Top 10 Taco Bell Menu Items You Can't Order Anymore
Top 10 Discontinued Taco Bell Products
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Some of these items were seriously outside the bun. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the Top 10 Discontinued Taco Bell Products. For this list, we’ll be looking at products that no longer exist on Taco Bell menus that were either failed or discontinued. We will be including products that people loved as well as hated.
#10: Double Decker Taco
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Some of these menu items are long gone, but you might not even realize that others, like this one, aren’t available anymore. In September of 2019, Taco Bell announced some menu changes, including saying goodbye to the Double Decker Taco. It was introduced in the ‘90s as a limited edition product and the company used NBA players Shaquille O'Neal and Hakeem Olajuwon to promote it. It consisted of a hard shell taco wrapped in a soft shell taco with refried beans binding the two layers together. Considering how long it had been on the menu, we’re definitely sad to see this one go.
#9: Caramel Apple Empanada
Another item that disappeared recently was a unique dessert product: the Caramel Apple Empanada. We’re not sure how legitimate of a Mexican dish the dessert empanada is, but we weren’t complaining when Taco Bell introduced this in 2004. It consisted of apples and caramel in a fried pastry shell and was a great sweet treat to finish off your meal. A statement from a Taco Bell rep said, “Even the sweetest things in life don’t last forever.” If you’re seriously mourning them, though, don’t worry because there are plenty of copycat recipes available online so you can make them for yourself!
#8: Black Jack Taco
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For Halloween in 2009, Taco Bell introduced the Black Jack Taco, which was - in most ways - a pretty unremarkable item that seemed similar to other tacos on the menu. It featured beef, cheese, lettuce, and Baja sauce. The big difference, however, was the spooky black shell. It’s hard to say how substantiated these claims are, but some reported that after eating the black taco shells, the color of their bowel movements was affected. Yuck! Maybe that’s why they only existed as a limited edition item that never returned.
#7: The Original Breakfast
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You might be thinking, “wait, the Taco Bell breakfast menu hasn’t been discontinued.” And you’re not wrong! But what many people don’t know is that before the modern iteration of breakfast at Taco Bell, they made an attempt at breaking into the morning fast food scene in the ‘90s. Errr… it didn’t go quite as well. The effort doesn’t make it into the company’s official history, but they had breakfast burritos and even something that looks suspiciously like a McDonald's Egg McMuffin. We think it’s safe to say that they did a better job when they tried again in the decades that followed.
#6: Bacon Club Chalupa
Taco Bell may have got its start serving Tex Mex classics, but over the years, it has branched out in lots of different directions. While it claims to be an alternative to the more typical burger-focused fast food chains, it has taken some pretty serious leaps into the world of bacon. There was the BLT Soft Taco, which was around in the ‘90s and 2000s. And then there was the Bacon Club Chalupa, which featured grilled chicken and ranch dressing. The Chalupa made a big return in 2015, but it was only around for a very brief period of time.
#5: Grilled Stuft Nacho
This poorly-spelled dish consisted of beef, cheesy jalapeño sauce and something called “crunchy red strips” all “stuft” into a triangularly folded flour tortilla. It was first introduced in limited markets in 2013 and then expanded to be available nationwide before disappearing the following year. Fans of the item asked for it to make a comeback and Taco Bell delivered, bringing it back for a limited time starting in May of 2015. It was gone again shortly after, though, and is now officially discontinued. Considering its cult status, it’s easy to find a recipe to make this at home!
#4: Volcano Taco
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Introduced in 2008, the Volcano Taco was a popular menu item that brought us the perfectly spicy Lava Sauce. It’s also one of the only Taco Bell tacos to feature a colored shell. Many have wondered whether the aforementioned “crunchy red strips” are actually made out of the red taco shells, but this is a mystery we might not be able to solve. While the Volcano Taco may no longer be on the menu, the Lava Sauce continued on, though now it too is absent from the menu despite its popularity.
#3: Enchirito
Taco Bell was founded all the way back in the ‘60s, and this menu item was first introduced a few years later. Although it’s not available anymore, it has gone on and off the official menu for years. The name “Enchirito” evokes both the enchilada and the burrito, though this dish was probably closer to the former, involving ground beef, beans, and onions in a tortilla, which are then covered with a red sauce and melted cheese. Over the years, this has become a popular “secret menu” item, so it doesn’t hurt to ask if an employee will be willing to make it for you!
#2: Bell Beefer
While Taco Bell may ask its customers to think outside the bun, it hasn’t always followed that advice itself. Yup, there have been burgers at this Tex Mex joint, starting with the Chiliburger, AKA the Bell Burger, which launched in the ‘60s. A later iteration was the Bell Beefer, which like its predecessor, featured taco meat rather than a traditional burger patty and was basically a Mexican sloppy joe. This product was around into the late ‘80s and still has a serious fanbase who are requesting its return even decades later.
#1: Doritos Locos Tacos & Cool Ranch Tacos
In the lead up to the company’s 50th birthday, the higher-ups knew they needed a big product launch to accompany this milestone. They conceived of the idea of a taco that essentially used a Dorito-flavored shell and the rest is history. The launch was such a massive hit that branches had to hire extra employees to keep up with the demand. Considering its success, people were shocked when in September of 2019 both the Doritos Locos Taco and the Cool Ranch Taco were unceremoniously removed from the menu. But there are indicators that they might make a return. In fact, they started offering them in the UK in the fall of 2019, so who knows what will happen next!
