Participants in a recent Harris Poll voted Taco Bell best Mexican restaurant. How do you feel about this?

I was shocked to read this. I like Taco Bell and would vote it pretty high on the fast food scale but it is not "real" Mexican and I can't imagine it being considered a top Mexican restaurant. Opinions?

Create an Account or Log In

Membership is free. Simply choose your username, type in your email address, and choose a password. You immediately get full access to the forum.

More About Restaurants

I think the people they polled must never have tried "real" Mexican food. But I like taco bell too, and have great admiration for their business model of being able to re-arrange 7 basic ingredients into a full menu.

proudly shopping in the D.

Definitely a FF restaurant which would not be considered above average food. Must have been a poll of FF's.
L.A. has amazing Mexican restaurant's, we have about five up here that knows what it's all about...name's, o.k.
1. Cafe Rio, Solita (sophisticated and amazing), in the city Ray Balis famous Mexican restauranter from Chicago owns "RED". please, get a taste bud.

Live consciously....

keep getting duplicates.....

Live consciously....

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/25/2018 03:08PM by Irene_L.A..

Taco bell is tasty but i still like chipotle. Much healthier ingredients at chipotle and i can get 2-3 meals out of one bowl.

What is your favorite FF as I've never had Taco bell...Carl's Jr, Inn@Out, The Hook for burgers and Red Robin is shopped and pretty good (for a chain).

Live consciously....

Taco Bell food is generally tame, and the spiciest flavors are optional. If you want to spice it up, just ask for the level of spicy sauce that you want. Those little sauce packets make the difference between Americanized Mexican and hot, spicy stuff that might cause steam to pour forth from your ears and tears to stream from your eyes. Aaaaahhhhh. That is very satisfying, and a tasty way to sweat out toxins (I tell myself when I eat hot-hot-hot food). Food qualities that I have noticed are fresh produce, fresh tortillas, and no excessive grease. I do not know if they make the tortillas on site, but I know that the tortillas are never moldy, never ripped, and never stuck together with other tortillas. I did not take part in the survey, but I have no complaints regarding Taco Bell. I also like other Mexican foods and Mexican restaurants. If people prefer Taco Bell, so be it.

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. - Lao-Tzu

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/25/2018 08:49PM by Shop-et-al.

I always wonder about what kind of oil these taco bell type places use for deep frying, I'd guess not olive, so,
health and freshness must play a role in food quality, as deep fried grease always taste good.

Live consciously....

I like Uncle Julio's but prefer non-chain, family owned for Tex-Mex.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

I see that the chicken fajita entree is about $19 at Uncle Julio's. For that amount it better be the best tasting dish served by someone wearing white gloves !

I learned to cook authentic Tex-Mex and Mexican from the grandmothers of my Hispanic friends back in Arizona. I can make tortillas, tamales, etc etc. That being said, authentic Mexican varies widely in restaurants depending on the region they are emulating.
I typically make my own Mexican food if I want good Mexican. If I'm in a hurry or exhausted I don't have a problem with tacos from taco bell.

I am guessing they polled at a high school or middle school?

The results of a survey quite often depend on the way the questions are framed. In my opinion a good local restaurant will always beat a chain/FF. Taco Bell may or may not be the best chain Mexican restaurant but certainly not the best overall any more than The Olive Garden is the best Italian restaurant or Red Lobster is the best seafood restaurant. Tastes and opinions are different, of course, but that is my mine.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/24/2018 10:42PM by LIJake.

I want to be the mayor of Taco Bell.

OK, I changed it your honor

1. Taco Bell is not Mexican food.
2. There are other fast food restaurants of Taco Bell's genre which are better.
3. In much of the US, local real-Mexican taco and buritto shops are plentiful and offer much better food at lower prices.
4. In many US cities, there are full-service, even upscale, Mexican restaurants.
5. That many people think Taco Bell is good Mexican food is a sign of how insular many American are.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/13/2018 07:00AM by Rousseau.

Yeah, definitely not Mexican food. More like dog food! So number 5 is especially relevant with the typo, "goo" is very accurate. I remember the mushy hamburger meat when I ate there years ago. I don't mind the bean burritos or tostados, but still, there are just so many better choices out there (though I haven't eaten at a Taco Bell in over a decade). I LOVE going to San Diego to visit my friends (actually in Cardiff-by-the-Sea) where there are great taquerias everywhere. People who live in Southern California or other border states have no reason to ever eat at a Taco Bell.

Believe it or not, Whataburger has/had pretty good breakfast taquitos. I used to go there after work when we closed the bar down at 4 a.m. and get a few in the drive thru (30 years ago). Still not Mexican food.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/25/2018 03:28PM by JASFLALMT.

I have NEVER ever eaten at taco bell and being a major foodie, very proud of it......the best Mexican food, really, and judged by who???? Sometime I think these places pay to state this. We have a new (to us) so called Italian
restaurant that has signs saying the best Italian in L.A......if you like garbage, I did it on a job, an literally couldn't see or taste my shrimp dish....they couldn't pay me to go back.....our local Cafe Rio doesn't use microwaves, everything is fresh daily and a lady stands all day making fresh tortilla's, their taco Tuesdays are the best with a taco being 2 bucks. and so good. Taste is in the mouth of the beholder....

Live consciously....

By the way, it is rumored that TB just reheats their entrees since they come frozen from their distribution center. Some of Jimbo's Tacos entrees are pretty decent and depending who's making the entrees. Jimbo's is a well known mexican ff chain in the Sacramento CA area.

Have had excellent Mexican food off the trucks, made by owners that know what their doing....it's the rage here...
they come to the Industrial center at lunch time, fresh, handmade, no microwaves...yum.

Live consciously....

duplicate????

Live consciously....

deleted

Moderator Note:

Previously blocked poster using new name. Post removed

TB puts rice in EVERYTHING! Even salad. Yuk.

Rice in everything?

Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.

Click here to login

Participants in a recent Harris Poll voted Taco Bell best Mexican restaurant. How do you feel about this?

Create an Account or Log In

Official List of Mystery Shopping Companies

Mystery Shopper Magazine