When did TACO BELL Become Expensive?

10 years ago they used to have 69, 79, 89 and 99 cent items and the Chicken and rice burrito was 89 cents. I would get 3 and be stuffed. Delicious too.

This doesn’t exist now.

Yes, stuff becomes more expensive over time. Groundbreaking.

This is OP:

All fast food prices have increased higher than inflation in the past 10 years. I think they're pushing the limits of prices to see what the breaking point is after years of going the other way with the dollar menus.

On the very rare occasions I go to McDonalds, I can't walk out of there with an Egg McMuffin, hash brown and coffee for less than $7-$8. This used to be my go-to morning meal 10 years ago (I was fatter then), and it used to cost $3.45.

A $5 Boxed meal is the only way to go now. You get a medium drink instead of a large, but still get 3 food items.

When you're dirt poor super-cheap food is a lifesaver. And I do indulge this from time to time.

Otherwise, if I'm doing okay financially and I run across stuff that's so cheap I can't believe it, it makes me wary.

$9 for those items today? Sure! $4 for those items today? Hmm...

I think all fast food should go back to serving high quality food, charge more and pay workers better and give good benefits.

Do they still have the 99 cent Tacos and a Bean Burrito for $1.10 (?) at Taco Bell?

Oh how I miss the 3/ $1 bean burrito specials from the 80s.

Does Jack In The Box still have the 3 tacos for $1??????

It’s like they don’t know it’s cheaper to just buy the ExLax directly and bypass their meals.

I think the youngsters with jobs don't know how to cook for themselves because their families never taught them. All they know is get in the car and get some fast food. This is because this is what their parents did because it takes two jobs jobs to have a median American lifestyle and no one cooks from scratch anymore.

R7 unfortunately most are increasing prices and lowering quality.

I’m REALLY regretting my lunch decision now.

Get any of the $5 boxes and multiple items from the dollar menu. You can feed 2-3 people for $10.

You used to be able to feed 3 people off $5

R13 It's actually cheaper now if you take advantage of the value meals. Carl's Jr. and Mcdonalds have cheap nuggets and 2 sandwiches for $5.

I just shit my pants! It’s running down my leg.

It may still be fast food but it sure isn't cheap food any longer.

Answer: Learn to cook!

OP Boy, you is nassy!

Little Ceasers have $5 pizza. Best value anywhere.

On the Papa Johns app you can get a Medium pizza carry out for $6

The only fast food I really eat is Panera. I love their salads but it's quite expensive.

Panera is way overpriced for what you get.

The only good thing at Panera are the bread and the pastries. Everything else is just a waste of money.

Panera bread is good. But I would not pay that amount for Their salads.

CFA has amazing salads.

I remember the $5 foot longs from Subway. It was $5 for a sandwich, chips and drink. Then it was just the sandwich.

Now it’s like $9 for a sandwich.

Panera’s hardtack, er “bread,” broke a piece off my back molar last time I ate there.

Their scones are good.

I had Taco Bell's Triple Crunch Wrap box the other day. It was amazing.

That Triple Crunch Box is so good and filling. I was stuffed.

The Chalupa box was good too.

For just a few dollars more you could go to an actual restaurant

I like the Panera salads too. I never go there anymore, though. If I'm going to get a salad, I go to Salata.

How terrible does your taste in food have to be to think Taco Bell is amazing.

R34 I can't help that it tastes so good. Del Taco may be the healthier option but it's too far from me.

There aren’t any in NY. In Cali I ate Del Taco and it was amazing.

R36 there is one of those Taco Bell cantinas on 8th and 36th. There’s also one in penn station food court

I don't care about it being healthy or not, but it isn't good food. It is just poor quality crap.

I mean the difference between tacos from a real taqueria and tacos from taco bell are night and day. One is real food, one is made with processed fillers.

R37 I think he meant there are no Del Tacos in NY.

I’d kill for a macho taco right now

There are Taco Bell’s. Not many.

Del Taco is not in NY. I eat there every May when I go to Los Angeles.

I'm hungry for a little Mexican now.

I'm addicted to the sofrito in Panera's Southwest Salad. Panera now delivers & it is the best & worst thing for me.

Taco Bell is good food because I see real Mexicans eating there every time I go. That’s the sign of a good Mexican restaurant.

Taco Bell Cortana serves alcohol.

The food is DELISH!

R41 how much meth do you have?

You don't have to be the galloping gourmet to open a can of refried beans, plop some into a tortilla, zap it in the microwave for 45 seconds, put some cheese, guac, whatever on it, then roll it up.

Dinner in two minutes, far cheaper and better for you and you don't have to deal with drive-thrus or diarrhea.

R47 not so easy when you’re on a road trip and your choices are fast food

These are the prices when I first started eating Taco Bell.......

OMG the Enchirito!

#Coupons,Coupons,Coupons

When I was much younger, and frequenting Happy Hour at my favorite bar for the cheap food, Tuesday was Taco Hour. 3 tacos/$1.00 and 50¢ drafts or Cokes. Can't beat pub food at great prices.

R50 we have those here in Europe but we have to call them Centimeteritos

When I was much younger, the menu with wine at La Coupole was a couple of US bucks.

When the cheapest fast food is out of reach, what will they young'uns do?

[quote]There aren’t any in NY. In Cali I ate Del Taco and it was amazing.

They have Del Taco in Colombia? I thought they only had drugs in Cali.

quel horreur

I remember Jack In the Box had really scrumptious, cheap tacos (my memory is the late 80's... I haven't seen a JitB in eons).

They were just meat, onion and cheese (or was there no cheese?) in a corn tortilla that was folded over and somehow clamped shut, then deep fried. Maybe the deep frying made them stay shut. They were different than regular taco shells because they were fried crispy and very greasy. They also had packets of taco sauce that were delicious and perfect. God they were good.

They were about 39 cents a piece (back then).

I was wondering the same thing OP. I understand prices go up over time, but their food is overpriced to the point you may as well go to an authentic restaurant because it won’t cost that much more. There is no reason their shitty tacos 🌮 that are mostly just lettuce should coat $1.39 plus tax. They used to be $1.00 and that is the most those pathetic things are worth.

Like someone said, the only price appropriate item is the $5.00 box. The rest is a ripoff.

R58 make your own!

R60 I might!

R60's recipe sounds like far too much damn work. Preparing some filling then frying some tortillas to hold it is simple. It may not have the fast food taste, but doing it for myself feels better.

R62 I know, did you look at that list of ingredients and instructions? My god! Just pay the friggin' 39 cents.

Five Guys has one hell of a lot of nerve. $5 for a fucking milkshake??

Six most expensive (July 18, 2018) This statistic shows the most expensive places to buy a Big Mac.[26]

Switzerland – $6.57 (6.50 CHF)

Sweden – $5.83 (51.00 SEK)

United States – $5.51 (5.51 USD)

Norway – $5.22 (42 NOK)

Canada – $5.08 (6.65 CAD)

Euro area – $4.75 (4.56 EUR)

USA should be cheaper than this. It used to be a Big Mac was about double the price in Switzerland than in the USA.

A Big Mac also was twice the size it is now.

Does anyone still have a vintage Taco Bell in operation near them? All of ours are gone... I'm sure rebuilding every story didn't help with prices.

No r67. All the Taco Bell’s out here closed and the ones open operate as TB and KFC or TB and Pizza Hut jointed

🔔 I remember when you could buy a six pack of tacos @ Taco Bell, packed in a box with a handle, for $2.49.

I've been to most fast food places but I don't like Mexican food or anything spicy so no Taco Bell. Do they have anything like fries or is everything they sell a main dish with some kind of Mexican flavor to it?

I'm not sure, but from their commercials I think KFC has some cheaper things these days like enough to be full for 5 dollars, maybe not. In the past couple of years I've had to watch my sodium so I don't go much to those places anymore. The last time I was at a McDonalds those buttermilk chicken things first came out. I remember thinking that they were expensive for a place like McDonalds. Also I had two and one dipping sauce and the next day I had gained 3 pounds in water weight. I know because my fingers were swollen and I had little else that day so it was water and not real weight gain. I took diuretics and it came right off.

As a skinny, poor college student in the 90s, Taco Bell’s 39 cent “Fiesta Menu” and Jack in the Box’s 99 cent Jumbo Jack saved me from starvation.

Does anyone know how to keep soft tortilla soft? I’ve used various store bought ones, and after heating them on both sides in the pan, they still always manage to harden up again within like a minute of being out of the pan.

Likewise, is there a way to make hard shell tacos just slightly less crunchy (like the hard shell tacos at Taco Bell)?

[quote]Taco Bell is good food because I see real Mexicans eating there every time I go.

By this standard, McDonald's must be good food because it's always full of people born in the US.

There are people in every country who just like junk food.

Try spraying the tortillas with water before heating

Taco Bell keeps their soft tortillas in a steam cabinet.

Let's start a campaign to bring back the Enchirito.

I bet if you ask for it you can get it. They have all the ingredients. I worked there in high school and even then I don't think it was actually on the menu.

I love everything Taco Bell, but the Enchirito is really nasty. It's a soft taco with beans, covered in sauce and cheese and steamed. It's a soupy bean burrito. Gross.

R77 I worked at a McDonald's in high school and we were not allowed to change any ingredients. Not even a double shot of tartare sauce on the FishMac. Only option NO onions, NO tomatoes, NO pickles etc.

Taco Bell will make anything if you ask.

Doubtful. At McDonald's they counted the buns, patties and ingredients every night and extras would fuck up the inventory. A guy was busted for selling extra cheeseburgers.

R73 I think he was being sarcastic. In any case, the people who like it know it is junk. It's not about authenticity, it's about immediate gratification. The artificial ingredients is what makes fast food taste so good. It's an exact science.

[quote] Likewise, is there a way to make hard shell tacos just slightly less crunchy (like the hard shell tacos at Taco Bell)?

R72, fill the taco with the meat mixture and cheese and heat it in the oven until the cheese is melted. The grease from the meat and cheese will soften the taco as it heats. If you want it even softer, wrap it in foil as it heats; then, you'll get steam as well to further soften the taco. Also, the fat from the filling will soak into the taco, making it even more delicious.

This would probably work in the microwave, too - minus the foil, obviously.

I love the Enchirito!

How to order a Taco Bell Enchirito:

May I have a side of soft tortilla+beans+cheese+cheese+red sauce. Steamed.

red sauce***

I want to buy the Taco Bell Sauce.

I have a question for Californians: When I've been in LA, there are always seem to be lots of non-chain Mexican restaurants around, not surprisingly. Why go to Taco Bell or Del Taco? Is it because they're familiar and (you hope) somewhat more reliably sanitary? Or are they just more convenient?

^^ "... there always seem to be ..."

[quote] Five Guys has one hell of a lot of nerve. $5 for a fucking milkshake

R88 Those mom & pop Mexican restaurants are now expensive. I used to love Ramona's and King Taco, but you have to pay $10 or more for what used to cost $3.

Continuing. . .

Those non-chain places also nickel and dime the customers and they are inconsistent. Now, they are just as high and not very tasty. King Taco is still good but expensive. They charge nearly $2 for their tiny street taco. I still go do Juan Pollo, which is the only cheap Mexican restaurant.

Taco Bell is dog food.

AND...it supports Trump.

R54

La Coupole in Paris???

There's no way you're talking about La Coupole in Paris.

OP, I've noticed the same thing. Most of their combo meals are like $7.50 or more. In particular, they gouge you on soft drinks. I noticed this when I ordered a burrito and a coke, and it came to like $7 - they charged me $1.99 for a freaking drink. I went through the drive thru, it's not like I was going back for refills.

I miss the Enchirito. I hear you can get it off menu. And I want to try that box of nachos I saw on a commercial not too long ago.

Hold the pickles, Hold the lettuce

Special orders don't upset us

You can have it your way

At McDonald's !

IT. ENDS. WITH.

All we ask is that you let us serve it your way, R98.

I was visiting a friend in Northeast DC and we went to the Taco Bell. They still have a dollar menu. It's across the street from a Walmart. Don't let it be said you can't have a good time in the nation's capital.

The enchirito with green sauceand extra onions and sour cream was the best.

R88 I love Campos.

I had not been to Taco Bell in years...I went to get a beef burrito the other evening, no beef in my burrito. I won't be back.

The lettuce, tomato, and onions at Taco Bell are shipped dehydrated and rehydrated in the store. The "beef" is 88% beef and 12% "secret recipe." This is by the company's own admission.

If I were on the road so cooking weren't an option, I'd go to a grocery store, Target, etc. and get one of their salads, sandwiches, fried chicken, etc. rather than fast food. Cheaper and better for you.

Fast food gets more and more expensive because consumers keep buying it. The prices will keep going up until their sales go down.

Here, read all about their "meat":

I miss the chili cheese burrito

𝐓𝐚𝐜𝐨 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐮 𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬

In addition to removing nine menu items, Taco Bell has shifted away from its black and gold menu boards.

The discarded menu items include the infamous Cool Ranch and Fiery Doritos Locos Tacos, chips and salsa, Power Menu Burrito, XXL Grilled Stuft Burrito, Double Tostada, Chipotle Chicken Loaded Griller, Double Decker Taco and the Beefy Mini Quesadilla.

Translation, new menu means price hikes.

The talk about prices rising on menu items does not include a conversation about wages rising over the last decade, as well.

A lot of areas have to offer wages above minimum to attain a workforce. The unemployment rate is 3.7% nationwide, and as usual, fast food establishments have a difficult time retaining employees, even in a poor economy.

Someone mentioned Panera. There was an article recently about Panera's high turnover rate. You think McDonald's and Taco Bell have it any better?

Soon, the minimum wage will be in the $15/hour vicinity. A McDonald's region in my area is actually offering sign-on bonuses at all levels of their restaurant.

The percentage of teenagers who get jobs has plummeted r108, so that has really hurt fast food's ability to find workers as that used to be a bedrock workforce.

r49 is obviously a mere youngster. When I was in high school, THESE were Taco Bell's prices. Yes, EVERYTHING except the drinks cost a quarter.

Taco Bell used to be the freshest fast food you could eat. They cooked, cut and chop everything fresh in the back area. The cheese would come in great big blocks that you would pull these wire sets through to break into smaller blocks so they could be put through the Hobart machine and shredded. Whole heads of fresh lettuce would be shredded in the Hobart as well. Tomatoes and whole fresh onions were cut by hand. Someone would be assigned to work in the back to keep preparing food to stock the front line. The beef was fresh and would be cooked and seasoned over a gas stove. At night pinto beans would be put in a pressure cooker with water and lard and set to cook overnight. In the morning the employees would come in and stick a power drill with a mixer on it to make the refried beans. The beans would be poured into containers and placed in the walk-in to t settle.

A guy would come in three times a week and fry shells. He was super hot. He went to the high school we all went to. He did not want to work with people up front so he would just fry shells. I think there was another guy that did this too.

It was amazing that the food was so fresh back then. They pretty much stopped preparing and cooking their own food to cut costs.

[quote]The lettuce, tomato, and onions at Taco Bell are shipped dehydrated and rehydrated in the store.

Sure, Jan

[quote]The "beef" is 88% beef and 12% "secret recipe."

The secret recipe is oatmeal

Omg they took away the Double Decker Taco???? That was all I ever ordered from there.

R105 The meatless trend happening now just shows that people don't care about eating real meat.

How to order a Double-Decker Taco: May I have a crunchy taco? Add a side of beans and soft shell.

I was always more partial to the Grande Soft Taco when I worked there. It also wasn't on the menu. A regular soft taco, but wrapped in two soft shells with nacho cheese in between.

$5 gets you a big box with a drink. How is that expensive?

R116 bitch did you read the original post?

What was that sandwich they made? It was taco meat on a bun with cheese on it. Was it Bell beefer?

r118 See r110. It was originally the Bell Burger. (Maybe it was later called the Bell Beefer, though.)

[quote]They pretty much stopped preparing and cooking their own food to cut costs.

If you haven't learned this yet, you will soon: EVERYTHING in life is about money. And when someone says "it's not about the money" -- it's even MORE about the money.

[quote]The secret recipe is oatmeal

R112, so it's basically meatloaf meat ...? Not "pink slime"? I could live with that.

Also, while the trend toward centrally prepared ingredients is no doubt a cost-cutting measure, it's also a health and safety measure. It's easier to control sanitary conditions when everything is prepped in a central place rather than being left to the none-too-diligent and poorly supervised local staff. Chipotle learned that lesson.

Are we sure this thread wasn’t started by the woman from the More Cheese thread?

Compared to other fast food places, I think Taco Bell is generous with their servings.

Yes La Coupole in Paris. Before the Euro. Everything was cheap in Paris in the 80s and the exchange rates were insane. And if Paris was cheap, Barcelona and Lisbon were practically free. Everything was inexpensive until the 90s and the re-sorting into the very rich and the rest of us. Also everything "quality" started to radically hike their prices. And then the Euro. It was total sticker shock not only to tourists but to mr. and mrs average, at the supermarket. New York was cheap in the 80s too, except for 50 lux trendy restaurants, which were at that time far more expensive then great restaurants in Europe. In Paris there was always the very affordable "menu". And then Europe caught up.

R121 That's why I stopped eating at street vendors. The food would always be good and cheap but I simply don't trust their sanitary conditions.

For those who eat at Taco Bell . . .

R124

I'm just dumbfounded La Coupole was ever cheap.Lunch is easily $50-60 without liquor/wine.

[quote]there is one of those Taco Bell cantinas on 8th and 36th. There’s also one in penn station food court

There's also one at 7th Ave and 23rd Street, so the Chelsea queens can eat there before going to the next block to shop at Whole Foods.

Unfortunately the Taco Bell Resort Hotel sold out in two days.

Taco Bell is one of the better fast food joints.

Do they add cheese to most of their dishes? If they do is it on the food or in a little cup on the side? I've seen nachos and the cheese is always on the food and a lot of it since it's the main part of that dish.

What about 5 Guys! I was in there last week, ordered a small fries and a small soda and it was over 10 dollars. WTF!!! I helped myself to a soda refill even though I really didn't want it. They no longer have diet root beer, and they were the only ones who did. I had to settle for diet orange. I didn't want diet coke that I could get anywhere. I purposely went there for the diet root beer. But even root beer is not worth 10 dollars. And why are the portions of fries so large? I took more than half home and they do not reheat well, I sadly found out. On top of it the reusable bag I had still smells like their fries. They need to have an extra small size. Not everyone can eat 100 fries, at least that's what it looked like when I poured them out of the little brown bag.

You ALWAYS get what you pay for.

Those $1deals that some fast food joints are offering must be made out of processed dog shit