Taco Bell

• 1. Introduction

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  Taco Bell lists 8,212 restaurants, and more than 94 percent of them are owned and run by independent franchisees and licensees. The chain sells Mexican-inspired food such as tacos, burritos, quesadillas and nachos. Its very first restaurant was a building of 400 square feet, about the size of a two-car garage. Nothing about that tiny start hinted at a business with outposts across several continents. This documentary asks who taught the founder his craft and what each corporate owner changed. It asks why the company keeps staging stunts that sometimes land and sometimes backfire. It also asks why Taco Bell keeps leaving countries and then returning to them.

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• 2. The Cafe Across the Street

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  In 1948, an entrepreneur named Glen Bell opened a hot dog stand called Bell's Drive-In in San Bernardino, California. Directly across the street stood the Mitla Cafe, where long lines formed for its hard-shelled tacos. Bell watched those crowds and tried to reverse-engineer the recipe on his own. Eventually the owners, along with head chef Gloria Hoyle, let him see how the tacos were made. Hoyle taught him her version of the Dorado taco style that made the cafe famous. The Mitla Cafe still has a special named after her.

  In 1951, Bell opened a taco stand of his own. Its name shifted from Taco-Tia to El Taco before settling on Taco Bell.

  On the 6th of July 1962, Bell opened the first Taco Bell at 7112 Firestone Boulevard in Downey, California. Mission-style arches covered a walk-up window, and every item on the short menu cost 19 cents. That original restaurant closed in 1986. On the 19th of November 2015, the building was saved from demolition and moved 45 miles to the corporate office at 1 Glen Bell Way in Irvine. It now sits intact in the parking lot under the name Taco Bell Numero Uno.

  The oldest restaurant still operating opened on the 7th of August 1962 at 1822 Santa Fe in Long Beach. It was store number 2 and is now numbered 40400. It has been extensively remodeled since it first copied the Numero Uno design. Two other former Numero Uno buildings survive as different businesses, one in Long Beach and one in Hawaiian Gardens. A newer Taco Bell opened in 1996 across the street from the original site, at 7127 Firestone Boulevard.

  As of 2025, seven original mission-style restaurants still operate, in California and Colorado. A mission-style location in Scottsdale, Arizona, closed on the 12th of April 2025.

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• 3. Franchises and Corporate Owners

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  A former police officer named Kermit Bekke bought the first Taco Bell franchise in 1964. His location at 1654 West Carson Street in Torrance, California, held its grand opening on the 28th of May 1965. Bekke sold the franchise about a year and a half later.

  On the 20th of January 1967, the 100th Taco Bell opened in Anaheim, at 400 South Brookhurst. The first restaurant east of the Mississippi River, the 270th to open, arrived in Springfield, Ohio, on the 20th of September 1968. Early restaurants offered walk-up windows only. Indoor seating appeared sporadically starting in 1968, and drive-thru service was not generally available until 1980.

  The corporate office moved several times. It began at 2516 Via Tejon in Palos Verdes, then shifted to 2424 Moreton Street in Torrance. In 1976 it settled at 17901 Von Karman Avenue in Irvine.

  In 1978, PepsiCo bought Taco Bell from Glen Bell. The 1980s brought rapid expansion through acquisitions of other small chains. Taco Charley of San Mateo, California, joined in 1982, and Pup 'N' Taco of Long Beach followed in 1984. Zantigo, a Mexican chain based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, came aboard in 1986. Many early Taco Bell stores closed as the company moved into these newer facilities. In 1984, Taco Bell also dropped its Mexican-based branding for a more mainstream design.

  The chain Hot 'n Now was acquired in 1990, and Taco Bell sold it to a Connecticut company in 1997. That same year, PepsiCo spun off its restaurants into Tricon Global Restaurants. Tricon then bought Yorkshire Global Restaurants, owner of the A&W and Long John Silver's chains. On the 16th of May 2002, Tricon renamed itself Yum! Brands.

  Taco Bell has announced plans to keep its corporate headquarters in Irvine until 2030.

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• 4. Experiments in Format

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  In 1991, the first Taco Bell Express opened in San Francisco. These small outlets operate mostly inside convenience stores, truck stops, shopping malls and airports. Test mall locations had appeared as early as 1984.

  A co-branding experiment began in 1995, when the first shared restaurant with KFC opened in Clayton, North Carolina. The chain later paired up with Pizza Hut and Long John Silver's as well.

  In 1997, PepsiCo tried a "fresh grill" concept and opened at least one Border Bell restaurant on El Camino Real in Mountain View, California. Around the time PepsiCo spun off its restaurants, that Border Bell was converted into an ordinary Taco Bell. It was still open in 2018.

  In August 2014, Taco Bell launched U.S. Taco Co. and Urban Taproom in Huntington Beach, California, reflecting the popularity of Chipotle Mexican Grill. The menu offered tacos with American fillings and left out burritos. U.S. Taco Co. closed on the 15th of September 2015 so the company could focus on a similar idea, Taco Bell Cantina. A few days later, the first Cantina opened in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago. Another followed about a month later in San Francisco, less than a block from AT&T Park.

  In 2016, a Cantina flagship opened on the Las Vegas Strip. It runs around the clock, serves alcohol and features a DJ. In August 2017, the company announced that the Las Vegas store would begin hosting weddings.

  Also in 2016, Taco Bell built a modular restaurant from five reclaimed shipping containers for the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas. After a successful reception, the structure moved permanently to South Gate, California, and began operating as a standard franchise in 2017. It has a walk-up window, a drive-thru and outdoor seating but no indoor dining room.

  In November 2017, the company announced plans to open 300 more urban and Cantina-style locations by 2022, with 50 of them around New York City's five boroughs. In August 2019, a pop-up called The Bell: A Taco Bell Hotel and Resort ran for one weekend. Upon the announcement, it was booked up in two minutes.

  Technology and retail ideas came too. In March 2016, a private beta of an artificial intelligence bot on Slack began taking orders for delivery. In September 2016, a SoHo pop-up called the Taco Bell VR Arcade let visitors try PlayStation VR. Hot sauces reached grocery stores in bottles in February 2014, followed by chips in May 2018 and shredded cheese in 2019.

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• 5. Recalls, Boycotts and Lawsuits

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  In September 2000, up to $50 million worth of Taco Bell-branded taco shells were pulled from supermarkets. The shells contained a genetically modified corn called StarLink. It was approved only for animal feed, because of questions about whether it could cause allergic reactions in people. This was the first recall of a genetically modified food. Corn had not been separated at grain elevators, and the miller in Texas had not ordered that variety. In 2001, Tricon Global announced a $60 million settlement with the suppliers, and said the money would go to franchisees.

  In March 2005, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers won a landmark victory after four years of boycotting Taco Bell. The coalition had campaigned for better wages and working conditions for Florida tomato pickers in the supply chain. Taco Bell met all of its demands, and the two sides signed the CIW-Yum agreement at Yum! Brands headquarters.

  In late February 2011, an Alabama law firm sued Taco Bell, alleging that it falsely advertised the ratio of ingredients in its taco beef filling. The company answered with ads featuring employees and franchisees saying the filling had always been 88% beef plus spices and binders. Full-page newspaper ads, including in the New York Times, carried the headline "Thank you for suing us." The campaign cost more than $3 million, about 20 percent above the company's usual advertising program.

  The suit was eventually withdrawn, and Taco Bell then publicly asked the firm, Beasley Allen, for an apology. Analyst Laura Ries of Ries & Ries called that a mistake. She argued that it revived a suit most of the public had already forgotten.

  On the 1st of March 2013, it was announced that trace amounts of horse meat from a European supplier had been found in food products in the United Kingdom, including Taco Bell's beef.

  In 2016, Taco Bell stopped sourcing eggs from hens raised in battery cages for its United States restaurants. In 2024, it promised benchmarks on moving away from gestation crates in pork production by the end of that year. None were published.

  On the 29th of August 2025, Taco Bell announced it was abandoning its artificial intelligence drive-thrus because of technical difficulties and "trolling." In one instance, a customer ordered 18,000 waters. Reports said the system wrongly claimed the store had run out of everything but soda and sauce packets. Chief Digital and Technology Officer Dane Mathews told the Wall Street Journal: "We’re learning a lot, I’m going to be honest with you." Taco Bell said it would pursue a "hybrid approach."

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• 6. Mascots and Gambles

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  The first Taco Bell commercials premiered in 1968 and featured Mel Blanc, Pat Harrington and Bob Barker, then host of Truth or Consequences. In 1992, Johnny Cash starred in a television spot for the value menu. In 1993, the chain appeared as a product placement and plot device in the film Demolition Man.

  From August 1997 to July 2000, a Chihuahua named Gidget served as the brand mascot, in a campaign developed by TBWA. Carlos Alazraqui voiced her. Slogans such as "¡Yo quiero Taco Bell," "Drop the Chalupa" and "¡Viva Gorditas!" became catchphrases. Gidget was euthanized on the 21st of July 2009, after a stroke, at the age of 15.

  In 2000, Taco Bell published a DOS game called Tasty Temple Challenge, built by BrandGames as an advertisement. Players control Baja Bill, who battles snakes and scorpions in a jungle temple with hot sauce. Food from the brand restores his health.

  In March 2001, Taco Bell towed a large target into the Pacific Ocean as the Mir space station fell back to Earth. If a piece of Mir struck it, every person in the United States would win a free taco. The company bought a sizable insurance policy. No piece of the station hit the target.

  In 2007, the company launched "Steal a Base, Steal a Taco," promising free tacos to everyone in the United States if a player stole a base in the World Series. Jacoby Ellsbury of the Boston Red Sox did so in Game 2, and Taco Bell paid up on the 30th of October 2007. The promotion has since returned in multiple World Series. Fans at home games of the Portland Trail Blazers and Cleveland Cavaliers get a free Chalupa coupon when the home team scores 100 points or more.

  On the 1st of July 2009, Taco Bell replaced McDonald's, a 20-year sponsor, as the fast-food partner of the NBA. The same year, a rap-style spot called "It's all about the Roosevelts" marked its first move into movie theater advertising, before Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Public Enemies. In June 2010, a Facebook group began petitioning the Federal Reserve to print more two-dollar bills, to promote the $2 Meal Deals.

  In July 2017, a partnership with Lyft let passengers in Orange County, California, request "Taco Mode" stops. Drivers reacted badly, and the program was cancelled.

  From July to August 2022, filmmaker Sam Reid ate only Taco Bell for 30 days and published a documentary about it on YouTube in October. It was not an official campaign. Even so, then CEO Mark King invited Reid to the Irvine headquarters, and Reid later appeared on an official Taco Bell podcast.

  In 2017, Forever 21 produced a clothing line with the chain, including bodysuits made to look like Border Sauce packets. In late 2025, Hollister Co. launched an 11-piece collection on the 1st of December, priced from US $14.95 to US $79.95.

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• 7. What Is on the Menu

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  On the 18th of August 2014, Taco Bell launched a value menu called Dollar Cravings, replacing the older Why Pay More menu. It offered thirteen items at one dollar each. After prices rose on some items, it became the Cravings Value Menu. By January 2024 it featured 10 items.

  The 1962 menu had tacos, burritos, tostadas, Chiliburgers and frijoles. The Chiliburger was a loose meat sandwich of taco-seasoned beef in mild red sauce, with lettuce and onion on a steamed bun. It became the Bell Burger in 1969 and the Bell Beefer in 1979. Around 1986, Taco Bell dropped it to keep a more typical Tex-Mex menu.

  In 2005, the Crunchwrap Supreme debuted as a limited-time offer. It sold well enough to become permanent in 2006. In 2004, Mountain Dew had given Taco Bell the exclusive right to carry Baja Blast, a tropical lime soft drink.

  In March 2012, a partnership with Frito-Lay produced the Doritos Locos Tacos, with a shell flavored like Nacho Cheese Doritos. The Cool Ranch version arrived on the 7th of March 2013. A promotion told fans they could get it a day early if they just asked on the 6th. Most stores had not been told, and disappointed customers complained on social media.

  In July 2013, Taco Bell announced it would end kids' meals and toys at its United States restaurants by January 2014. In August 2013, it expanded a test of Waffle Tacos, filled with scrambled eggs and sausage, to about 100 restaurants in Fresno, Omaha and Chattanooga. The breakfast menu launched on the 27th of March 2014. Its ads used twenty-five men named Ronald McDonald. A later ad claimed the McMuffin belonged in 1984.

  In October 2015, the chain launched a certified vegetarian menu. In August 2016, it began testing Cheetos Burritos. In September 2016, it introduced the Cheddar Habanero Quesarito. In 2017, it released the Naked Chicken Chalupa, whose shell is made of chicken.

  In August 2020, the company dropped potatoes to streamline restaurants during the COVID-19 pandemic, then brought them back in January 2021 along with Beyond Meat as a plant-based option. In April 2021, it began reusing hot sauce packets with the recycling company TerraCycle.

  On the 6th of January 2022, the Taco Lover's Pass launched in the app. For $10, a customer could order one of seven tacos each day for 30 days in a row. Mexican Pizza, discontinued in November 2020, returned on the 19th of May 2022.

  In 2023, a vegan Crunchwrap Supreme was test-marketed in Los Angeles, New York and Orlando. Bon Appétit tasted it beside the regular version and said "the differences between the two were also genuinely difficult to discern."

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• 8. Borders Crossed and Recrossed

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  The count of Taco Bell outlets grew every year between 2010 and 2023, from 5,896 to 8,564. Yet the international story is one of repeated exits and returns.

  In 1986, the United Kingdom became the first European country with a Taco Bell, on Coventry Street in London, followed by Earl's Court and Uxbridge. All had closed by the mid-1990s. The chain returned at Lakeside Shopping Centre in Essex on the 28th of June 2010. By 2024 there were more than 130 UK locations. Doritos Locos Tacos reached British menus in October 2019.

  In 2003, Taco Bell opened "Taco Bell Grande" in Shanghai's People's Square, and three more followed before all closed in 2008. A Pudong store relaunched the brand in late 2016, and China had 90 outlets by March 2024. India's first outlet opened in 2010 at the Mantri Square mall in Bangalore. On the 15th of May 2019, Burman Hospitality signed a national master franchise agreement. Yum! Brands planned 600 new Indian outlets by 2029.

  In September 1981, Taco Bell first opened in Australia, but was ordered to change its name. The owner of a local restaurant called "Taco Bell's Casa" had successfully argued that Sydneysiders would confuse the two. A new start came in 1997, but the brand left Australia by 2005. It returned on the 4th of November 2017 in Annerley, Brisbane, in a former Sizzler restaurant. In April 2025, owner Collins Foods announced its exit. In March 2026, operations moved to Restaurant Brands, with 6 Queensland stores and 1 Victorian store closing and 20 remaining.

  Mexico itself proved difficult. After a highly publicised 1992 launch in Mexico City, every restaurant closed two years later. A Monterrey return in September 2007 offered an Americanized menu with french fries and closed in January 2010 for low patronage.

  Other markets show the same churn. In Greece, the first restaurant opened in Athens on the 30th of November 2010 and closed in August 2012 as recession hit. A new one opened in Chalandri on the 3rd of September 2025. In the Netherlands, a Utrecht restaurant became the first worldwide to use batteries to store energy, but in July 2025 bankruptcy closed all 10 restaurants. A planned German launch was cancelled in early May 2025 after trouble with the franchise partner.

  Some markets are growing. Spain had 119 branches by early 2024, more than twice the 32 of 2017. Finland's first restaurant opened in Helsinki on the 9th of November 2017, the first country to put pulled oats on the menu. Ireland's opened on the 16th of September 2025 in Dunshaughlin, County Meath. Sweden followed on the 27th of November 2025.

  In the early 1990s, PepsiCo opened several Taco Bell locations inside the Moscow Metro. Canada has had the chain since 1979, but it left Quebec on the 6th of January 2022. In the United Arab Emirates the chain pulled out entirely, though Kuwait, franchised by Kout Food Group, never lost it.

  The first Polish Taco Bell opened in 1993, but an aggressive expansion withered and the chain withdrew soon afterward. In 2026, AmRest announced a return, with the first new restaurant expected in the fourth quarter of 2026.

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