Headquartered in Irvine, California, Taco Bell is an American chain of fast-food restaurants that serves a variety of Tex-Mex foods including tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos and a variety of other value menu items. A subsidiary of Yum! Brands Inc., a Fortune 500 company that operates a number of licensed U.S. fast-food brands, Taco Bell serves more than 2 billion customers each year in more than 6,500 restaurants. Taco Bell was founded by Glen Bell in 1962 upon the opening of the first Taco Bell restaurant in Downey, California. The company grew rapidly and in 1970, Taco Bell went public with 325 restaurants. In 1978, PepsiCo purchased Taco Bell from Glen Bell, who became a PepsiCo shareholder. In the past few years, Taco Bell has made a number of great additions to its menu. Below is a list of the top five game-changing Taco Bell menu additions of all-time.
5. Dollar Cravings Menu
In August of this year, Taco Bell announced the introduction of its new Dollar Cravings Menu, a complete and diverse array of Taco Bell menu items for only a dollar. Expanding upon the company’s previous value menu offerings, 11 new additions were added to the dollar menu, including a Beefy Fritos Burrito, a Shredded Chicken Mini Quesadilla, a Cheese Roll-Up, a Caramel Apple Empanada, and Cinnamon Twists.
Photo by tacobell.com
4. Chalupas
One of the oldest additions on this list and easily one of the most popular Taco Bell menus items today, the Chalupa is loaded with everything in a taco and then some. The Chalupa Supreme features a crispy, chewy chalupa shell filled with the customer’s choice of seasoned beef, marinated or grilled all-white-meat chicken, or thick cut steak, sour cream, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, and a three cheese blend.
Photo by tacobell.com
3. The Quesarito
One of Taco Bell’s newest menu items is the Quesarito, a burrito stuffed inside of a quesadilla. The Quesarito is a burrito filled with seasoned beef, Latin rice, Chipotle sauce, and sour cream all wrapped up in a grilled cheese quesadilla. The burrito/quesadilla mashup is also available with shredded chicken or thick cut steak. Earlier this year during the item’s test run in Oklahoma City, the Quesarito was the best-selling product in a test market since this list’s next item.
Photo by laweekly.com
2. Doritos Locos Tacos
The launch of Taco Bell’s Doritos Locos Taco on March 8, 2012 was treated as if the event marked the beginning of a new fast-food Renaissance. The Doritos Locos Taco Supreme features all the ingredients of a regular Taco Supreme, but is made famous by its Nacho Cheese, Cool Ranch, or Fiery Doritos shell. The item was so popular, customers waited outside the chain’s restaurants for a taste of the new Cool Ranch flavor in 2013.
Photo by fastcompany.com
1. Taco Bell Breakfast
If the country’s reaction to the Doritos Locos Tacos wasn’t enough, customer’s reactions to Taco Bell’s new breakfast menu was earth-shattering. Currently serving breakfast nationwide, Taco Bell took yet another step towards the fast-food pedestal with this year’s brand new breakfast menu. Riding on a clever marketing campaign involving Ronald McDonald, the company offers Grilled Breakfast Burritos, Waffle Tacos, A.M. Crunchwraps, coffee, and orange juice and plans to release even more breakfast items in the not too distant future.
Photo by GQ.com
Lead Photo by William Thomas Cain/Getty Images
