Ever since Taco Bell first debuted its value menu, it's made a splash — and competitors
have certainly done their best to compete.
From its early beginnings to its ever-evolving menu, here's everything you ever wanted to
know about one of the best value menus in fast food.
Taco Bell's dollar menu has certainly evolved over the years, and though the modern-day
version still offers plenty of Mexican-inspired fast food at super-low prices, its early menu
was somehow even cheaper.
Back in the late '80s, customers could get a taco for 59 cents, a Supreme taco for 79
cents, and Big Beef taco for 99 cents.
Hence, the brand's "59, 79, 99 cents each" commercial jingle.
According to an article in The New York Times published in 1990, Taco Bell was trying to
create the perception that they had the cheapest offerings in the fast food world.
An industry consultant told The New York Times:
"If you look around in the hospitality industry, you see a lack of differentiation and a lot
of customer confusion — 99 cents for this, 59 cents for that.
But with Taco Bell, I know what I get."
The strategy worked: Soon after unveiling the value menu, Taco Bell became the best-performing
fast food chain in the country.
Taco Bell wasn't always the successful fast food chain it is today.
The company struggled for a long time, but a smart rebranding strategy helped turn things
around, and the value menu played an instrumental role in its efforts.
"People everywhere are experiencing a breakthrough."
"I'm full!"
"Taco Bell's new Big Bell Value Menu."
When Pepsico bought Taco Bell back in 1978, Mexican food wasn't nearly as popular in America
as it is today.
As The New York Times reports,
"Many people were hesitant to try [it], thinking it was strange or too spicy."
But when John E. Martin took over operations in 1983, he tried to convince Americans that
tacos were just as delicious as burgers.
In an attempt to lure new customers, he dropped prices so low that Taco Bell fare became basically
impossible to resist.
At the time, a single taco was only 79 cents, but that was soon dropped to 39 cents.
As Martin told The New York Times,
"Our transactions went through the roof, but profitability went through the floor."
Later, the chain subsequently raised the price of its tacos to 49 cents and then 59 cents.
Reportedly, the goal was to create a value menu that made customers return time and time
again.
The strategy proved highly effective: By 1990, operating profits had increased by 26 percent.
When you order off a value menu, you expect to be saving money, right?
Well, that's not always the case.
When Taco Bell started calling their value menu the Dollar Cravings Menu in 2014, customers
were treated to 11 items for the flat price of $1.
While that might have been cheaper than the $2 items showing up on McDonald's and Wendy's
dollar menus, this deal actually raised the price of some Taco Bell items.
Before they were added to the Dollar Cravings Menu, popular favorites like Cinnamon Twists,
the Cheese Roll-up, and Crispy Potato Soft Taco were priced at 99 cents.
When they went to the new menu they were, in fact, a penny more expensive.
You think we're splitting hairs, don't you?
That's because we are.
Obviously, a penny increase in price ain't much and nobody made a fuss about it, but
technically, the move to the dollar menu for those three items didn't work in favor of
the customer.
You should go back to Taco Bell and beat them at their own game.
"It's the 89 cent grilled chicken burrito."
"This is only 88 cents."
"Ooh, 89.
See ya tomorrow!"
When it comes to pulling in customers for the first meal of the day, there's a lot of
competition out there.
Breakfast is big business for fast food chains.
"Introducing the new Breakfast Quesadilla.
Now at Taco Bell."
Taco Bell first launched its breakfast in 2014, and it continues to be one of the cheapest
options in the fast food breakfast wars.
As of May 2020, five breakfast items only cost $1.
In 2020, Taco Bell added the Cheesy Toasted Breakfast Burrito to its Value Cravings Menu,
just as Wendy's was relaunching its breakfast menu.
Melissa Friebe, Taco Bell's vice president of marketing, told Business Insider in 2019:
"We continue to have the dollar menu on breakfast.
Our competitors are having a hard time just having that for the rest of the menu, let
alone for breakfast."
She may have a point.
As Fast Food Menu Prices reports, there isn't a single breakfast item on McDonald's McValue
breakfast menu that costs under a buck.
Meanwhile, Burger King only offers three breakfast items for a dollar or less and Wendy's has
none.
Are you sitting down?
If so, you may want to lie down before we drop this bombshell on you: Some Taco Bells
don't have a dollar menu at all.
Sounds like a fast food fan's worst nightmare, right?
Well, it's a terrifyingly real scenario at some Taco Bell locations.
For example, The University of Houston has a Taco Bell in their student center food court,
but it doesn't offer any sort of value menu.
One student told The Daily Cougar,
"I wish they would have stuff like the Baja Blast and the value menu, so students who
are looking for that would have a place on campus to eat it."
But alas, the world of fast food isn't always a fair one.
Fast food locations on college campuses often have smaller menus than their stand-alone
counterparts.
And while a Taco Bell representative didn't comment on the story, a marketing manager
for the university's dining services did say the menu was mandated by Taco Bell and the
addition of the value menu was unlikely.
And here's something else we learned while scouring the web: Apparently, some airport
Taco Bells also forgo the value menu.
The takeaway here?
We should all be a little more grateful for the fact that Taco Bell has a dollar menu.
Thank you for everything, Taco Bell Dollar Menu.
From the bottom of our hearts.
Ever since Taco Bell launched its version of a dollar menu, the company has been successfully
luring in customers with the promise of cheap food.
According to The New York Times, customer transactions jumped by 35 percent in 1989,
the year the dollar menu premiered.
To this day, the dollar menu continues to be a real asset to the brand.
Not long after McDonald's killed off their Dollar Menu in 2013, Taco Bell swooped in
to steal their business with the $1 Double Stacked Taco.
This would prove to be a profitable move for Taco Bell.
According to a 2019 article in QSR magazine, the fact that Taco Bell's value menu is loaded
with $1 items has helped the chain achieve seven continuous years of profit growth.
"Does your wallet have a dollar in it?
Do you crave a quesadilla that looks like this?
If you answered yes to both of these questions, you may be interested in the new shredded
chicken mini-quesadilla."
Seven years of growth?
That's quite a feat when you consider the fact that lots of fast food chains have been
struggling.
Taco Bell's dollar menu is constantly evolving.
For example, when the menu went through an overhaul in 2018, the Chicken Enchilada Burrito
and Three Cheese Nacho Burrito were the new stars of the menu.
In March 2020, Taco Bell added the Chipotle Chicken Grande Burrito and the Loaded Taco
Grande Burrito to the menu.
It's a smart business move at the end of the day.
The fact that Taco Bell keeps spicing up the value menu keeps things looking fresh and
exciting in the eyes of consumers.
As you scan the dollar menu, you won't find any Taco Bell items made with Impossible meat,
Beyond Meat or some other plant-based meat substitute.
"It's made of f***ing beef right here.
You see that? That's beef."
"We swear.
It's not beef."
But soon, that might change.
In 2019, Fox Business reported that Taco Bell's 21 item dollar menu was part of a counterattack
on the plant-based items from fast food competitors.
In February 2020, CEO Mark King told Bloomberg that plant-based meat substitutes will probably
find their way to the menu sometime in the following year, assuring customers that
"We definitely see that plant-based protein has a place on the menu."
Considering the large number of burritos and tacos that eventually wind up on the dollar
menu, we imagine that a taco or burrito stuffed with plant-based protein will pop up on there
sooner or later.
Sure, items like Cinnamon Twists are always on Taco Bell's value menu, but other items
are only available for a limited time.
A perfect example is the ever-popular Double Stacked Taco.
Three varieties of Double Stacked Tacos first made their way onto the value menu in 2016,
before they returned to the regular menu at a higher price.
Fans were far from pleased.
Call it cruel, but Taco Bell knows exactly what happens when you pull a popular item
off the dollar menu.
"At Taco Bell, the dollar gets you access to more."
In December 2019, multiple outlets reported on the return of all three Double Stacked
Tacos to the value menu with their throwback $1 price.
That was good news for Taco Bell aficionados, but there was one disappointing caveat: It
was a limited time offering.
As of May 2020, those Double Stacked Tacos are nowhere to be found on Taco Bell's value
menu.
Could Double Stacked Tacos become Taco Bell's version of the seasonal McRib?
Taco Bell's value menu is already one of the strongest in the fast food value menu game…
and the menu's hackability makes it even more enticing.
So many options here.
One enterprising foodie on Reddit suggested getting the beefy Fritos burrito and adding
potatoes to it before taking things to the extreme and wrapping it in a mini chicken
quesadilla.
According to another Redditor, any value menu item with double beef can be subbed for steak...
and you'll often get double the steak.
That should fill you up.
"I'm full, but you wouldn't understand that."
Here's one more popular menu hack that's been popping online: First, order two mini chicken
quesadillas along with a spicy tostada.
Break the tostada in half and put each piece into the quesadillas.
It's very delicious indeed… and you won't even be up-charged.
When it comes to hacking Taco Bell's dollar menu, the sky's the limit.
Just remember to dream big.
These days, it might seem like a dollar doesn't go as far as it used to, but maybe that's
just in our head.
Case in point: Let's take a look at Taco Bell's menu from the past.
In 2016, Huffington Post dug up an old photo of Taco Bell's menu from way back in 1965.
The menu was pretty ho-hum compared to today's menu.
In fact, it only featured six items, if you can believe it.
Nothing on the menu cost more than 19 cents.
At a glance, that seems like a pretty unbeatable price…a price that puts the Taco Bell dollar
menu of today to shame, right?
Well, not so fast — we've got to take the rate of inflation into account.
According to the inflation calculator we used, 19 cents in 1965 is equal to $1.56 in 2020.
That's right: Seems the good ole' days weren't so great after all.
When it comes to Taco Bell's value menu, you seem to be getting a better deal and more
variety these days.
So there.
In December 2018, Taco Bell's Dollar Cravings Menu went through a slight name change, but
rather significant structural change.
Taco Bell's parent company Yum Brands! decided to drop the "dollar" in front of the menu
name and rebrand it the Cravings Value Menu.
At first glance, the change doesn't seem like much, but customers soon discovered that $5
items were mixed in with those $1 tacos.
A Taco Bell spokesperson told Business Insider,
"While [the dollar menu] was a huge focus in 2018, and a promise we exceeded, in 2019
we're really focusing on the revamped Value Cravings Menu and what that means for fans."
The change likely had a lot to do with the special offers that Taco Bell's competitors
were promoting.
. After all, McDonald's launched its new $1 $2 $3 Dollar Menu in 2017.
Although it wasn't a huge hit, it seems to have inspired something of a trend.
As Business Insider reported in 2018,
"Chains that aren't known for their dollar menus have been [...] turning to bundled deals
as a way to win over budget shoppers.
[...] Burger King launched its $6 King Box [... while] Wendy's expanded its four-for-$4
bundle deal earlier this year."
Nevertheless, as of the making of this video, Taco Bell's "Cravings Value Menu" still offers
several items for just $1, including the Triple Layer Nachos and Shredded Chicken Quesadilla
Melt.
In other words, life is good.
So good, you can taste it.
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