I am 50 years old and I'm about to try Taco Bell for the first time. What should I try first?
I am 50 years old and I'm about to try Taco Bell for the first time. What should I try first?
A Taco Bell finally opened up where I live, and we are going to go try it tonight. What should I try and what should I avoid?
Of course I know I should try another restaurant and avoid Taco Bell, that's too obvious, but what is life without a little Adventure.
Legit, your first thing to try is a taco. One soft, one crunchy. That's actually the best and simplest food they have. You'll get an idea if you actually like the way they tend to spice things, and that matters because it's where most of the flavor comes in. Then try the dorito version. It's disgusting, but in a good way.
There's really nothing to outright avoid unless you have a sensitive gut. They don't have much that's super spicy, and they mark it clearly. But the grease factor runs very high on all their beef options, so if that's not something your gut likes, you will be spending some of your next day jogging back and forth to the toilet. Since that grease tends to pick up any spice, the hotter options amplify it.
Being real, Taco Bell doesn't deserve the hate it gets any more than any other fast food. It ain't real Mexican, it ain't real southwestern or texmex either. It just takes "inspiration" from that kind of thing.
Now, back in my younger days, running d&d games with other teenagers and early 20s monkeys, taco bell was the only option late at night for those long sessions. So I ate way more of it than I should have lol.
My personal favorite was the 7 layer burrito. That shit was bomb. But you can mimic it. Order a cheesy bean & rice burrito change it to "fresco", add three cheese blend, lettuce, guac, plus tomatoes and sour cream. You will be farting! But it is worth it.
Now, the "Mexican pizza" is another classic that they're famous for. My best friend was super into them, it was all he ever got back in the nineties. It's not bad. Not great, but not bad either. Kinda just a taco with extra steps, but the way you end up eating it has the ingredients hit your tongue in different ways.
There's the black bean crunch wrap supreme too. It's a giant, fart causing calorie bomb, but the black beans really are nice.
I find chalupas and gorditas to be a gimmick that isn't worth the extra cost over tacos.
One of the surprisingly addictive things they have is the grilled cheese burrito. It's kinda nuts. 700+ calories. Beef, rice, cheese sauce, sour cream, cheese mix, chipotle sauce, and "fiesta strips". Now, I have no fucking clue what is in the fiesta strips. Maybe it's chitlins made from the guts of immigrants, maybe it's a magic spell, but fuck me running, they make that fucking burrito rock. It is a gut bomb from hell, but it's worth it.
You kinda gotta try the cinnamon twists too, even though they're kinda shitty. It's like the downs syndrome version of a churro.
Thing with Taco Bell though, you gotta get the sauce packets. Mild is mostly pointless tbh. It adds a little zing, but you have to use two packs per taco to really notice it's there. The hot is probably not going to do your gut any favors, but calling it hot is a bit of a stretch when it comes to spiciness in the mouth. The fire though? You'll know it's there even if you just add a little. It'll make your lips tingle a little. I don't recommend the Diablo unless you like heat over flavor. If you really like heat, buy a better sauce that tastes good as well. It'll light you up decently, but that's really all it brings imo. The other "levels" have decent flavor under their heat.
Their quesadillas are all "okay". They're basic, mild flavored, but can fill you up decently. If I go that route, I like little extra sour cream on the side and a generous drizzle of sauce.
Again, don't expect this to be some kind of 5star dining. It's cheap, it's fast, and it's designed to hit you with enough salt and fats wrapped in some carbs that you'll feel plenty full. If you want something with nuanced flavors and depth, taco bell ain't it. But there's really no other chain food like it.
Marijuana
Probably 90% of their food is the same stuff wrapped up in a different shape, they're spooning the same meat into the tacos as the burritos as the crunch wrap etc.
So if your goal is to get a full sense of what taco bell has to offer, get a hard taco, a soft taco, a Doritos taco, and a chalupa, mix and match the meats, sauces, and other toppings, and you'll have a pretty representative sample of most of the menu.
As far as personal recommendations, I like steak chalupas, chicken crunchwraps with chipotle sauce, any variety of their grilled burrito, and their cinnamon twists. Sometimes they have a limited time specialty item that's pretty good, not sure what they're pushing now but always worth checking out what they have.
I will also say that if you don't get a Baja blast you're doing it wrong
Dunno fam. You might be too old to start eating taco bell. U might die.
First step of being new to Taco Bell:
My favorite thing is the Chicken Baja Gordita, it's an older menu item that they will still make, love the baja sauce.
Imodium
Mexican pizza before they take it off the menu again. Also, ask for all of the hot sauces. The workers won't care.
BRING BACK THE DAMNED FIESTA VEGGIE BURRITO, TACO BELL. YOU HAVE THE INGREDIENTS.
Their breakfast burritos are good, cheap, and a great value for your money. Use their app, and you can get free stuff regularly, too.
EDIT: I'm talking about their lowest tier breakfast burritos. The higher levels are not worth it.
You need to build up tolerance first. Go slow with a simple taco, otherwise you digestion gonna do civil war.
THEY DISCONTINUED MY FAVORITE ITEM: THE 7 LAYER BURRITO. BRING IT BACK TACO BELL, YOU HEAR?
I didn't realize lemmy was popular enough to bother advertising on yet.
I personally love the tacos because they are cheap tacos. There is a lot of flavor, but it's simple. I'm also a fan of the crunchwrap supreme. The crunch paired with the soft outside it delightful. I always order the 12 pack, all soft shell, and a crunchwrap. I used to get two steak quesoritos instead of the crunchwrap, but I think they're gone, or they're too expensive. Diablo sauce isn't tasty, avoid it even if you like spicy. The fire is the best balance imo, but I would like more heat personally.
I'm partial to the beefy 5 layer burrito and the cheesy bean and rice burrito.
@lazylion_ca it's a fast food version of Mexican.
I like crunchy tacos with one packet of hot sauce per taco. Crunchy taco supreme is good. Burrito Supreme is good, too.
Sauce is very important, though. You have to have it. Start with the hot sauce (orange packets), and work your way up if you need to. They used to have green sauce that was pretty good, but it's only available in grocery stores now. 🙄
For a drink, you need to try a Baja Blast. It's like their signature thing. Very sweet, has its own flavor you can't really describe.
Just keep in mind that it's fast food. It's not casual fast like Chipotle or Panera - - more Macdonald's or Wendy's.
One thing Taco Bell has had over a lot of fast food places for a long time is that vegetarians and vegans can actually get edible meals there. It's basically all of the same ingredients, just mixed around differently.
They also have bowls you can get. They're not terrible. I prefer my old standard menu items that haven't changed in 40 years, though.
The other thing that just occurred to me - - most of us in the thread responding to you are suggesting their old timey comfort favorites. I'm no different (54 years old and had my first Taco Bell when I was 9), so at 50, your palate may not understand or have the associations with this place that ours do.
I'm really curious what you're going to think about it, though. I think most people going in with realistic expectations don't wind up hating it, though.
Try to prepare for disappointment. I was never a huge fan, but would have it occasionally. Had it for the first time in a decade or so a few years ago and didn't enjoy any part of the meal (various different stuff at an office party) :P
If you enjoy it, that's wonderful; it's just never really been a thing I look forward to, and I hope you don't have too good an image in your head.
Quesadilla with extra creamy jalapeno sauce.
Baja Blast with whatever you get. Its the best god damn thing about taco bell and im STILL FUCKING PISSED IT LOST THAT ELECTION TO BE YEAR ROUND IN STORS LIKE 7 YEARS AGO
I recommend Charmin Ultra Strong.
Dorito locos tacos, or DLT as the workers summarize for me but I am too embarrassed to use myself
A Seven-layer Steak Burrito & a beef meximelt..... about 12 years ago....
The chicken chalupa is pretty good.
Crunch wrap & fries supreme (🇨🇦)
The fries supreme are just a shadow of their former self though, 20 years ago they were the best fast food item you could get
Cheesy Gordita Crunch with the nacho cheese shell on the inside.
All I get at Taco Bell any more is the steak power bowl and the cheese potatoes. The bowl is basically just a deconstructed burrito and the cheesy potatoes are cubed, fried potatoes covered in nacho cheese and sour cream.
Their French fries are also hella good; they're like their own kind of cheese dust covered fry. But the cheese potatoes are just better
Steak grilled cheese burrito
I feel like the crunchy tacos there are such a staple of their menu, that I'd start there
Tacos
The jizz, shit, and piss burrito is a classic.
I can recommend the Chalupa and Crunch Wrap Supreme
I hope you have some Charmin ultra soft ready to go for tomorrow morning
Soft shell tacos. Easy and does great with any of the sauces. I usually do two fire sauce and one diablo per taco.
Honestly? Just their basic tacos. Maybe the Doritos version if they still have those. But just get a couple of the hard tacos with some Fire sauce. If you like those, you may like other things on the menu; if you don’t, you probably won’t like any of it. They’re Taco Bell distilled.
Going to a real taco restaurant.
I like the doritos tacos
Beef chalupa
a better restaurant would be the best thing to try first.
The $5 box if they have it. Maybe in the app or online.
No matter what you get you have to get hot sauce, and definitely not mild.
Permanently Deleted
Prayer
Doritos locos tacos supreme with hot sauce, chicken quesadilla with extra sauce, cheesy gordita crunch.
All the people who are clearly getting food poisoning from their local Taco Bells should really report them.
It's not normal to get diarrhea from eating out, even at Taco Bell.
That the toilet facilities are up to (your) standard.
Don’t.
Cyanide. It'll save you a lot of trouble.
Black bean chalupa
you should try not
You should avoid Taco Bell...
The Exit, and the Food.
j/k (...except not that:-P)
You can try to find a Chipotle instead, and get one of their delicious burritos?
Taco Smell is best-known for being (a) cheap, and uh... oh also, (b) leading the world in how little meat processed byproduct they can put into something and still call it "beef" (I think the answer is 0% now, but when it started it was like 1/3rd iirc).
You know your digestive tract better than anyone, but I would suggest some kind of a variety pack. Like all Mexican-inspired cardboard food products (Mexico would legit and rightly go to war with anyone daring to call that Mexican food btw:-P), aside from the more special and unique items, it's mostly the same ingredients inside (with varying spices added) but what makes it present different is the crunch factor, which really does impact the experience.
Seriously though, if it were me I would go earlier in the day, b/c putting that stuff into your gut late in the day for anyone over 20 sometimes does not sit well. Though it is... tasty, and you will enjoy trying something different:-P (but no lie, better for lunch than dinner).
Have fun with it!