# Why is everyone's main complaint about Taco Bell the fact it's not "authentic Mexican food"?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [June 18, 2020, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915 "2020-06-18T18:33:43Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2020, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915/21 "2020-06-18T19:41:45Z")
> [@madsircool](#):
>
> I admit to being wooshed but then my Mom always said that I was ‘special’. We Californians can be a unique kind of snobbish though.
True dat. 😛
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2020, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915/22 "2020-06-18T19:48:48Z")
> [@dalej42](#):
>
> Exactly. I don’t need a lecture from every man bunned hipster telling me the only authentic Mexican is from some taqueria in the Mission District where no one speaks English, they don’t have a website and it’s been run by the family since 1967
Oddly enough, Taco Bell, in my experience, is actually pretty popular among hipsters, although you and I may hang out with different types of hipsters, I suppose. I mean, [here’s someone’s “hipster guide”](https://www.wattpad.com/131026580-hipster-guide-eat-taco-bell), and their fourth entry is “Eat Taco Bell.”
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### Author:  [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2020, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915/23 "2020-06-18T19:48:49Z")
To take another swing at the original question, why is this the main complaint about Taco Bell… what would other complaints be?
It’s messy AF to try to eat while driving or even sitting in a stopped car, which makes it kind of surprising how well it’s gotten over as a national drive-thru chain.
There’s the cliche about “Montezuma’s Revenge”, but hey… beans and heavily oily and/or fried food will get most digestive systems…
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### Author:  [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2020, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915/24 "2020-06-18T19:50:53Z")
> [@silenus](#):
>
> Sarcastically, actually. I thought the whole “Human Potential” bit would have made that obvious. But I guess they are un-installing the Sense of Humor function before transferring everything to Discourse.
I suspected as much, for the reason you stated.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2020, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915/25 "2020-06-18T19:51:32Z")
> [@madsircool](#):
>
> Nachos Bellgrande and a couple tacos is pretty tasty imo. I still dont understand why they dropped their ground beef burrito.
They dropped the Beef Burrito because truth in advertising would require them to call it a soylent burrito instead.
But you are correct - there are times when NachosBellGrande and a couple of Tacos Supreme are called for (usually after midnight!) 😃
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### Author:  [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2020, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915/26 "2020-06-18T19:55:46Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#):
>
> Main problem with Taco Bell is not authenticity, it is that is sucks.
Yeah, I never hear anyone say “It’s not really Mexican!” unless someone else was just silly enough to say that it’s their favorite Mexican restaurant. And, while the five ingredient thing is amusingly true (I read it in an Onion article ages ago, not a standup routine) I’ve never heard anyone say they won’t eat at Taco Bell. After all, there’s numerous restaurants coming up with different ways to serve bread, beef patties, cheese and a handful of veggies.
What I do hear is people say that meat tastes low quality or gives them the shits or otherwise disparage the food itself. I don’t personally hate it myself but the last time I went was pretty disappointing and I need to be a mood for that style of cheapo food.
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### Author:  [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2020, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915/27 "2020-06-18T19:56:55Z")
> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> Oddly enough, Taco Bell, in my experience, is actually pretty popular among hipsters, although you and I may hang out with different types of hipsters, I suppose. I mean, [here’s someone’s “hipster guide”](https://www.wattpad.com/131026580-hipster-guide-eat-taco-bell), and their fourth entry is “Eat Taco Bell.”
Hipsters also liked PBR, nuff said.
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### Author:  [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2020, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915/28 "2020-06-18T20:01:40Z")
The reason I’m making this topic right now BTW is #CancelTacoBell was a hashtag several hours ago and there was a lot of DONT EAT TACO BELL ITS NOT REAL MEXICAN FOOD ANYWAY comments, though I’ve always heard that complaint about Taco Bell for decades now.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2020, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915/29 "2020-06-18T20:05:48Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#):
>
> Hipsters also liked PBR, nuff said.
Hey, _I_ like PBR! (Uh-oh, is this one of these Jeff-Foxworthy-esque “you might be a hipster if …” skits?) Either that or Old Style is my everyday beer of choice in Casa Pulykamell.
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### Author:  [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2020, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915/30 "2020-06-18T20:09:51Z")
> [@madsircool](#):
>
> Partly. its a synthesis of Mexican derived food and the culinary tinkering of all Texans.
yep. and this kind of “tinkering” has gone on across the world for, well, forever. think of how closely the tomato is associated with Italian cuisine, yet the tomato is native to…
Central America.
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2020, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915/31 "2020-06-18T20:11:41Z")
> [@silenus](#):
>
> Sarcastically, actually. I thought the whole “Human Potential” bit would have made that obvious. But I guess they are un-installing the Sense of Humor function before transferring everything to Discourse.
Sorry, I didn’t pick up on the sarcasm either. Sarcasm doesn’t always come across clearly online; and somewhere, there’s someone who would have said that sincerely. (i.e. Poe’s Law.)
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### Author:  [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2020, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915/32 "2020-06-18T20:13:27Z")
> [@Asuka](#):
>
> The reason I’m making this topic right now BTW is #CancelTacoBell was a hashtag several hours ago and there was a lot of DONT EAT TACO BELL ITS NOT REAL MEXICAN FOOD ANYWAY comments, though I’ve always heard that complaint about Taco Bell for decades now.
Eat or don’t eat Taco because of how it taste to you and if it gets you sick. The rest is silly. How authentic do people this any Italian or Chinese chain are?
> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> Hey, _I_ like PBR! (Uh-oh, is this one of these Jeff-Foxworthy-esque “you might be a hipster if …” skits?) Either that or Old Style is my everyday beer of choice in Casa Pulykamell.
To each their own, but many to me it is crap. (Along with Taco Bell)
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2020, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915/33 "2020-06-18T20:14:25Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#):
>
> Everything gets adapted to the local tastes. For an international look at that sort of thing, check this out: [https://www.travelchannel.com/interests/food-and-drink/photos/fast-foods-gone-global](https://www.travelchannel.com/interests/food-and-drink/photos/fast-foods-gone-global) (but I saw it on Destination America, channel 286 on my DirecTV yesterday). You can’t buy a burger at the Indian McDonald’s, for instance, but they’ll deep fry you some paneer and slap it in a sammy—sounds awesome to me, actually. [Buy McDonald's Happy Meal Menu Online Order|McVeggie Happy Meal - McDelivery](https://www.mcdelivery.co.in/home/happy-meals)
Similarly, [Taco Bell has restaurants in India](https://www.tacobell.co.in/). The food looks similar, except no beef of course.
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### Author:  [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2020, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915/34 "2020-06-18T20:23:49Z")
> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> Oddly enough, Taco Bell, in my experience, is actually pretty popular among hipsters, although you and I may hang out with different types of hipsters, I suppose. I mean, [here’s someone’s “hipster guide”](https://www.wattpad.com/131026580-hipster-guide-eat-taco-bell), and their fourth entry is “Eat Taco Bell.”
Yup, forgot about that. When I was in college, going vegetarian was the thing and thus Taco Bell worked well as it fit a student budget.
The man bunned ‘authentic’ hipsters tend to be a bit older
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### Author:  [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2020, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915/35 "2020-06-18T20:29:14Z")
If you want fast, cheap food, your options are extremely limited, at least in large swaths of the country. Taco Bell is where you go when you’re tired of some variation of meat on a bun, which a vast majority of fast food is (and usually, more expensive). It is a good thing it exists, even if it isn’t authentic or even great food. It’s something _different_. Authenticity doesn’t play into at all.
I have adored Taco Bell since I was a small child. I still order a regular Bean Burrito from there with whatever else I get because you can’t get more comfort food than that for me.
I also have eaten as authentic mexican food (as you are going to get in the U.S.) and love that too. I don’t consider it degrading to authentic mexican food at all.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2020, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915/36 "2020-06-18T20:32:17Z")
Yeah, it’s hard to fuck up a bean burrito. I don’t know what Taco Bell puts in their beans, but they are different from , say, Del Taco’s beans. In a _good_ way, mind you!
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### Author:  [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2020, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915/37 "2020-06-18T20:35:37Z")
> [@silenus](#):
>
> Yeah, it’s hard to fuck up a bean burrito. I don’t know what Taco Bell puts in their beans, but they are different from , say, Del Taco’s beans. In a _good_ way, mind you!
El Pollo Loco fucked up their beans when they stopped simmering them with whole chilis (which I just loved eating). Rather than criticize these derivative Mexican fast food places maybe we could celebrate the gift of food that Mexico has gifted us. 🆒
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2020, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915/38 "2020-06-18T20:38:38Z")
Agreed. A thread awhile back polled people as to what cuisine they would choose if they could have only one. I chose Mexican because, like Chinese, Indian and any other cuisine that is geographically wide-spread, it is widely varied and infinitely adaptable.
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### Author:  [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2020, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915/39 "2020-06-18T20:40:24Z")
> [@madsircool](#):
>
> El Pollo Loco fucked up their beans when they stopped simmering them with whole chilis (which I just loved eating). Rather than criticize these derivative Mexican fast food places maybe we could celebrate the gift of food that Mexico has gifted us. 🆒
indeed. sometimes a couple of tacos from Toxic Hell are what I feel like, other times I’d rather chorizo or al pastor from Taqueria sin Limite.
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### Author:  [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2020, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915/40 "2020-06-18T20:48:10Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#):
>
> I like Taco Bell. I like Del Taco more, tho, except for their quesadillas. TB’s quesadillas are the bomb.
I also feel this way, Del Taco does have “fresher ingredients” at least that’s what they say and how they taste to me. But Del Taco quesadillas are worse than Taco Bell ones simply because Taco Bell puts some sort of “jalapeno sauce” on their quesadillas while Del Taco just has two cheeses as their Quesadilla gimmick.
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