# Taco Bell's original menu
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taco-bells-original-menu/368312
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [August 11, 2006, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taco-bells-original-menu/368312 "2006-08-11T17:42:43Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 5
### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2016, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taco-bells-original-menu/368312/81 "2016-01-29T02:49:22Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#):
>
> [https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3394/3589564048\_1cbf5913f1\_b.jpg](https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3394/3589564048_1cbf5913f1_b.jpg)
That’s definitely not the original menu. For one, the prices are way too high. Those are like at least 80s prices. (If those were 1962 prices, that Combo Burrito would be over $9 in today’s dollars!) And the Bellbeefer wasn’t introduced until the mid-70s as a replacement for the Bellburger.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2016, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taco-bells-original-menu/368312/82 "2016-01-29T02:51:47Z")
The Bell Beefer wasn’t “Sloppy Joe-like” either. It was a loose-meat sandwich.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2016, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taco-bells-original-menu/368312/83 "2016-01-29T02:59:10Z")
> [@silenus](#):
>
> The Bell Beefer wasn’t “Sloppy Joe-like” either. It was a loose-meat sandwich.
Well, that presumes our audience is familiar with loose meat sandwiches. 🙂 For those who are unfamiliar, it’s like a sloppy joe without the slop (sauce.) It’s literally just fried up little pieces of ground beef. I’ve never had a bell beefer, though, it being before my time (or, rather, before I knew what a Taco Bell was, as I was definitely alive in the late 70s and early 80s.) The pictures I see of it make it seem like it somewhere in between a loose meat and sloppy joe, but, like I said, I’ve never had one. Although something like that could convince me to go to Taco Bell again.
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### Author:  [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2016, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taco-bells-original-menu/368312/84 "2016-01-29T04:06:01Z")
> [@silenus](#):
>
> That’s not Taco Bell’s original menu, by the way. It’s half of a later menu. Note the lack of tacos on the menu. The Taco Bell Grande debuted around 1985.
My mistake. I thought those prices were high.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2016, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taco-bells-original-menu/368312/85 "2016-01-29T04:17:50Z")
The Bell Beefer and other s of its ilk (Taco Burger, Bun Taco, etc.) are something to seek out and savor. I have fond memories of Naugles’ Bun Taco from the 70s. Taco meat on a bun with chopped tomato and shredded lettuce with a dollop of shredded cheddar. Toss in a little mild sauce and we have Nirvana.
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### Author:  [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2016, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taco-bells-original-menu/368312/86 "2016-01-29T23:43:49Z")
> [@Smapti](#):
>
> Exactly. [Mexi-fries.](http://tacotimenw.com/Menu/Sides/Mexi-Fries%c2%ae.aspx)
I know this is from an old post, but Taco Bell also had a version of mexi fries that were much, much better than Taco Time’s boring tater tots. Taco Bell stopped serving them around 2003 and I’ve never gotten over it. They were yummy, crunchy, greasy little savory nuggets. Blew mexi fries out of the water.
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### Author:  [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2016, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taco-bells-original-menu/368312/87 "2016-01-29T23:55:25Z")
> [@Acsenray](#):
>
> From my perspective, this is when Taco Bell started going down hill.
The “less than a dollar” menu is also when it went downhill for me. I like hard tacos, and in the old days I could order a taco supreme with “no sour cream” and get more meat, more lettuce, more cheese, and some tomato. It was worth the extra price.
Starting then, order a taco supreme with no sour cream, and you get regular size taco fillings (which, at that point, shrank in size), with maybe two pieces of diced tomato. Not worth it.
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### Author:  [@Hanfordalum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanfordalum)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2017, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taco-bells-original-menu/368312/88 "2017-10-24T00:09:52Z")
I remember you use to get a enchirito with a corn tortilla. Use to come in a wax cardboard container. Was huge with olives. Use to get them in Chico Ca. They made them so big they had to put scotch tape around it to hold the lid on. They still sell them but there not on the menu. You have to ask for them.
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### Author:  [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2017, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taco-bells-original-menu/368312/89 "2017-10-24T01:03:08Z")
> [@Hanfordalum](#):
>
> I remember you use to get a enchirito with a corn tortilla. Use to come in a wax cardboard container. Was huge with olives. Use to get them in Chico Ca. They made them so big they had to put scotch tape around it to hold the lid on. They still sell them but there not on the menu. You have to ask for them.
I love reminiscing about the glory days of fast food. Is that wrong?
Welcome to SDMB, **Hanfordalum**.
[sub]Taco Bell AND Stewart sandwiches, yum![/sub]
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### Author:  [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2017, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taco-bells-original-menu/368312/90 "2017-10-24T01:19:18Z")
> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> Maybe for you folks on the West Coast, but out here, their brief foray into the Chicago market was pretty much the only place you could get baja style fish tacos and shrimp tacos at a fast food joint (or for that matter, almost any taco joint. While you can find fish tacos here, they take some sleuthing.) And I thought they were pretty good.
Hallooo, Zombie **puly!** I know that the fish tacos in Texas are made of fried catfish and come with tartar sauce.
If I knew of a Great Lakes city joint that made ‘em with fried lake perch and tartar sauce, I would be there like tartar sauce on fried lake perch. DAMN, that would be tasty.
Never ate at a Taco Bell, but I first saw one in Lompoc, California, in 1969.
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### Author:  [@amaguri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amaguri)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2017, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taco-bells-original-menu/368312/91 "2017-10-24T16:44:11Z")
I still enjoy Taco Bell now and then but I miss the ‘old’ Taco Bell for sure. Black olive slices, green onions and a different, better (more) cheese are the main things that I miss.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2017, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taco-bells-original-menu/368312/92 "2017-10-24T16:55:48Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#):
>
> Hallooo, Zombie **puly!** I know that the fish tacos in Texas are made of fried catfish and come with tartar sauce.
>
> If I knew of a Great Lakes city joint that made ‘em with fried lake perch and tartar sauce, I would be there like tartar sauce on fried lake perch. DAMN, that would be tasty.
In re-reading my post from a year and a half ago, I _might_ be making them sound a bit rarer than they actually are here, but they’re not a staple at your typical taqueria. They do seem to have become a little bit more common in the last couple of years (especially at non-specifically Mexican joints like bars).
Fried perch fish taco? That sounds like an idea. Heck, maybe even smelt!
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### Author:  [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2017, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taco-bells-original-menu/368312/93 "2017-10-24T17:09:46Z")
> [@amaguri](#):
>
> I still enjoy Taco Bell now and then but I miss the ‘old’ Taco Bell for sure. Black olive slices, green onions and a different, better (more) cheese are the main things that I miss.
I think they dumped the green onions after a food poisoning outbreak. But it is weird to have a ‘Mexican’ restaurant without onions or jalapenos.
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### Author:  [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2017, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taco-bells-original-menu/368312/94 "2017-10-24T17:12:04Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#):
>
> Hallooo, Zombie **puly!**
>
> Never ate at a Taco Bell, but I first saw one in Lompoc, California, in 1969.
Hope prison wasn’t the reason you were umm visiting Lampoc. 😛
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### Author:  [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2017, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taco-bells-original-menu/368312/95 "2017-10-24T17:15:18Z")
[Baja Fresh](http://www.bajafresh.com/) offers fish ([wahoo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wahoo), a relative of mackerel) or shrimp for their tacos and burritos.
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### Author:  [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2017, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taco-bells-original-menu/368312/96 "2017-10-24T17:19:45Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#):
>
> [Baja Fresh](http://www.bajafresh.com/) offers fish ([wahoo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wahoo), a relative of mackerel) or shrimp for their tacos and burritos.
And discount fish tacos after 2 on Tuesdays.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2017, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taco-bells-original-menu/368312/97 "2017-10-24T17:35:27Z")
Baja, like Del Taco, is long gone from Chicago. ETA: it looks like there is one location left in the west suburb of Maywood, then the next closest one is in Wisconsin.
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### Author:  [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2017, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taco-bells-original-menu/368312/98 "2017-10-24T18:03:33Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#):
>
> Hallooo, Zombie **puly!** I know that the fish tacos in Texas are made of fried catfish and come with tartar sauce.
>
> If I knew of a Great Lakes city joint that made ‘em with fried lake perch and tartar sauce, I would be there like tartar sauce on fried lake perch. DAMN, that would be tasty.
>
> Never ate at a Taco Bell, but I first saw one in Lompoc, California, in 1969.
Catfish? CATFISH?? I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you outside, Hoss. Mahi mahi, tilapia, basa, shrimp maybe. But never catfish. Gads!
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2017, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taco-bells-original-menu/368312/99 "2017-10-24T18:26:34Z")
> [@BeeGee](#):
>
> Catfish? CATFISH?? I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you outside, Hoss. Mahi mahi, tilapia, basa, shrimp maybe. But never catfish. Gads!
I’ll take the catfish over tilapia and basa, that’s for sure. I like flounder, halibut, or cod for fish tacos, but local fish is the best, and if it happens to be catfish, why not?
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### Author:  [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2017, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taco-bells-original-menu/368312/100 "2017-10-24T19:06:22Z")
> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> Baja, like Del Taco, is long gone from Chicago. ETA: it looks like there is one location left in the west suburb of Maywood, then the next closest one is in Wisconsin.
I’ve heard that Baja Fresh has been shutting some restaurants, which is a pity. I remember when there were only two Baja locations and the closest was a 30-minute drive. It was totally worth it.
Somewhere I should have a copy of their original menu, which read: **“NO MICROWAVES - NO CAN OPENERS - NO FREEZERS - NO RAP MUSIC”**
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