This Week in Taco Bell is For the Win’s weekly roundup of Taco Bell news and the internet’s foremost source of aggregated Taco Bell content.
This Week in Taco Bell apologizes for missing the last couple of weeks’ worth of Taco Bell news while its author was visiting MLB’s spring training in Arizona. My dedication to Taco Bell remains steadfast, but I have nothing on a Taco Bell fan named Richard Axton.
Axton is the founder of the Beefy Crunch Movement, an online guerrilla campaign dedicated to bringing back the Beefy Crunch Burrito. His extraordinary dedication to the product has been noted here multiple times before, and I interviewed him via email back in 2012 while writing Taco Bell roundups for my blog at my old job. Anyone so invested in improving Taco Bell via online crusade is obviously OK by me, and now Taco Bell has finally validated Axton’s work by bringing back the Beefy Crunch Burrito. From the press release:
Which brings us to Richard Axton, the fearless leader of the Beefy Crunch Movement, a social media campaign dedicated to bringing back Taco Bell’s Beefy Crunch Burrito. Born five years ago when the Beefy Crunch Burrito first disappeared from menus, the movement initially got on Taco Bell’s radar when they published a 14-page document outlining their grievances about the departure of Richard’s (and his now 38,000+ accomplices) beloved Beefy Crunch Burrito.
After literally waving the Beefy Crunch Movement flag for years, Richard today had the honor of announcing to Beefy Crunch Burrito fans that the treasured menu item will make its long-awaited return to menus nationwide. Taco Bell will work with Richard and his community in the weeks leading up to its fabled return on April 21 to share details of the release, build excitement and even provide some surprise and delights for the zealous fans who have shown incredible passion for these products.
In addition, the brand will be re-releasing another fan favorite and cult classic, the Cheesy Double Beef Burrito. These mouthwatering burritos will kick off the return of Fan Favorite menu items, and future menu additions will be decided based on…you guessed it – fan excitement, passion and engagement.
So that’s awesome. This site very much appreciates the Beefy Crunch Burrito’s inclusion of the Flamin’ Hot Fritos, sort of an amped-up version of the Crunchy Red Strips I happen to adore. I am unlikely to enjoy many Beefy Crunch Burritos in its current run because I shy away from Taco Bell items that include rice — waste of Taco Bell meat-space, I think — but I stand in awe of Axton’s ability to get Taco Bell to bring back important menu items.
This is Richard’s day, and he deserves to enjoy it. But if Taco Bell is now in the business of heeding the calls of dedicated fans who write about Taco Bell online: Hey, Taco Bell! It’s me, Ted! Bring back the Volcano Taco please.
Both the Beefy Crunch Burrito and the Cheesy Double Beef Burrito will be returning to Taco Bell menus nationwide on April 21.
Business Insider writer opines on the best Taco Bell menu item
(PHOTO: TacoBell.Wikia.Com)
The problem with most online Taco Bell analysis, in this site’s considered opinion, is that far too much of it comes from people who don’t actually care for Taco Bell and just want to get up on their soapbox about Mexican-inspired American fast food. Those people stink. Everyone knows what Taco Bell is about, and Taco Bell is about serving delicious food at ridiculously low prices more than it is about authenticity or healthiness or anything else. Chill out and enjoy Taco Bell, I say.
That criticism does not apply to Emmie Martin of Business Insider, who admits without shame that she loves Taco Bell. And Martin backs up her statement with a strong take on what she believes to be the very best item on the Taco Bell menu: The Crunchwrap Supreme.
There’s plenty of room on this here internet for Taco Bell writers who actually love Taco Bell, so This Week in Taco Bell supports Martin’s opinion. True story: When the Crunchwrap Supreme came out in 2004 and I was bored and trying to entertain myself at an old job in a different career, I wrote a poem about the Crunchwrap Supreme. I still have it in an old notebook. My Taco Bell writing voice hadn’t fully developed yet, but it goes like this:
Prepared fresh and expedient,
the same five ingredients
in a new combination;
synergistic innovation.
Soft yet crunchy,
edible contradiction
Mexican Pizza, Soft Taco,
in a whole new position.
Beef, lettuce, nacho cheese,
no tomatoes for me please.
At a dollar ninety-nine,
it feels like a crime.
I’d like it “supreme”
(Mexican for “with sour cream”).
How? Who? When?
I’m filled up with questions.
What is responsible for
this delectable invention?
Who sat around
for hours and hours
creating this medium
for raw taco power?
Wrap and Crunch,
together at last.
I just ate two,
bring another one fast.
So yeah, I love the Crunchwrap Supreme, too. I’m not sure I’m prepared to call it the very best item available on the menu, but it’s certainly in the conversation. It really depends on what you’re looking for. If you want a big, all-in-one type Taco Bell thing, the Crunchwrap Supreme is a great option. But the Cheesy Gordita Crunch remains incredible, and the Beefy Nacho Loaded Griller has come on very strong in recent years.
Man crashes car in Taco Bell-inspired rage
Derrick LaForest of Massachusetts arrived at a Taco Bell drive-thru at 1:30 a.m. only to be told that it was closed and got so angry that he smashed his car into a nearby ATM structure and knocked himself unconscious.
I can’t say that I don’t get where he’s coming from, but please, readers, try to control yourselves when denied Taco Bell. We all have bad days, and there are few things worse than ending a bad day without Taco Bell. But endangering yourself like LaForest did risks costing yourself the opportunity to eat lots more Taco Bell in the future.
Austin’s getting a boozy Taco Bell
(PHOTO: USA TODAY Sports)
This is a full-blown thing now: Upscale Taco Bells that serve alcohol are moving into cities around the country. I ate at the first incarnation, in Chicago, and came away impressed with the scene but unimpressed with the chicken fingers and taquitos.
I got a super hot tip
I don’t want to give too much away before I can confirm it independently, but an Indiana Taco Bell manager who wishes to remain anonymous sent me an extremely hot tip about how to lifehack the Taco Bell breakfast menu. Stay tuned.
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