# What is so terrible about Taco Bell? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 7, 2005, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-terrible-about-taco-bell/329974 "2005-11-07T22:37:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2005, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-terrible-about-taco-bell/329974/61 "2005-11-09T16:35:49Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Ah, Naugle’s. I remember it well, even though I never could figure out how to pronounce it. We always said ‘NOGgles’. ---
**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:** [November 9, 2005, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-terrible-about-taco-bell/329974/62 "2005-11-09T17:03:43Z")
We always said “Noggles - rhymes with goggles.” My Mom pronounced it “Now-gless.” ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2005, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-terrible-about-taco-bell/329974/63 "2005-11-09T18:09:44Z")
It’s Mexican food for people who don’t like (or can’t eat) spicy food. Health-wise, of course, it’s pretty bad for you. It’s pretty fatty stuff, but even worse is the sodium! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2005, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-terrible-about-taco-bell/329974/64 "2005-11-09T19:02:40Z")
> [@a35362](#): > > It’s Mexican food for people who don’t like (or can’t eat) spicy food. > > Health-wise, of course, it’s pretty bad for you. It’s pretty fatty stuff, but even worse is the sodium! :eek: Yep. Call me a wimp, call me unsophistocated and a food bigot, but I do NOT like hot food. When I think “spicy”, I mean I want lots of flavor, not heat. So I like Taco Bell for that. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-terrible-about-taco-bell/329974/65 "2005-11-10T05:07:44Z")
> [@astro](#): > > They’re not open at 1:30AM on Friday night. Taco Bell is. My supermarket is, and their frozen Mexican food is better. YMMV ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-terrible-about-taco-bell/329974/66 "2005-11-10T05:26:48Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > My supermarket is, and their frozen Mexican food is better. > YMMV Well, better is a matter of opinion, but Taco Bell is without a doubt, faster, hotter & fresher, and I’d be willing to bet, cheaper. ---
**Author:** ![Exgineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-terrible-about-taco-bell/329974/67 "2005-11-10T14:39:47Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Yep. Call me a wimp, call me unsophistocated and a food bigot, but I do NOT like hot food. When I think “spicy”, I mean I want lots of flavor, not heat. > > So I like Taco Bell for that. You would love the restaurants around here. Albany seems to exist in some kind of strange capscaicin-free zone. There are places around here that make chicken wings that are positively lethal, but nothing else has any heat to it at all. My wife and I went to a seminar about her health problems last night, and had dinner in a Thai place beforehand. I ordered something called “Chilli Beef” and the menu had the multiple hot pepper “this is really spicy” warning next to the entry, so I was a little nervous about ordering it. I shouldn’t have worried, because it wasn’t hot at all. I’m not saying it was milder than I expected; I’m saying that if they were claiming that there had ever been a chilli pepper anywhere near that dish they were lying. Totally bland. This isn’t one of those false-macho “I can take it” things, you understand. My wife likes things considerably spicier than I can handle, but some foods should be at least a _little_ spicy, dammit. To answer **Annaamika** ’s question, there’s nothing at all wrong with Taco Bell - it just depends on what you want. If I want Mexican food I’ll go to El Mariachi (and bring my own Tobassco), if I want Mexican fast food I’ll go to Taco Pronto, and if I want poker night-type fast food I’ll go to Taco Bell. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-terrible-about-taco-bell/329974/68 "2005-11-10T15:09:19Z")
**Exgineer** , at least for the Indian restaurants around here I can agree with you. They are deliberately made milder for white folks, I guess. If you like spicy food, I recommend going over to Shalimar and ordering their samosa chat. It comes with yogurt, so you’d think that’d cool it down, right? Negative…it’s so spicy I don’t eat it anymore, unless they’ve changed it. As for Taco Bell, I can understand if people don’t like it. That’s personal taste. What baffles me is when people say “I can’t eat there anymore” with the stated or unstated addendum that it makes them sick. I just dont’ see any special ingredients in it that would. ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-terrible-about-taco-bell/329974/69 "2005-11-10T15:13:11Z")
Taco Bell is okay. I don’t care if it’s not real Mexican or Tex-Mex, it’s just something to eat. ---
**Author:** ![rivulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rivulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rivulus)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-terrible-about-taco-bell/329974/70 "2005-11-10T20:06:28Z")
> [@Harmonious Discord](#): > > I ate three times at a chain restaurant. The service sucked, the cleanliness was sub standard, and the prices expensive. What is this service you speak of? ---
**Author:** ![Exgineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-terrible-about-taco-bell/329974/71 "2005-11-10T20:28:10Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > If you like spicy food, I recommend going over to Shalimar and ordering their samosa chat. It comes with yogurt, so you’d think that’d cool it down, right? Negative…it’s so spicy I don’t eat it anymore, unless they’ve changed it. If it’s too spicy for you it’s probably way too spicy for me. I like a little heat for accent in appropriate foods, but I’m not trying to blister my face off. My wife might like that though. Thanks for the recommendation. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_in\_second\_hand\_clothing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9d8465/32.png) [@wolf\_in\_second\_hand\_clothing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_in_second_hand_clothing)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-terrible-about-taco-bell/329974/72 "2005-11-10T20:42:00Z")
Taco Bell’s beef and potato burrito is vastly inferior to Taco John’s. TB uses chunks of potato that I suspect are molded out of papier mache. Taco John’s uses their fried golden brown potato oles. And they put stuff like tomatoes and sour cream on it. There really is no comparison. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-terrible-about-taco-bell/329974/73 "2005-11-10T23:40:23Z")
Taco Bell? It’s a great place for those willing to settle for less. Why waste time on fresh food? Taco Bell tells its franchisees that most of its foods are “just add water” like dehydrated beans. Why waste time on variety? How many permuatations of tortilla, cheese, meat and beans exist, anyway? Why waste time on authenticity? One Mexican cantina that makes fresh pico de gallo is worth a million Taco Bells. I regret eating at Taco Bell every time I (rarely) go. I like spicy food and real Mexican food (especially Yucatecan cuisine). I will concede you can get a lot of food at Taco Bell for a few bucks. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-terrible-about-taco-bell/329974/74 "2005-11-10T23:51:13Z")
I don’t work for Taco Bell, and I’m not a super fan, but some defense is in order. [ul] [li]They don’t use dehydrated, just-add-water beans. They’re dried pintos, the same as I buy (well, I buy Peruvians, but you know what I mean). They’re cooked with water, salt, and shortening in a pressure cooker.[/li][li]They make fresh pico de gallo, except it’s not a very good recipe.[/li][li]Actually, all of their veggies are fresh, in the sense that they’re not frozen or canned (blame a bad manager if they’re not truly fresh).[/li][li]Their ground beef is made from fresh (not frozen, although possibly previously-frozen) ground beef. Spices are added. Nothing funny going on.[/li][/ul] That said, since I don’t regard it as Mexican food, I won’t say that it’s a good Mexican restaurant. But the food’s okay for the purpose that it serves. Hell, if good taste was all that were important, McDonald’s would have gone belly up ages ago. ---
**Author:** ![False\_God](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ee7513/32.png) [@False\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/False_God)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-terrible-about-taco-bell/329974/75 "2005-11-11T01:35:29Z")
Taco Bell is quasi-Mexican flavored fast food, rather than Mexican food. Not the same league at all as a real Mexican joint --the relationship is like that of "processed cheese food product"and decent Wisconsin cheddar. Having said that, I like it a lot, especially the chalupas and Mexican pizzas. When I worked in South Asia; I had the most unimaginable cravings for their product, and there ain’t no Taco Bell in Asia worth the name. There’s one in Singapore,sure, but they marinate their chicken in soy sauce, ginger and garlic and have no beans anywhere. How can Taco Bell have no beans? However, complaining about the Taco Bell in Singapore is like grousing that your Guinness is flat in Ouagadougu - that ain’t the point of the place. **Balthisar** , you buy Peruvians? I gotta deal for you on some low-mileage ones down here! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-terrible-about-taco-bell/329974.md?page=3)