hello everyone this is running on empty Food review well hello ladies gentlemen and everyone
watching welcome one end all to this newest edition of The Running on Empty Food review series
I'm your host the report of the week thanks for checking in Taco Bell is doing what they do best
and what does Taco Bell do best they release new items good or bad they are
always extremely consistent when it comes down to these new releases and that Taco Bell well
they continue doing just that today's review is for a new burrito released from Taco Bell
you will never guess you I mean you'll never guess what is on this burrito
it's not like it's in the name of anything it's gonna blow your mind are you ready
what if I told you that Taco Bell has these magical things that are these often
three-dimensional rectangular strips composed of potato meat they are fried and they took
these objects and wrapped them in a tortilla with other ingredients
I can't even begin to imagine such a concept
Taco Bell did just that though because we know that when it comes down to innovation when it
comes down to creativity Taco Bell is unparalleled there's nothing that even comes close to them
yeah that's a that's sarcastic because I'll be honest Taco Bell has the nacho fries
I have no I have no objection to the nacho fries from Taco Bell at all
I enjoy them I like them every time I have tried out the nacho fries
I've given them a good review Taco Bell has obviously Incorporated the nacho fries into
many an item they have them on their own they have nacho fries burritos they have nacho fries
bowls and there are all sorts of various things that you could have the nacho fries added to
you could still like them as a product but you could also feel this way where you could say you
know I like them but at this point in time the nacho fries generally and I see this I see what
people have to say about them are a stale overdone concept that generates little to no interest
you could feel both of those ways and I do and that's what I see a lot of people say yeah the
nacho fries are good and all but they're kind of overdone I mean come on talk about the kid you
know as edit are you just going to add nacho fries to this or to that is is there anything else you
could do and I see that sentiment quite a bit and I'm curious before I get into this review
if you are a Taco Bell regular if you have any thoughts about them what do you think about the
nacho fries at Taco Bell do you think that it's an overdone gimmick at this point as well or do
you think that you know it doesn't really matter just incorporate them as much as possible so what
do you think if you want to leave a comment I'm curious as to thoughts but I just get the
impression that it's kind of overdone a lot of people are kinda it's like ah come on just leave
them on the menu you know it's not that big of a exciting deal anymore like they were in 2018
but nonetheless now let's actually get into this Taco Bell is still going all out with the nacho
fries they are back and they've also released a special burrito with nacho fries therein and in
this instance they have released the chili verde fries a burrito now you could get it with just the
nacho fries or you could get it with steak added I got the steak variety so here's what it has in it
steak obviously filet mignon they're nacho fries nacho cheese sauce a three cheese blend
chile verde sauce sour cream and Fiesta strips and it's all wrapped together in a tortilla
and it is available for the price of five dollars the steak chile verde fried burrito from Taco Bell
I got the burrito by itself got it right here
interesting actually I don't know if this was necessarily intentional but
I will say It's actually kind of a bit of a relief because this kind of proves that
at least I got the right item so that's good you see right there see the green
you might say what is that right what is that green stuff is that algae
is that trees money that I believe is the Chile Verde sauce the namesake of this burrito
yeah I know it could be kind of silly but there's what it looks like though it's like
a standard burrito but it actually again I don't think that was intentional but it's just nice to
actually see the sauce on the outside because I'll give a little bit of a an example you
know the lighting is kind of bleached out right there there's a better look at it and there's the
other end has its structural Integrity but uh around New Year they released a burrito called
the salsa verde burrito and I tried it out and it was such a disappointment because there's no sauce
in there there was very little so actually seeing the sauce on the outside verifiably is a good sign
what I'm going to do right now because I think I was able to describe it sufficiently you know
what's on it you know the price again it incorporates the steak the fries various
sauces cheese and then it again has the special chile verde sauce I am going to cut this in half
you'll be able to get an adequate cross section and then after that I will eat it and I'll let
you know what it tastes like so what I'm going to do right now I'm going to pause the camera
dismember it and then you will see this now in two pieces in just a moment
the operation was a success and now you could see for yourself the cross section you could see
the fries right in there I'm not seeing a ton of steak but I do see a little steak piece
on that side the fiesta strips some of the green sauce right there so you could see it good cross
section looks like a very diverse variety of ingredients I shall try it out now and I'll let
you know how it is all right let's see the steak chile verde fries burrito from Taco balkavian
you know why they call them nacho fries
because they're nacho fries
foreign
I have some thoughts on this
before I get into the assessment which I don't think will be too long
I'm actually going to rip this piece of tortilla off
and you see how it is now thoroughly coated in the sauce right there I'm going to try this by itself
so this is an item that has a lot of ingredients as you could obviously see right it has the steak
seasoned fries nacho cheese sauce three cheese blend the Chile Verde sauce sour cream and Fiesta
strips and a lot of the time with Taco Bell items they fall into one of two categories
when it comes down to all of these ingredients wrapped up into one burrito you get one of two
outcomes generally speaking a lot of the time all the ingredients either blend together perfectly
and it is just the perfect combination everything complements each other you could sometimes make
out the individual notes but at all pairs very nicely a lot of the time you either get that
all right another third outcome I could say because this just came to mind the ingredients
are completely discordant and it's absolutely Dreadful that's a possibility too but then
the other principle outcome is that some of the ingredients are very potent they most definitely
stand out then some of the ingredients are so muted it's like why is this even there
I can't even taste it and it essentially seems pointless this burrito is the latter
it's not bad I'll tell you that this is one of those items that isn't bad is it necessarily
what I was expecting I couldn't really say I couldn't say that it was by that I mean
and I'll tell you why I specifically wanted to try the Chile Verde sauce
I could taste some of the notes of it in the burrito itself as I was consuming it
it seems very promising this is one of those items that I see the potential in I see what it
could be and when I saw the sauce independently I wanted to try it solely by itself so I could fully
understand whether or not that potential that I think I detected could actually be there and if
it could be attained the answer to that is yes so here's the problem like I said it's not bad
it's just not what I was really expecting and I could easily see this being a whole lot better and
I think there's something that you as a customer can do about it that could actually improve this
so first and foremost the ingredients as we often know with Taco Bell are disproportionate
I bite into this and you can even see right here in the cross section yourself
what do you see the most of right what do you see the majority of this being how much
steak do you see I see two pieces of it a tiny piece right there and the tiny piece right there
look at all the fries I count one two three four five six seven eight or nine fries you see those
Fiesta strips it's loaded with the cheese as well but as far as the steak itself goes there's such
a tiny portion of it so despite paying a premium for steak you're barely seeing any you're barely
tasting any I will tell you this right now the steak is only discernible upon visual confirmation
when I look at it I see it Can I taste it can I detect it can I discern it no I cannot so
that's the first issue steak chile verde fries burrito their steak Can I taste any no I can't
that's a portion problem though your Taco Bell may do a better job likewise it is just loaded
with the fries which again they're totally fine there's not really a big problem there
obviously you would expect there to be fries but I would hope that there would be a better pairing
a better balance between the fries and the steak so that's just another thing it gets a little bit
dry actually for some reason I noticed that the potato itself has a bit of a dry characteristic
it was extremely salty and I think that might have to do with some of the cheese as well as
the fries they might be really seasoned so as I'm biting into this what do I principally taste
I taste the potato from the fries I taste a bit of a dryness to it and it's really really salty
now none of this is to excess and when I say really salty I know that might sound unbearable
but it says right at the threshold where it's still doable so I taste all the saltiness
and a little bit of cheese not a ton the sour cream is missing in action the fiesta strips
are kind of just there the steak is kind of just there shortly it still tastes though right
and then we get to the Chile Verde sauce the Saving Grace of this item
it has a very nice pleasant little bit not quite of a Tang it just has this like
unique almost sharpness to it for lack of a better word it has a flavor unique to itself
it provides much needed moisture to this burrito and it provides what I would
describe as a very flavorful spiciness to it as well and that cuts through
all of that saltiness all of that dryness that it may otherwise have just you know the the
blend of just the cheese as well and then you could taste that sharp pleasantly spicy note
from the Chile Verde sauce now here's the problem this is what I mean about the potential
this sauce is the Saving Grace of this item if it weren't for that sauce I would say
it's bland it's too salty there's not enough steak and it's not a good item so this sauce
is one of those things one of those components that makes what would otherwise be a mediocre
item into something league is better that's the potential and I see that being somewhat realized
but there is not enough sauce to fully take this item up to the next level that it could be at
so when I see the sauce mostly on the exterior which is why again I specifically tasted it
because I wanted to make sure all right I just want to make sure you know that I'm thinking
what I'm thinking justifiably and indeed I am but it's otherwise on the inside in tiny little
pockets you know it's like you really can't see a ton of green here maybe like underneath where
my thumb is and maybe on this side too at the top but that's about it so here's my recommendation
this item can be quite good but it needs more of the Chile Verde sauce because that sauce is pretty
darn good I will tell you that it adds a lot to it flavor wise it's got a lot of potential to it
tastes good I like it it's a good sauce this burrito needs more of that sauce so if you
order this see if there is a way that you could order this with extra chile verde sauce thereon
if you do I can see this item being quite good in my case this isn't a disgusting item it's not one
of those items that it's so gross or anything like that it's not like I'm you know just spitting it
out uh you know on the floor and then leaving the discarded remnants of it on the floor to serve as
a warning to other Taco Bell items or anything like that it's edible it's kind of enjoyable but
it could be better and there's such an easy way to make it better and that's always a bit frustrating
when you see that you see the potential but you see that it's not fully realized it needs some
work but it could definitely it could really be better really quick they're four out of ten the
steak chile verde fries burrito from Taco Bell I am going to be giving this a 6 out of ten it's
edible get it with that extra sauce if you get it with the extra sauce and maybe they increase
the steak I could see this easily being an eight Taco Bell some improvement is needed but they're
on the right track that's all that I have thanks for watching I'm your host the report of the week