’t really try new things at TB. They are all about the classics. Crunchy “beef” taco supreme, Enchirito, taco pizza, burrito supreme, meximelt, pintos n cheese, “beef” taco salad. All of these with at least 2 packets of hot sauce. Sometimes if I’m starving I might even hork down a sauce packet in the car on the way back to work- please don’t tell anyone. :o

Used to love the grilled chicken soft tacos, but they have changed. I like them, supremed up, but the sauce from back in the day had such interesting seasoning. 🙂  
They gave me the new-ish shredded chicken tacos one time recently and I was surprised at how much I liked them.

Stop judging me, Mexican restaurant people across the street from TB, I’ll be back tomorrow.

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### Author: ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2015, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idles-ongoing-mission-to-try-many-things-at-taco-bell-complete-with-opinions-thoughts-ed-title/728279/74 "2015-08-22T02:08:27Z")

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> [@tenacious\_j](#):
>
> Stop judging me, Mexican restaurant people across the street from TB, I’ll be back tomorrow.

\<snerk!\>

Here too. The best Mexican place in town is directly across the street from Taco Bell.

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### Author: ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2015, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idles-ongoing-mission-to-try-many-things-at-taco-bell-complete-with-opinions-thoughts-ed-title/728279/75 "2015-08-22T02:40:39Z")

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> [@tenacious\_j](#):
>
> Used to love the grilled chicken soft tacos, but they have changed. I like them, supremed up, but the sauce from back in the day had such interesting seasoning. 🙂  
> They gave me the new-ish shredded chicken tacos one time recently and I was surprised at how much I liked them.

I loooooved the old-style chicken soft tacos. Not a fan of the shredded chicken at all. It doesn’t taste right to me. The old style was little cubes of chicken-y deliciousness; the shredded chicken just tastes… cheap.

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### Author: ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2015, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idles-ongoing-mission-to-try-many-things-at-taco-bell-complete-with-opinions-thoughts-ed-title/728279/76 "2015-08-22T03:02:10Z")

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> [@tenacious\_j](#):
>
> I don’t know how I could want Five Guys this soon after a great dinner, but you guys did it!  
> I

_mea culpa_.😃  
OTOH, I went to TB tonite, first since a couple months… Idle, you should ask for a kick-back…

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### Author: ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2015, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idles-ongoing-mission-to-try-many-things-at-taco-bell-complete-with-opinions-thoughts-ed-title/728279/77 "2015-08-22T06:36:18Z")

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You generally want to eat the crunchy shell stuff immediately, they turn to paste and/or get stale if you reheat them.If you know you’re saving something for later, get the soft shell/soft tortilla items.

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### Author: ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2015, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idles-ongoing-mission-to-try-many-things-at-taco-bell-complete-with-opinions-thoughts-ed-title/728279/78 "2015-08-22T10:27:11Z")

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Crunchwrap Supreme is my favorite item at Taco Bell but it’s too expensive to get regularly  
my go-to item is the 5-layer burrito. It was 89 cents when it came out and now the price has risen to $1.59 here!! Still worth it I think. Everything at fast food is too expensive now. You can’t get a filling meal for under $5 anywhere like you could in the 90s

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### Author: ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2015, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idles-ongoing-mission-to-try-many-things-at-taco-bell-complete-with-opinions-thoughts-ed-title/728279/79 "2015-08-22T10:47:29Z")

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If ever I get over there I have to try Taco Bell as it’s a complete mystery to me. The same people who started KFC in Australia tried to start up Taco Bell here. While we don’t have the same tradition off eating Mexican food there have long been Mexican places here. I tried Taco Bell because of its iconic status and was amazed at how dreadful the food was. It was the worst chain restaurant food I have ever had, inferior to even the crappiest of pizza chains.

For obvious reasons they soon went broke. The food shown on TB’s own sites looks nothing like what they served up here so as I say I would have to check it out.

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### Author: ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2015, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idles-ongoing-mission-to-try-many-things-at-taco-bell-complete-with-opinions-thoughts-ed-title/728279/80 "2015-08-22T10:52:49Z")

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Y’all kinda ignoring personal taste. My brother in law is mexican, he took me to “real” mexican restaurants. I liked taco bell better.

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