Taco Bell Hidden Secrets

1. You can get married in Taco Bell in Las Vegas

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If anyone huge Taco Bell fans were wondering whether they could get married at Taco Bell (probably not many people), then the answer is YES. In 2017, the Las Vegas Cantina Chapel started marrying people and people's Taco Bell's marriage dreams came true.

2. The little chihuahua in the famous advert was stolen!

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Anyone remember the Chihuahua advert for Taco Bell? How could we not. The idea may have seemed different and original but really it was anything but. The executives of Taco Bell had approached Joseph Shields and Thomas Rinks about their very own creation which was 'Psycho Chihuahua'. The executives inquired and eventually didn't take them up on the idea. Instead they just stole it and took the idea of the Chihuahua anyway.

3. They were sued a helluva lot of money!

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Unsurprisingly this didn't exactly go down well with the creators of Psycho Chihuahua - I mean, why would it? So, they sued them for 30 million! Then to add another twist, Taco Bell tried to appeal it. And instead, they were sued another 42 million. It cost them 73 million in total, for a Chihuahua.

4. Only 35% beef...?

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In 2011 a company tried to sue Taco Bell because the advert for Taco Bell sold the taco meat filling. Yet, this company claimed it was only 35% beef. Taco Bell responded saying it was 100% beef. But after investigation  it showed it was 88%. Meaning there was a lot that wasn't beef in there, such as spices, water, oats (yes oats) and corn starch.

5. Taco Bell is hated in Mexico!

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Technically Taco Bell is classed as a Mexican. Yet it is basically hated in Mexico. It failed twice, once in the 1990s and then again in the 2000s. Taco bell calls the taco shell a tacostada which is a mix between tostada (toast) and a taco. Yeah, this does NOT go down well in Mexico at all.

6. The chicken is finally antibiotic free

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There's been a huge problem with the meat we consume containing antibiotics. It can cause us to develop a resistance to antibiotics which are a life saving medicine. Chicken at Taco Bell now doesn't contain antibiotics which can interfere with human's medication.

7. They wanted drunk people to come to Taco Bell

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A huge amount of Taco Bell's revenue at one point was from the late selling of food at the company. They sold themselves as the place to stop at night, the late night pit stop at Taco Bell. But, they became associated with drunken nights and it wasn't the kind of thing they wanted to be known for anymore.

8. You can actually visit the test kitchen

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You can go to the very test centre of Taco Bell. This is where all the new products are tried and tested. So, if it works in the test kitchen it can go to the stores. It opened in 2017 to the public and you have to make a reservation. It makes sense, test it on the public - the very people who will be consuming it!

9. The whole thing started out as Bell's Drive-in and Taco Tia

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The beginning of the journey started back in 1954 when Glen Bell started out in the fast food industry. He started with Bell's Drive-in and Taco Tia which sold international exotic foods. After he sold Taco Tia, and then in 1962 he opened his, and the world's, first ever Taco Bell.

10. They've tried some terrible food combos

 

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So Taco Bell are perfect by no means at all. And they have really tried some questionable things in their time. For example, there was the BLT taco. Bacon...on tacos?. If it sounds wring to you, then that's because it is. Let's not mix two perfectly good things together only to create a terrible concoction.

11. They have a very cheap range food

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So Taco Bell officially became a major player in the fast food industry when they started their mega cheap range. They stormed ahead with their low pricing in 1990s. It ranged from 59 cents, to 79 and 99. From here on, Taco Bell truly took off because students along with many others wanted to grab themselves some affordable food.

12. Taco Bell featured in a film

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Product placement is no surprise to us now. But in 1993 Taco Bell featured in Demolition Man after winning the war of the fast food franchises. All the restaurants in the movie were Taco Bell. And it was perfect for the company as the demographics of their audience match the most frequent customers of Taco Bell - 18-34 year old males.

13. A former Taco Bell employee opened up Der Weinershnitzel with no German background

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A boy named John Galardi was hired by Bell after he needed a job and showed a lot of good qualities. He reminded close with Bell and his husband and learned a lot. Eventually he took all his knowledge to open his own franchise and fast food chain. He let Bell's wife name it 'Der Weinerschnitzel'. None of them spoke a word of German, and they didn't even sell weineschnitzel in store. He later admitted it was a totally stupid name!

14. Mr Bell stole the idea behind Taco Bell

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There was a café called Mitla Café that was open until 2021, who used to make tacos including Taco Bell's signature, hard shell taco, ground beef cheese, tomatoes and lettuce. Bell opened up a hot dog stand opposite. Apparently he would go in, ask a lot of questions about tacos and then leave. He then started to sell tacos from his stand, and many years later he opened Taco Bell!

15. It actually has a healthy line of food

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You know when you're going to a fast food chain, you assume you're indulging in something not so healthy. But actually, the fresco at Taco Bell is not unhealthy at all. The range serves fresh bed and all of the under 200 calories with just a few grams of fat per serving.

16. They used to contain a LOT of salt

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Fast food is known for containing a LOT of salt. And Taco Bell is no different. The burrito collection used to contain 1000 milligrams of sodium in one of the burrito meals, which is an excessive amount of salt. But, it has been cut down by 15% and in the near future they aim to cut another 10%.

17. Yo quiero Taco Bell became renowned everywhere - but it was still a fail

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And worst of all, the Chihuahua adverts were not really worth it. Sales actually went down during the use of these adverts. The catchphrase 'Yo quiero Taco Bell' did become known everywhere and everyone was saying it, but sales dipped during the entire time of the Chihuahua.

18. It's not easy to be an employee

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If you think it's an easy job to work at Taco Bell then you're wrong. The menu changes constantly - and they have to remmeber ALL of the menu and prepare everything in the exact, particular way. At Taco Bell the preparation methods have to be done very exact. When things are constantly switching up it can be difficult to keep track!

19. There's a huge amount of food waste

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Big companies are a big cause of food waste. So much is thrown out, it is a very disposable environment. It's not just Taco Bell, but they are certainly another culprit. Everything served out at Taco Bell is weighed on the digital scale has to be precise, if not, the whole item will go straight in the bin!

20. A lot of the food is already made

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lot of the food at Taco Bell is already half pre-made. For example, the beef already comes half prepared, a bag with all of the spices already mixed in. It then just goes straight into the boiling water, in the bag, to be cooked and there you have it - it's ready.

21. If you want to be quick - don't ask for potatoes

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The potatoes will definitely add time to your wait, even up to around 20 minutes. But this is because all of the potatoes and the chalupa is all cooked fresh when they're ordered. Surely that's worth it! Nobody wants soggy chips that are kinda cold by the time you eat them.

22. The Dorito shell is actually just fry seasoning

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The Dorito shell we all go crazy for is not as complicated as it sounds. It's actually just the normal shell which is coated on each side with fry seasoning! Does the lack of the mystery recipe make it taste less good? Nope. But we can guarantee it still wouldn't be as good if we tried this at home.

23. You can still get discontinued items

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Don't fear - if your favourite item suddenly goes off the menu or it has been discontinued you can still have it. Everything on the menu is customizable, partially for this reason. So if you had an old favourite that's not on the menu, you can create it anyway! This way nobody will be disappointed.

24. Taco Bell changes all over the world

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Taco Bell is by no means the same all over the world. What you'll find in the US in comparison to other countries will differ a lot. In fact, in some countries you can order a naked burrito...if you order this in other countries they'll wonder what you are talking about!

25. Some Taco Bells are very upmarket

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Taco Bell is at the end of the day, a fast food restaurant. It's not exactly where we'd go for a romantic date night or as a luxury treat. Yet, in California there is a very upmarket Taco Bell trying to expand the appeal to different markets. They even have frosé, as well as expensive artwork and luxury décor.

26. There's a Taco Bell hotel

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Perhaps you love Taco Bell so much that you'd love everything Taco Bell. And now, you can actually stay at the Taco Hotel in Palm Springs, California! It's very nice too. If you are a huge fan or you know someone who is then here's a present idea sorted. Although it's not exactly cheap...

27. By 2025 is should be totally eco friendly

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We've heard pledges from a lot of big countries that they will at some point in the not so near future be completely eco friendly. Sometimes its 2030, sometimes its 2050. But Taco Bell have pledged that they will try by the year of 2025. Which, is better than most companies so we will see if it happens!

28. They started a petition to make the taco emoji a thing

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knew emojis were such a serious business? Taco Bell clearly thought it was essential that the taco had its own place on the emoji keyboard and went as far as to create a change.org petition. And, they started a very lively Twitter debate about getting the emoji made. It worked!

29. There IS a secret menu

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Okay, there seems to be a big debate about secret menus. But, people claim that there really is a secret menu at Taco Bell. Some fast food chains do not have them, such as McDonald's, it's just a myth. But try it out at Taco Bell and ask for the Hulk. If you love guacamole then you'll be very happy with this choice.

30. The same company owns Pizza Hut and KFC

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It's not just Taco Bell, the same company now owns KFC and Pizza Hut. In fact, recently the fast food chain giant has declared that they will overtake McDonalds as the biggest fast food chain company. These three companies are popular world wide. That is a LOT of money's worth.

31. The worst things ever on the Taco Bell menu: Seafood Salad

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There was a very traumatising point in history when Taco Bell really tried to serve seafood, like it would be a great hit... spoiler alert, it wasn't. They tried to make fun of McDonald's Filet-O-Fish while revealing their own Seafood Salad - but the Salad was laughed off the menu, while the Filet-O-Fish remains strong!

32. The Bacon Club Chalupa

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This one sounds delicious, so what's the problem? The chalupa had a soft shell topped with favorites like chicken (and bacon of course), lettuce, cheese, tomatoes and ranch dressing. But the problem was that, for some reason, the bacon really didn't work well with this taco, and it was taken off the menu.

33. The Black Jack Taco

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So we have here another taco - what could go wrong? It's Taco Bell, after all. Well, the Black Jack Taco was basically a standard taco, just with a completely black shell. Instead of making it popular with this unique feature, the black shell actually resulted in, er... some less-than-normal colored poop in its customers. Yikes.

34. The BLT Soft Taco

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We've only just spoken about the failure of a bacon and taco combination, but here we are again - you can't be mad at them for giving it another go! Unfortunately this one didn't pan out either. This was the Bell's attempt at a Bacon Lettuce and Tomato sandwich - the problem was, it works as a sandwich, but didn't work as a taco shell.

35. The Biscuit Taco

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The Biscuit Taco was Taco Bell's attempt at a legendary breakfast item - because we know fast food chains like to create a hit for those early morning eaters. It was like their waffle taco, but made of biscuit instead. But apparently it didn't taste great, and it was kicked off the menu.

36. Chicken Caesar Grilled Stuffed Burrito

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This was a burrito spin on the popular Chicken Caesar salad, so you might think it had a good chance of working. With this one it was a bit tragic because actually it tasted fine and there was nothing bad about it - it's just that not enough people were ordering it, so they took it off the menu!

37. The Chicken Club Burrito

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So this one had all the chicken club favorites (chicken, tomatoes, lettuce) and then - once again - added bacon, for whatever reason they thought it would work by now! It didn't. But you know what? It wasn't because of the bacon this time - it was actually because of the chicken! It just wasn't good enough.

38. The Cheetos Burrito

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This one was based on the foundation of a classic and delicious burrito that people know and love - with beef, cheese and rice - and give it a unique spin by adding Cheetos to it. It doesn't sound too bad seeing as it's worked with a Dorito mashup before, but this one was available only for a short amount of time before they got rid of it for good!

39. Naked Chicken Chips

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Taco Bell was regularly trying to branch out with some new menu sides, like Nacho Fries, and sometimes it worked. But the problem with their Chicken Chips was that people didn't come to Taco Bell for something they could get at KFC - nobody wanted them!

40. The Naked Egg Taco

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The name doesn't sound too appealing, does it? So that's a great start. The kindest things that this taco has been called include 'greasy' and 'messy' - as you'd expect from the 'taco shell' actually being a whole folded egg! It was introduced as a breakfast item, only to be taken off the menu... then to be put back on for a bit, before being permanently removed! Crazy.

41. The Waffle Taco

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When you go to Taco Bell, you want Mexican food - no doubt about it. What you don't want is a soggy waffle. This was an attempt of Taco Bell's to add something exciting to the breakfast menu - but it wasn't Mexican, and it wasn't exciting. Unsurprisingly, it flopped.

42. Fully Loaded Nachos

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The tragic story behind this one is that it's a typical case of a great food item that just wasn't selling enough, so it had to be taken off the menu to make way for a new item that was going to sell! Although the nachos and their toppings were delicious, it only lasted a year.

43. The Spicy Chicken Crunchwrap Supreme

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So this menu item was sort of sneakily faded out off the menu, as though they didn't want people to know it had been taken away. And understandably apparently, because there was uproar from a Facebook group that petitioned to get it back on the menu! Unfortunately, it never happened.

44. The 'Border Bell' Restaurants

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As well as the worst food items on the Taco Bell menu, there was also the flop of the 'Border Bell' restaurants. In case you didn't know about this, Border Bell was a sister chain of Taco Bell that was attempted but was such a failure that it's rare to even find info on it nowadays!

45. The French Toast Chalupa

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It seems that Taco Bell have a track record for trying to make new breakfast items - and failing spectacularly. We don't know why they're so obsessed with the breakfast experiments specifically! This had a 'taco shell' made from French Toast... but it didn't even make it past the initial testing stage!

46. The Firecracker Burrito

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So this idea came from those tasty 'Pop Rocks' that fizz in your mouth - which is a great idea for a candy, but do you really want to eat a spicy burrito based on that concept? They served the popping crystals alongside the taco so that customers could put it on themselves for the 'firecracker' experience. Great idea... until it wasn't. It didn't last!

47. Cinnamon Twists

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In theory, they sound like they'd be quite a good option - especially around the festive period. But despite this menu item actually still being on the menu, it's not particularly a fan favorite... People have complained the twists are cold and bland, and that Taco Bell could do with an actually good

dessert option!

48. Power Bowls

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This is Taco Bell's attempt at a more healthy option - but do you really want something healthy when you're making the choice to go to a fast food chain? The problem with this one, though, is that people claim it's far too expensive for what you get - while others say if they wanted to eat something like this, they'd go somewhere else! Ouch.

49. Cheesy Roll-Ups

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More like a... cheese flat pack? That's been sat on. Twice. The offence of this menu option is that it's just far too simple - so much so that it's just basically nothing. It could work really well if you got a huge tortilla wrap packed with cheese, but this just leaves something missing - namely, the cheese.

50. Nacho Fries

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In theory, this sounds delicious, so you might be wondering how there's a problem with this Taco Bell item that's still going today. The main complaint about this one is that customers don't ever feel like they're eating them fresh - they're always lukewarm or soggy! Nice.