50 Fun Facts About Taco Bell

In which US state did the first Taco Bell open in 1962?

The chain spent its first years entirely in southern California. Its founder had been selling food a few miles away since the late 1940s.

Which Los Angeles County city hosted that original 1962 restaurant on Firestone Boulevard?

The same city produced the Carpenters and the oldest surviving McDonald's building. The original taco stand there is now a protected local landmark.

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

He opened it in 1948, fourteen years before the chain existed. The stand sat a short walk from the McDonald brothers' original restaurant.

How large was the original 1962 building, roughly the size of a two-car garage?

There was no indoor seating at all — customers ordered at a window and ate outside. The whole menu was tacos, burritos, chiliburgers and frijoles.

Which drinks giant bought the chain in 1978?

The deal put fountain drinks and fast food under one roof, which is why the chain still pours a rival cola's competitor to this day.

What did the buyer pay for the 868-restaurant chain in 1978?

Glen Bell had started with a single hot dog stand thirty years earlier. He stayed on the board for years afterwards.

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

The name nodded to its three chains. It lasted only five years before being replaced by something shorter and louder.

Which company has owned the brand since renaming itself in 2002?

The same parent runs Pizza Hut, KFC and Habit Burger & Grill. It was created as a spin-off of a soft drinks company.

Which fried chicken chain is a sister brand under the same parent?

The two often share a building in smaller American towns. Their parent also owns a pizza chain that once replaced the tacos in a Hollywood film.

In which city is that parent company headquartered?

It is the same city its fried chicken chain came from. The tacos are still run out of southern California.

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 the chain's advertising from 1997 to 2000, demanding tacos in Spanish?

The campaign's catchphrase was '¡Yo quiero Taco Bell!'. Merchandise of the dog outsold some menu items.

What was the name of the dog who starred in those ads?

She was a female performer playing a male character. She later appeared in a Legally Blonde sequel.

Which actor supplied the voice for the talking dog in those commercials?

He also voices Rocko in Rocko's Modern Life and a deputy in Reno 911!. The line he delivered became a national catchphrase within months.

The Crunchwrap Supreme arrived as a limited-time offer in 2005. When did it become permanent?

It sold so well during its short run that removing it was never realistic. The hexagonal fold is now one of the chain's signatures.

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

The shell is a corn chip scaled up to taco size, dust and all. It became one of the most successful fast-food launches ever recorded.

In 2004, which soft drink brand handed the chain exclusive rights to a new tropical-lime flavour?

Baja Blast was sold only from those fountains for a decade. Fans drove across state lines for it before it reached shops.

In which year did Baja Blast finally reach supermarket shelves, marking its tenth anniversary?

The retail cans carried the restaurant's logo even in the drinks aisle. Before that, the only way to get it was in a restaurant.

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

The company took out insurance against the payout. The falling wreckage missed.

After a 2011 lawsuit, Taco Bell advertised that what proportion of its seasoned beef was beef?

The rest was spices and binders such as oats. The lawsuit was withdrawn, but the advertising blitz became more famous than the claim.

In an April 2014 breakfast campaign, the chain publicly mocked which rival's 'out-dated muffins'?

The campaign launched a breakfast menu built around a waffle taco. It even recruited real men named after the rival's mascot.

The Mexican Pizza returned to menus in which year, after a fan campaign?

Demand on its return ran about seven times higher than before it was pulled. It was made permanent again that September.

The Pizzazz Pizza was renamed after a trademark dispute in which year?

The original 1985 recipe also had olives and green onions on top. The new name stuck for the next three decades.

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

The item ran on paperboard trays that the chain wanted out of its supply chain. Customers were unconvinced, and a petition followed within weeks.

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

A petition with six figures of signatures had already made the case. She later starred in a musical about the item.

Roughly how many signatures did the change.org petition to bring back the Mexican Pizza collect?

It was started by a customer named Krish Jagirdar, a vegetarian who ordered it without meat. The company cited the campaign when it reversed course.

In Demolition Man (1993), which chain is the only restaurant left after the 'franchise wars'?

Every restaurant in 2032 Los Angeles is that one chain, complete with waiters and a string quartet. The joke was written before the brand had any global reach.

Which chain replaced it in the European release of that film, with lines re-dubbed and logos swapped?

The swap was made because the original brand was barely known outside North America. The Wall Street Journal called it a first for product placement.

In its 1996 April Fools' Day newspaper stunt, the chain claimed it had bought which national landmark?

The ads said the purchase would help reduce the national debt. Thousands of callers took it seriously before the joke was revealed at noon.

How many major newspapers carried the full-page hoax advertisement?

They included The New York Times, The Washington Post and USA Today. The stunt cost $300,000 to run.

The hoax cost $300,000. Roughly how much free publicity did it generate?

Sales rose by more than a million dollars in the first two days of April alone. It is still taught as a case study in cheap publicity.

Which White House press secretary joked that the government was selling the Lincoln Memorial to Ford?

He suggested it be renamed the Lincoln-Mercury Memorial. It remains one of the few federal contributions to an April Fools' prank.

The 2019 pop-up hotel called The Bell sold out its rooms in how long?

It ran for a single weekend in August. Guests got themed rooms, a themed pool and a themed gift shop.

What sets the Cantina format apart from an ordinary branch?

The format targets city centres and college towns. It replaced an upscale spin-off that had closed the same year.

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

It had tried to sell premium versions at higher prices. The Cantina format proved the better bet.

Which country made the chain change its name in the 1980s after a misleading-conduct case?

A local restaurant with a similar name sued and won. The chain returned there decades later under its own name.

Roughly how many restaurants did Taco Bell operate worldwide at the end of 2023?

By the end of 2023 the chain's restaurants served over two billion customers a year between them. The first one was smaller than most modern kitchens.

Roughly how many customers does the chain serve each year?

That is more people than live in the Americas combined. Not bad for a menu that started with four items.

Glen Bell served in which branch of the US military during the Second World War?

He worked as a cook, which is where he learned to feed people at speed. He opened his first stand three years after the war ended.

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

It sat directly across the street from his hot dog stand and is still open today. Its owners taught him their family recipe for hard-shell tacos.

In which city was Glen Bell born in 1923?

He died in Rancho Santa Fe in 2010 at the age of 86. His first restaurant was two counties away.

Roughly what share of Taco Bell restaurants are owned and operated by independent franchisees?

The first franchise was bought in 1964 by a former police officer, Kermit Bekke, who sold it on eighteen months later.

What two earlier names did the founder's business go through before settling on its current one?

The original 1962 Downey building was saved from demolition in 2015 and trucked 45 miles to corporate headquarters as 'Taco Bell Numero Uno'.

In which year did drive-thru service become generally available at Taco Bell?

The original restaurants were walk-up windows only; indoor seating arrived sporadically from 1968.

Which game-show host appeared in Taco Bell's first TV commercials in 1968, alongside Mel Blanc?

Barker was then hosting Truth or Consequences; Pat Harrington also featured in the ads.

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

Unlike the 2001 Mir stunt, this promise of free tacos for all Americans is very likely to pay out and has been repeated many times.

In 2000, up to $50 million of Taco Bell-branded taco shells were recalled from supermarkets. Why?

The shells used StarLink corn, a genetically modified variety approved only for animal feed.

Which celebrity chef created Taco Bell's upscale 'Cantina Menu' tested in 2012?

Her additions included black beans, cilantro rice and citrus-and-herb marinated chicken.

Which is Taco Bell's most important market in Europe, with 119 branches by early 2024?

Its first outlet there opened at the Rota naval station in 2004 and was only open to people with base access.

The 1962 menu's Chiliburger was renamed twice, ending up in 1979 with what name?

The loose-meat sandwich on a steamed bun was dropped around 1986 to keep the menu Tex-Mex.