95 Fun Facts About Taco Bell

Which country has Taco Bell entered twice, in 1992 and 2007, only to pull out within about three years each time?

Mexico proved a hard sell: outlets opened in Mexico City in 1992 shut within two years, and a 2007 return to Monterrey, with french fries added to look more American, was abandoned by 2010.

Which California city was home to the first Taco Bell, opened on Firestone Boulevard in 1962?

Downey hosted the first Taco Bell at 7112 Firestone Boulevard; the chain closed the tiny stand in 1986, and a string of independent taco shops then traded from the building.

Before he ever sold a taco, Glen Bell ran a San Bernardino drive-in selling what?

Hot dogs and hamburgers were the fare at Bell's Drive-In, which Glen Bell opened in San Bernardino in 1948 after seeing the McDonald brothers' stand succeed in the same city.

The original 1962 Taco Bell building was about the size of what?

A two-car garage: the first Taco Bell covered just 400 square feet and had no indoor seating, so customers ordered at a walk-up window and ate outside.

Which drinks giant bought Taco Bell in 1978?

PepsiCo paid about $125 million in stock for Glen Bell's 868 restaurants in 1978, then expanded the chain for two decades before spinning off its restaurant business in 1997.

What triggered the 2000 recall of Taco Bell-branded taco shells from US supermarkets?

Unapproved GM corn: the shells contained StarLink, a variety cleared only for animal feed because of allergy worries, so Kraft pulled millions of packages from supermarket shelves.

When the soft-drinks parent spun off its restaurant division in 1997, what was the new company called?

PepsiCo spun off KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell in October 1997 as Tricon Global Restaurants, a name nodding to its three chains.

Which company, renamed in 2002, owns Taco Bell?

Yum! Brands took its name in 2002: Tricon Global Restaurants, Taco Bell's owner since 1997, rebranded when it bought the company behind Long John Silver's and A&W.

Which fried chicken chain is a sister brand of Taco Bell under the same parent company?

KFC and Taco Bell were spun off together in 1997, when the soft-drinks group that owned them both decided to leave the restaurant business.

In which year was the parent company's China business spun off as a separate listed company?

The Chinese arm had grown big enough to run itself, with thousands of outlets. It kept the licence to operate the same brands there.

Which dog breed fronted Taco Bell's advertising from 1997 to 2000?

A Chihuahua fronted the ads from 1997 to 2000: what was meant to be a single commercial charmed viewers so much that it grew into a three-year campaign.

What was the name of the dog who starred in Taco Bell's 1997-2000 ads?

Gidget was female but played a male character, and after the campaign ended she turned up in Legally Blonde 2 (2003) as the mother of Elle Woods's dog.

The Taco Bell dog's catchphrase '¡Yo quiero Taco Bell!' translates as what?

'I want Taco Bell', delivered through special effects in a rich accent, made the mascot wildly popular, though activists accused the ads of promoting Hispanic stereotypes.

Which Taco Bell item, launched in 2005, folds a grilled tortilla into a hexagon around a crisp tostada?

The Crunchwrap Supreme was devised by Lois Carson to be eaten on the go; executives first dismissed it because the folds cost workers extra seconds, yet it joined the permanent menu in 2006.

The Doritos Locos Tacos launched in March 2012 through a partnership with which company?

Frito-Lay, the maker of Doritos, worked with Taco Bell to turn the taco shell itself into a giant Nacho Cheese Dorito, and a hundred million were sold in the first ten weeks.

In 2004, which soft drink brand gave Taco Bell exclusive rights to a new tropical-lime flavour?

Mountain Dew Baja Blast began in 2004 as a fountain drink poured only at Taco Bell, and fans had to wait ten years before it reached shops in bottles and cans.

Taco Bell's 2014 breakfast launch ads starred real men who all shared which famous name?

Ronald McDonald: Taco Bell tracked down real men who share the clown's name and filmed them praising its new breakfast, a jab at the rival that dominated fast-food mornings.

In 2001 Taco Bell promised free food for every American if a Pacific target was struck by debris from what?

Taco Bell floated a 40-foot target in the South Pacific for the Mir space station's March 2001 re-entry and insured the free-taco payout; the debris missed.

After a 2011 lawsuit questioned its seasoned beef, Taco Bell ran full-page newspaper ads under which headline?

'Thank you for suing us' ran above the recipe itself: Taco Bell said its filling was 88% beef and 12% seasonings and other ingredients, far more meat than the suit claimed.

In 2017, a flagship Taco Bell Cantina in which city began hosting weddings?

Las Vegas: the Taco Bell Cantina on the Strip started selling $600 wedding packages in August 2017, with a bouquet made of sauce packets and a cake built from Cinnabon Delights.

Which NBA star fronted Taco Bell's 2023 campaign to free the trademarked phrase 'Taco Tuesday'?

LeBron James, whose own bid to trademark 'Taco Tuesday' was refused in 2019, starred in the ads; within months Taco John's, holder of the mark since 1989, gave it up rather than pay for a legal fight.

What reason did Taco Bell give for dropping the Mexican Pizza in November 2020?

Taco Bell blamed its packaging's environmental impact, yet when the Mexican Pizza returned in 2022 demand ran seven times higher than before and many restaurants sold out.

Which musician announced the Mexican Pizza's comeback during a 2022 Coachella set?

Doja Cat confirmed the Mexican Pizza's return from the Coachella stage in April 2022 and went on to star in Mexican Pizza: The Musical with Dolly Parton.

Taco Bell's Mexican Pizza, easily ordered meat-free, has an especially loyal following in which US community?

South Asian Americans made it a comfort food because beans swap in easily for the beef; Krish Jagirdar, raised vegetarian in an Indian family, gathered more than 170,000 signatures to bring it back.

Which chain replaced Taco Bell in the European release of Demolition Man?

Pizza Hut took Taco Bell's place in the European cut, with lines re-dubbed and logos swapped, because Taco Bell was little known in Europe in 1993.

Which national treasure did Taco Bell claim to have bought in full-page April Fools' ads in 1996?

The Liberty Bell: the ads said it would be renamed the Taco Liberty Bell, and thousands of people phoned in to protest before the company admitted the joke at noon.

How many major newspapers carried Taco Bell's full-page Taco Liberty Bell hoax ad?

The Taco Liberty Bell ad ran in six major newspapers, including The New York Times, The Washington Post and USA Today, at a cost of about $300,000.

Which agency fielded thousands of worried calls after Taco Bell's 1996 April Fools' ad claimed it had bought a historic landmark?

The National Park Service had to call a news conference to say nothing had been sold; the stunt earned Taco Bell publicity valued at about $25 million.

After Taco Bell's 1996 April Fools' hoax, the White House joked that which monument had been sold to a carmaker?

The Lincoln Memorial: press secretary Mike McCurry deadpanned that it would be renamed the Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial, after the carmaker's own brands.

Taco Bell's 2019 pop-up hotel, The Bell, sold out its rooms in how long?

Two minutes was all it took: Taco Bell had taken over a Palm Springs hotel for a long weekend in August 2019 and turned it into a themed resort with exclusive menu items served by the pool.

Which Taco Bell slogan was replaced in 2012?

'Think Outside the Bun' gave way to 'Live Más' in 2012; Taco Bell said the old line sold food as fuel and the new one food as an experience.

Which upscale Taco Bell spin-off closed in 2015 so the chain could focus on its Cantina format?

U.S. Taco Co. sold tacos with American-style fillings and nothing from the Taco Bell menu; the Huntington Beach experiment opened in 2014 and lasted barely a year.

In which country did a 1980s court case force Taco Bell to trade under a different name?

In Australia, a Sydney restaurant already trading as Taco Bell's Casa won a misleading-conduct case in the early 1980s, so the newly arrived American chain had to give up its own name.

What do Taco Bell Cantina restaurants serve that ordinary Taco Bells do not?

Alcoholic drinks: the first Cantina opened in Chicago in 2015 with beer, wine and spiked slushies, part of a push into city centres to win over young adults.

In 2013, tests on Taco Bell's ground beef in Britain found traces of which meat?

Horse DNA turned up in Taco Bell's British ground beef during Europe's 2013 horsemeat scandal; the chain, which then had just three UK outlets, pulled the affected stock.

Which Taco Bell item uses a flat piece of fried chicken in place of a shell?

The Naked Chicken Chalupa, launched in 2017, drops the tortilla altogether: seasoned fried chicken is folded to hold the fillings, part of a wider push to put more chicken on the menu.

Glen Bell learned to make tacos by watching the owners of which San Bernardino restaurant?

The Mitla Cafe drew long lines across the street from Bell's stand; after he tried to reverse-engineer its hard-shell tacos, the owners let him see how they were made.

In which city was Glen Bell born in 1923?

Glen Bell was born in Lynwood, California, in 1923 and died in Rancho Santa Fe in 2010 at 86; his first stand was in neighbouring San Bernardino County.

Which two taco ventures did Glen Bell start and leave before founding Taco Bell in 1962?

Taco-Tia and El Taco both came first: Bell opened Taco Tia with a partner in 1954 and joined three partners in El Taco in 1958, then sold out of each so that he could expand his own way.

In which year did Taco Bell go public, with 325 restaurants?

Taco Bell went public in 1970, when it had 325 restaurants; PepsiCo bought the chain eight years later.

In 1962, what did each item on the first Taco Bell menu cost?

19 cents bought anything on the first menu, taco, burrito or tostada alike: the same price at which Glen Bell's tacos had already become a hit at his earlier drive-in.

What World Series event triggers Taco Bell's free-taco giveaway, first run in 2007?

A stolen base in the World Series wins everyone a free taco; Jacoby Ellsbury's steal in 2007 triggered the first 'Steal a Base, Steal a Taco' payout.

Taco Bell's upscale Cantina Bell menu of 2012 pushed onto the turf of which chain known for higher-quality ingredients?

Chipotle was the target: celebrity chef Lorena Garcia built the Cantina Bell line around black beans, cilantro rice and citrus-marinated chicken, priced between Taco Bell's staples and pricier rivals.

Where did Taco Bell open its first outlet in Spain in 2004?

On a US naval base: the Rota outlet served only people with base access, so Spaniards had to wait until 2008 for a Taco Bell they could walk into, in a Madrid shopping mall.

What final name did Taco Bell's original 1962 Chiliburger end up with?

The Chiliburger became the Bell Burger and then the Bell Beefer, a sloppy-joe-style sandwich of taco-seasoned beef on a bun, later dropped so the menu could stay Tex-Mex.

When Taco Bell returned to Mexico in 2007, it played up its American image by adding which item to the menu?

French fries joined the menu in Monterrey, but the restaurant closed in 2010 for lack of customers. A first attempt, in Mexico City in 1992, had lasted only two years.

Since 2017, Taco Bell's flagship Cantina on the Las Vegas Strip has offered customers which unusual service?

Weddings at the flagship were announced in August 2017. The restaurant, which opened in 2016, never closes, serves alcohol and has its own DJ.

In 2025 a customer trolling Taco Bell's AI drive-thru assistant famously ordered 18,000 of which item?

Waters by the thousand became an internet meme. That August the chain said it was rethinking its voice-ordering system and would try a hybrid approach.

Taco Bell's talking dog mascot tried to trap which giant movie monster in a 1998 film tie-in commercial?

Godzilla was the quarry, in a crossover with that year's Hollywood remake. A second spot had the dog placing an enormous order through a drive-thru speaker on the monster's tail.

Which country music superstar appeared in Mexican Pizza: The Musical, a TikTok show commissioned by Taco Bell?

Dolly Parton joined the 15-minute satire about the fans who fought to get the dish back on the menu. Its songs were written by Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear.

Designed to be eaten on the go without mess, Taco Bell's Crunchwrap Supreme is folded into which shape?

A hexagon is the shape of the folded tortilla parcel. It sold 51 million in its first six weeks, making it the fastest-selling item in the chain's history.

After Nacho Cheese, which Doritos flavour did Taco Bell turn into its second taco shell in March 2013?

Cool Ranch arrived on March 7, 2013. A promise that fans could get one a day early just by asking backfired, because most restaurants had not been told.

Taco Bell's April Fools' hoax ad claimed the company had bought the Liberty Bell to help reduce what?

The national debt was the tongue-in-cheek reason given. The stunt cost about $300,000, and the idea is credited to the mother of the chain's chief executive.

Taco Bell's 2014 breakfast menu featured a taco that swapped the tortilla for what, served with syrup?

A waffle folded around scrambled egg and sausage had been the top seller at breakfast in test restaurants. The full morning menu went nationwide on March 27, 2014.

Which country music legend starred in a 1992 television commercial for Taco Bell's value menu?

Johnny Cash fronted the campaign two years after the chain launched its value menu, in 1990.

To promote its Meal Deals in 2010, Taco Bell petitioned the Federal Reserve to print more of which banknote?

The $2 bill matched the price of the Meal Deals, so the chain started a Facebook group to collect signatures asking the central bank to produce more of them.

Among Taco Bell's biggest marketing moves of the 1980s were promotions tied to which 1989 film?

Batman tie-ins were among the chain's biggest marketing moves of the era. They were followed by the launch of a value menu in 1990 and small-format Express outlets in 1991.

In 2009 Taco Bell signed a four-year deal to become the official fast-food partner of which sports league?

NBA sponsorship passed to the chain on July 1, 2009, ending a 20-year run by the league's previous fast-food partner. The deal covered adverts on ABC, TNT and ESPN.

Which ingredient did Taco Bell drop in August 2020 to streamline its kitchens, only to bring it back in 2021?

Potatoes went in a pandemic-era menu cut and were back on menus in March 2021. Announcing the return, the chain also said it would team up with Beyond Meat on a plant-based option.

In July 2013 Taco Bell announced it would stop selling what at all of its US restaurants by January 2014?

Kids' meals were dropped along with the toys that came with them. Some outlets stopped selling them straight away, months ahead of the deadline.

Taco Bell's Gordita borrows the name of a Mexican masa snack whose name literally means what in Spanish?

Chubby is the literal meaning of gordita. The Mexican original is a thick stuffed cake of corn dough, while the chain's wheat-flour version is closer to a pita bread taco.

The dog from Taco Bell's 1990s commercials later played the mother of Bruiser in which 2003 film sequel?

Legally Blonde 2 gave her the part a year after she had appeared in a commercial for the insurance company GEICO. She died in 2009, aged 15.

In 2017 Taco Bell tested 'Taco Mode', a late-night detour to its drive-thru, with which ride-hailing company?

Lyft passengers in Orange County could ask for the stop between 9 pm and 2 am. The programme was cancelled after much negative feedback from drivers.

At the 2016 South by Southwest festival, Taco Bell unveiled a restaurant built from five reclaimed what?

Shipping containers formed the modular restaurant, which was later moved to South Gate to trade as a normal franchise with a walk-up window, a drive-thru and no indoor seating.

Doritos Locos Tacos arrived in 2012 to coincide with which milestone in Taco Bell's history?

Its 50th anniversary fell in 2012, half a century after Glen Bell opened the first restaurant under the name. The original shell is made from Nacho Cheese chips.

Snowball, an internet-famous dancer who starred in a 2009 Taco Bell commercial, is what kind of animal?

A cockatoo noted for dancing in time to human music, Snowball advertised the chain's Frutista Freeze frozen drink.

A four-year boycott of Taco Bell ended in 2005 with better pay for Florida farmworkers who pick which crop?

Tomatoes were the crop. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers won all of its demands on wages and working conditions for pickers in the chain's supply line.

Taco Bell's first Cantina, a format serving alcohol, opened in 2015 in the Wicker Park district of which city?

Chicago got the first Cantina, with special menu items alongside the drinks. A second followed about a month later in San Francisco, less than a block from the Giants' ballpark.

From 2004 to 2019, the home basketball arena of which university carried the name Taco Bell Arena?

Boise State agreed a 15-year naming deal worth $4 million. When it ran out, a convenience store chain took over and the building became ExtraMile Arena.

Which country became the first in Europe to get a Taco Bell, when a restaurant opened there in 1986?

United Kingdom diners first met the brand on Coventry Street in London's West End. The chain came back to Britain in 2010 and had more than 130 branches by 2024.

In 1993 Taco Bell began selling burritos from pushcarts inside the subway system of which European capital?

Moscow riders met the first cart at Park Kultury station in June 1993, selling scaled-down burritos, hot dogs and sausages. The company said it had no plans yet to open a full restaurant in Russia.

Taco Bell's menu in which Nordic country was the first to feature pulled oats, a meat substitute?

Finland got its first branch in central Helsinki in November 2017. By late 2022 the country had 16 of the restaurants, most of them around the capital.

Which fast-fashion retailer teamed up with Taco Bell on a 2017 clothing line of sweatshirts and bodysuits?

Forever 21 sold the branded T-shirts, sweatshirts and bodysuits. Two years later the chain opened its own online Taco Shop, selling hoodies, tees and holiday ornaments.

Saved from demolition in 2015, the first Taco Bell building was moved 45 miles to company headquarters in which city?

Irvine has been home to the head office since 1976. The little walk-up stand, nicknamed Numero Uno, was put into storage there intact.

Taco Bell's first restaurant east of the Mississippi River opened in 1968 in Springfield, in which state?

Ohio got store number 258, on East Main Street, in September 1968. The chain's earliest outlets had only a walk-up window, and drive-thrus were not general until 1980.

John Galardi, once a 50-cents-an-hour employee of Glen Bell, went on to found which fast-food chain in 1961?

Wienerschnitzel began in Wilmington after Bell urged Galardi to take a site beside one of his taco stores, on condition that he sold a different kind of food.

For his first crispy taco shells in 1951, Glen Bell had a custom fryer built by a man who made what?

Chicken coops were the craftsman's usual line of work. Bell was soon selling the tacos for 19 cents each from a side window of his stand.

Taco Bell's original Enchirito of the 1970s came topped with cheese and exactly three slices of what?

Olive slices, always three, crowned the dish, which was served in a reheatable foil tray. The 1999 relaunch left them off and switched from a corn tortilla to a flour one.

In 2021 Taco Bell partnered with the recycling company TerraCycle to give a second life to which throwaway item?

Sauce packets were the target of the scheme, announced in April 2021 to cut pollution. By then bottled versions of the same condiments were also sold in grocery stores.

The Chalupa, on Taco Bell's national menu since 1999, shares its name with a Mexican dish shaped like what?

A boat is the shape of the Mexican original: masa pressed around a small mould and fried into a shallow cup. The chain's version is a thicker fried shell with far more toppings.

Taco Bell once turned its Baja Blast soft drink into which limited-edition dessert, sold whole for $19.99?

A pie joined a long list of spin-offs from the drink, among them a gelato, a lip balm, room sprays and even Halloween costumes.

Which Boston Red Sox player earned everyone in America a free Taco Bell taco in October 2007?

Jacoby Ellsbury did it in Game 2 of the World Series, then collected a free taco of his own at a branch on the Boston University campus.

Which NASCAR driver starred in adverts when Taco Bell's Baja Blast first went on sale in shops?

Dale Earnhardt Jr. fronted the on-air campaign for the limited retail run. For its first ten years the drink had been sold only at the chain's own restaurants.

In a 2016 fan vote, Taco Bell's Baja Blast lost a permanent place on store shelves to which rival flavour?

Pitch Black won the vote, only to be discontinued later for poor sales. Baja Blast then came back to shops every year from 2018 and was made permanent in 2024.

The voice of Taco Bell's talking dog mascot was partly modelled on which Hungarian-born Hollywood actor?

Peter Lorre, of The Maltese Falcon, was one ingredient. The voice actor has called the sound a cross between Lorre and Ren Höek of The Ren & Stimpy Show, with a touch of Anthony Quinn.

In 2016 Taco Bell began beta-testing an artificial intelligence ordering bot on which messaging platform?

Slack users in the private test could order selected menu items from a local branch and have them delivered without leaving their work chat.

Taco Bell was a sponsor of the very first edition of which annual sporting event, held in 1995?

The X Games deal was one of the chain's big marketing moves of the 1990s, a decade it ended with a talking dog as its television mascot.

Taco Bell Quarterly, launched in 2019 with no ties to the restaurant chain, is what kind of publication?

A literary magazine in which every piece is inspired by the chain, it began as a jab at pretentious journals and grew into a celebration of its own.

When Taco Bell returned to Japan in 2015 after decades away, it opened in which Tokyo district?

Shibuya hosted the comeback, with taco rice and a shrimp and avocado burrito on the menu. The chain's earlier shops in Tokyo and Nagoya dated from the 1980s and had not lasted.

India's first Taco Bell opened in 2010 inside the Mantri Square mall in which southern city?

Bangalore came first. By May 2019 the chain had 35 outlets across India and a new national franchise partner, Burman Hospitality.

Taco Bell's first Canadian restaurant opened in 1979 in which Ontario border city?

Windsor got the first Canadian branch. The chain pulled out of Quebec in 2022 after close to 15 years there.

Taco Bell quit which European country in 2012, amid a deep recession there, before returning in 2025?

Greece lost its first branch, in an Athens shopping mall, less than two years after it opened. The chain came back in 2025 with a restaurant in the suburb of Chalandri.

Which Minneapolis-born Mexican fast-food chain, once called Zapata, was folded into Taco Bell from 1986?

Zantigo had 82 restaurants when its new owner, which already ran a national Mexican chain, chose to close or convert them all. The name was revived in the Twin Cities a decade later.

Which Michigan drive-thru hamburger chain, known for 39-cent prices, was run by Taco Bell after a 1990 takeover?

Hot 'n Now, founded in Kalamazoo in 1984, had more than 100 stores in 15 states when it was bought. It was sold on later in the decade and filed for bankruptcy in 2004.

Taco Bell's parent company took its present name in 2002 after buying A&W and which seafood chain?

Long John Silver's and A&W came with the purchase of Yorkshire Global Restaurants. In 2011 the parent decided to dispose of both and concentrate on its bigger brands.