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Do some of you just not have authentic Mexican restaurants near you!? I just cannot imagine going to Taco Bell for much, much worse food.
Even if you're in a hurry! There's a place near me that will make me a handheld burrito from scratch with green chile and my choice of protein in 5 minutes dirt-cheap...
I go to Taco Bell for Taco Bell, not for Mexican food, it has a unique taste that's fairly decent for chain Fast Food.
I don't think I've ever known anyone to unironically refer to TB as Mexican food either. It's always been its own answer to the question "What do you feel like eating?"
That's fair that people consider it its own thing. But even Taco Bell advertises itself as Mexican food! "South of the Border", "Mexican Pizza", etc...
Sure they advertise it that way, but no one really believes it anymore. They've been doing that since they opened in the 60s, when Mexican food wasn't nearly as ubiquitous as it is now. They just keep on keeping on and no one really cares. At least the food is based on Mexican fare.
But eating at TB is not about "authentic". It's about taste. And price to some small extent. The TB near me (South L.A. area) has 3 Mexican spots within a block, as well as a Salvadorean place across the street. There's two street vendors who sell next to the TB on alternating nights. With all that, the TB is still busy with Latinos. Some people just like it.
I've read that Taco Bell was largely responsible for popularizing Mexican food back when it was seen as exotic.
I can see that. When I was real little (late 70s/early 80s), the only way you were getting traditional Mexican food was either from a Mexican friend/family or at a restaurant and those were typically owned/run by Mexicans. If someone lived in a city with few to no Mexicans, it was unlikely to have a restaurant so I think people missed out in many places until Taco Bell got there.
Side note - west coast road trips when I was a kid usually consisted of diners and other American food restaurants. Very little variety at all. Once we left L.A./SoCal, Mexican and Asian food basically disappeared.
We know it's not really Mexican food, but a lot of stuff at Taco Bell does taste good. We love authentic Mexican food too, of course.
Ah, got it. And if tacosplease isn't the authority on this, who can I trust!?
I wish. I live in a small Canadian town and all we have is a taco bell. There used to be a great Mexican place like 15 years ago but it closed and got replace by a Wacky Wings...
There's one about an hour out of town. But the food isn't that special, I can do better at home. I find myself annoyed by what people in my area want to eat. It's either chip stand or shitty bar food so that's the kind of restaurants that stick around. At least we have one amazing Thai place, I will be devastated if it ever closes.
FFS, we have a population of under 15,000 and have 5 chip stands lol
Taco Bell is its own nostalgic flavor. It’s comfort food and like a lot of comfort food it isn’t amazing, but it is very familiar and accessible. Also there is a wide variance in quality of local burrito shops. Some are amazing and others are underwhelming. Taco Bell is consistent and predictable from one side of the country to the other. What it lacks in soul it makes up in consistency which is nice when you are exhausted and not in the mood to be surprised. When I want good, fresh food with lots of cilantro and peppers I go for the local shops though. Taco Bell factory packets can’t compare to a nice fresh batch of salsa.