# 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:** 6
### Author:  [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2020, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915/101 "2020-06-27T02:11:04Z")
> [@peccavi](#):
>
> I’m still not going to eat there (and there is one only two blocks from my home).
I think you should try it, if for no other reason than it’s a cultural touchstone that people are expected to know. Who knows, it might be your favorite food ever. And your reasons against (salty, greasy, precooked, poor representation of cuisine) are common to loads of popular restaurants.
---
### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2020, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915/102 "2020-06-27T02:11:16Z")
> [@peccavi](#):
>
> I’m still not going to eat there (and there is one only two blocks from my home)
But think how much more well-informed your complaints could be!
---
### Author:  [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2020, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915/103 "2020-06-27T02:23:21Z")
> [@jz78817](#):
>
> > [@peccavi](#):
> >
> > They go overboard with their hot sauce and my perception is that some of the heat is artificially added (I like hot sauce like Cholula or Tapatio a lot, but hate it when a restaurant adds heat to food just to test how much pain I can withstand)
>
> I can assure you they do no such thing. As far as I’m concerned, even their hottest add-on sauce barely rates a 1 out of 5 for heat.
Their Diablo sauce ain’t bad though. I’d give it maybe a 2 out of 5 for heat.
---
### Author:  [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2020, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915/104 "2020-06-27T02:24:09Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#):
>
> And your reasons against (salty, greasy, precooked, poor representation of cuisine) are common to loads of popular restaurants.
Oh, I know. Taco Bell isn’t on the top of my list of restaurants to avoid.
---
### Author:  [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2020, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915/105 "2020-06-27T03:32:05Z")
I think Taco Bell just sucks, no matter what you call it. I don’t get the love for Chipotle, either.
There’s a Mexican restaurant near me with a sign that reads “Real Mexican food made by real Mexicans”. I’m not sure what I think about that and the place is a bit of a dive but their burritos sure are tasty. Plus they have Mexican Cokes; I pretend that I can tell the difference.
---
### Author:  [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2020, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915/106 "2020-06-27T19:38:43Z")
The best inauthentic Mexican food is at Taco Time. Taco Bell doesn’t hold a candle to them. And their hot sauce is much better than Taco Bell’s watery spice sauce, or whatever it is.
---
### Author:  [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2020, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915/107 "2020-06-28T15:54:03Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#):
>
> 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?
I agree 100%. Don’t worry about the food’s supposed origins. Worry about whether you like it. It’s like the ridiculous arguments about whether New York pizza or Chicago pizza is “real” pizza. They’re two different things. Eat whichever one you’re in the mood for!
> [@Mike\_Mabes](#):
>
> Off topic a bit but do most people eat in the car after going to a drive-thru?
It depends on how hungry I am, and whether I’m in the middle of a long drive. I will definitely order different fast food if I’m going to eat it while driving.
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#):
>
> I can’t remember the last time I saw a non-fast food restaurant dedicated to German or Irish cuisine.
Wait. There’s German and Irish fast food? In the United States? We must be using a different definition of fast food.
---
### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2020, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915/108 "2020-06-28T16:32:24Z")
This is partially correct. Taco Time is far superior to Taco Bell and their hot sauce is superb. But I’m not willing to cede them top spot just yet. There is always Del Taco to consider.
---
### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2020, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915/109 "2020-06-28T16:39:05Z")
> [@Gary\_Robson](#):
>
> Wait. There’s German and Irish fast food? In the United States? We must be using a different definition of fast food.
In the post I was replying to, a poster said that there was “almost no” German or Irish fast food. I responded that there isn’t that much German or Irish non-fast food either (at least not in the sense of whole restaurants dedicated to it).
I don’t think anyone was really claiming that there is German or Irish fast food. Although I remember there used to be a chain called [Sandy’s](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy%27s) that had a Scottish motif.
---
### Author:  [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2020, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915/110 "2020-06-28T16:46:13Z")
I still maintain that the foundation of American fast food is of German origin:
hamburger-\> hamburger
frankfurter-\> hot dog
pretzels
Germans are the largest ethnicity in the USA and their food became our food although in an evolved form. Not unlike:
Mexican street taco-\> Taco Bell taco
Margherita Pizza-\> Pizza Hut/ Dominos
---
### Author:  [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2020, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915/111 "2020-06-28T17:01:55Z")
Germans do have fast food: the _curry wurst,_ a kind of sausage with curried ketchup-like sauce. And more broadlly speaking all kinds of sausages are available as fast food everywhere (in shopping streets, railway stations, airports). However, it doesn’t seem to catch on in other countries.
---
### Author:  [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2020, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915/112 "2020-06-28T17:06:18Z")
Anthony Bourdain found hot dogs all over the world: 😉
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TXkdZGeCio)
[ ](https://vimeo.com/5527655)
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1vgphHit98)
---
### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2020, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915/113 "2020-06-28T17:07:02Z")
I’m also not impressed by the Lack of Authenticity argument.
Agree with others here that Taco Bell’s problem is crappy food. It would take a certain amount of desperation to get me to eat more of their dog food-filled tortillas “pepped” up with bad watery hot sauce.
---
### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2020, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915/114 "2020-06-28T17:07:07Z")
Correction: Taco Bell wasn’t modeled on Mexican street tacos but the ones served at the Mitla Cafe in San Bernardino, a sit-down joint on the West Side that has been the heart of the city’s Mexican community since the 1930s.
---
### Author:  [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2020, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915/115 "2020-06-28T17:44:39Z")
> [@silenus](#):
>
> There is always Del Taco to consider.
Up until recently Del Taco had a few “street tacos” on the menu which were surprisingly good.
---
### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2020, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915/116 "2020-06-28T17:46:56Z")
They were, weren’t they? For corporate mass-produced street tacos, anyway. 🌮
---
### Author:  [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)
#### Post date: [June 29, 2020, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915/117 "2020-06-29T01:00:47Z")
> [@madsircool](#):
>
> > [@What\_Exit](#):
> >
> > Main problem with Taco Bell is not authenticity, it is that is sucks.
>
> Nachos Bellgrande and a couple tacos is pretty tasty imo. I still dont understand why they dropped their ground beef burrito.
Can’t go wrong with a Crunchwrap Supreme either. Yowza!
---
### Author:  [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)
#### Post date: [June 29, 2020, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915/118 "2020-06-29T04:32:20Z")
> [@madsircool](#):
>
> I still maintain that the foundation of American fast food is of German origin:
>
> hamburger-\> hamburger
>
> frankfurter-\> hot dog
>
> pretzels
>
> Germans are the largest ethnicity in the USA and their food became our food although in an evolved form.
Agreed. I was watching Taste the Nation by Padma Lakshmi (on Hulu) and on the Chinese American episode there was a discussion about how Chop Suey and a lot of Americanized Chinese food simply doesn’t exist in China. But no one tries to claim Panda Express isn’t Chinese food. It’s Americanize Chinese food. In the same respect, hot dogs and hamburgers are Americanized German food.
---
### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [June 29, 2020, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915/119 "2020-06-29T04:36:35Z")
Taco Bell is the best Mexican food in Hawaii. The wife and I like it just fine.
I’ve heard they’ve entered Thailand since we left, but Thailand actually does have some decent Mexican-food restaurants.
---
### Author:  [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)
#### Post date: [June 29, 2020, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915/120 "2020-06-29T18:01:50Z")
My first exposure to most ethnic foods happened here in the U.S. when I was in my teens and early 20s. At that point, a Mexican restaurant in California and a Mexican restaurant in New Hampshire were two totally different things. Then I got a job that involved some international traveling.
I learned a lot:
1. We (Americans) have a completely distorted view of food in other countries. There is no single “Indian” or “Mexican” or “German” cuisine. It varies widely by region, and exploring those regional differences is a joyous thing.
2. In that same vein, the food in resorts and restaurants catering to international clientele is very different than the food in a restaurant a few blocks away that caters to locals. I’ve learned to avoid the former and eat where the locals eat.
3. I don’t care about “pure” recipes. Mexican food in Germany was very good even if it’s completely different from Mexican food Mexico (or in the U.S.)
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915.md?page=5)
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyones-main-complaint-about-taco-bell-the-fact-its-not-authentic-mexican-food/855915.md?page=7)