Taco Bell New Limited Menu

[Alpha8472]

Taco Bell is removing most of its menu items permanently. They claim that it is due to COVID-19. Starting August 13, 7 Layer Burrito, Nachos Supreme, Grilled Steak Soft Taco, Beefy Fritos Burrito, Spicy Tostada, Chips & Dip, Triple Layer Nachos, Spicy Potato Soft Taco, etc. will be eliminated.

This means that the $1 menu will practically be gone. Now customers will have to choose more expensive items.

[kr.abs.swy]

Come on. They are not removing "most of (their) menu items permanently." They are selectively simplifying their menu. You're still going to be able to get tacos, burritos, quesadillas, etc. They are apparently trimming back some of the more unique items and the potato items. https://www.today.com/food/taco-bell-co ... ms-t187073

[Alpha8472]

I am very cheap, so I actually ordered most of these cheap items. I found that I could modify these items and get much more food than their rip off $5.99 combo boxes. Now I am stuck with paying more. I found that substituting potatoes or beans for meat was free. You could also make it fresco and get tomatoes added for free. What kind of taco place does not serve chips and dip?

[klkla]

Hopefully they keep the Chicken Shredded Burrito. That is the only item I ever order from them (with lettuce, tomato and onions added). As the article says they are very flexible about making substitutions and additions. Also, here in LA their drive-thru employees are very well trained and efficient.

[cjd]

I miss the Meal Deals they discontinued a few years ago. The closest thing was to order a shredded chicken burrito and nachos with cheese since they no longer had the Deals nor Doritos. It had gotten quite expensive and really had to order more food than I wanted, so I hadn't eaten there in a while

[storewanderer]

This isn't a chain I frequent but the few times I've been to one in the past 5 or so years, I noticed the menu seemed to have a lot of choices. The $1 menu (or $1.49-1.89 at some CA locations I went to) seemed solid with a lot of variety.

I find it interesting their new value menu has a "beef" (I use quotes for a reason here) burrito but the "beef" crunchy taco is over on the regular price side. Also interesting the "cheesy" (again using quotes for a reason) bean and rice burrito is on the value menu but then the regular bean burrito is over on the regular price side.

Pulling off such a large menu and getting the items made correctly can be a challenge. Plus preparing all of the different components and the hold times differing by item, etc. I can see how they may have gotten a little too aggressive with their menu variety. I am not sure what raw materials they are eliminating but it sounds like potato based raw ingredients are going.

There are a ton of reasons to simplify the menu. It gives people less to look at (so most will just pick from what is there and order faster) and it helps better promote items they want to promote so those items do not get "lost in the menu board" since there is too much on the menu. If a ton of people start customizing everything because the variety has been cut too far, then it will get to be a mess and it will be interesting to see how they handle that. However I expect most customers will just pick from what is on the new menu.

El Pollo Loco has done a similar menu simplification. They have severely cut variety (even without cutting raw materials out) over the years. Just a few bowls/salads now vs. at one point around when they did their IPO they had close to 8-10 different bowls and salads.

[klkla]

Taco Bell has changed so much since their beginning. What made them so successful in the beginning was that everything could be made from around a dozen ingredients. I can remember 12. Their might be a few more.

Flour tortillas (burritos), corn tortillas (enchiritos), tostada shells, taco shells and hamburger buns (they used to sell something that resembled a sloppy joe).

Ground beef and pinto beans.

Cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, black olives and enchilada sauce.

[jamcool]

You mean ground beef-like material that is half oat flour

[klkla]

I worked for them for a couple weeks when I was in High School. One of two fast food I aver had and they both only lasted two weeks.

Surprisingly it was real 100% real ground beef. They were actually strict about ingredient quality and would often decline product from the preferred supplier and buy from other vendors if the quality wasn't up to par. I doubt they have the kind of autonomy these days.

[storewanderer]

Taco Bell has changed so much since their beginning. What made them so successful in the beginning was that everything could be made from around a dozen ingredients. I can remember 12. Their might be a few more.

Flour tortillas (burritos), corn tortillas (enchiritos), tostada shells, taco shells and hamburger buns (they used to sell something that resembled a sloppy joe).

Ground beef and pinto beans.

Cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, black olives and enchilada sauce.

I remember in the 90's they did a "Border Lights" menu where they used things like extra lean ground beef, low fat or fat free sour cream, low fat or fat free cheese, etc. That was a lot of redundancy.

I didn't particularly like how Taco Bell served its nacho fries. The nacho fries sat in a bin in the back prep bar just like beans or beef sits. The employee then scooped the fries out (gloves were worn the few times I purchased) and into a cup with their hands, rather than using a tong or utensil as most places who serve fries do. One time (actually, the last time) I ordered the nacho fries I got what seems like a large handfull of fries that the employee decided to squish in order to fit into the cup. It is nice to be generous but what I ended up with was closer to a mashed potato than fries.