Recently discovered that a local New Mexican chain sells burritos with ground beef, rice, beans and queso for $2.19. The flavor and size puts Taco Bell to shame.
Is This the same chain that's in northern Virginia? If so I thought it was not so good 10 years ago. It's possible growing up with tex mex I just hate new mexico style but they had the worst tortillas I've had from a Mexican place.
Yeah I realized that I have a local Mexican place open late just like Taco Bell, it's much higher quality, and is priced either similarly or slightly more expensive. It doesn't have a drive through but that doesn't matter much to me.
There's an Anita's here in Phoenix. I think it's the same chain from NM. When I lived in Albuquerque Anita's was a regular stop. When I'm in town I still hit Anita's and Frontier near UNM.
I also have a local mexican joint that has all day every day burritos for $4 each and they come with beans and rice by default and you can add any of the following at no extra charge, beef, chicken, beans or cheese. The burritos are fucking huge and I can barely eat 2 of them and I tend to eat big meals, They are twice the size of the 5 layer burrito.
I dont understand why people eat fast food anymore, the prices have exceeded just about every mom and pop or local food joint so theres no reason to go there anymore. most mom and pop places even have drive-thrus and you can just call ahead and have your food ready if you're in a hurry.
I always have to wonder how different the story of Chipotle would be if they were franchised instead of all corporate owned. Almost all of Chipotle's issues boiled down to individual employees/managers not following health and safety procedures.
Taco Bell, McDonald's, and most other major chains have similar salmonella, e coli, and other diseases outbreaks, but for them blame just falls back on store or franchise owners. Or for systematic problems they're able to pass blame back to their distributors.
Media also plays a big part in it all. Chipotle made big news with their Washington E. coli outbreaks in 2015, and everyone became hyper aware of any Chipotle related issues, with some still bringing it up today.
Meanwhile any stories about people getting sick at Taco Bell never go anywhere, since the general public's reaction to that is usually "what did you expect eating there?".
Thereās also the issue of fresh and raw ingredients vs heavily processed and ready to make recipes. The way fast food is made to be prepared cuts a lot of the risks compared to even fast-casual places like Chipotle or Moeās.
Definitely a major part of Chipotle's reform 2015-2018. Switching to more processed lettuce and tomatoes that had gone through better sampling and testing to reduce risks.
Still more hands-on prep and serving involved than fast food, but they have got a lot of their process more in-line with other chains nowadays.
I think the reaction to the 2015 outbreak was in part because chipotle was going so hard on the advertising around that time to become a household name. They were also pushing the whole āall natural organic and healthyā thing as their main tagline to the extreme through advertising in the early and mid ā10s. It makes sense the public lashed out after such a hit to their public image like that.
This used to be me, until I went through my order and one trip at a time removed a single ingredient as an experiment. Turns out I was having a weird reaction to the lettuce, so now I get my regular without the lettuce and I'm usually fine now.
I see this for most of the fast food franchises. I hardly eat out any more due to the outragous menu prices, but when I do I only order the main item outside of a combo. No way in hell am I paying $2.49 for a God dam deep fried potato.......
Chipotle is opening around 300 stores this year. Meanwhile Taco Bell has been slowly decaying over the years. They're not in the same situation at all.
Use the app. Online exclusives. 6.99 for a speciality, a normal item, a side item and a drink. The same order without the deal is like $13. Probably the best deal in fast food right now.
This is why I donāt mind scamming them by creating a new account and getting unlimited free beefy 5 layers. Probably have gotten $400 of free burritos over the past couple years. Itās not much, but itās honest work
I tried this, for me it was a BYO cravings box. It worked for the first 2 accounts I created and then the third had no welcome rewards. Do you know what I did wrong by chance?
Yea so what I do is, clear browser history and delete Taco Bell App. Then go to your mobile browser, create new email(I like Hotmail/outlook, no phone number required), and then create your new Taco Bell account on safari(not the app). Redownload the app, sign into your new TB account, and it should work. Free beefy 5 layer, soft taco or cantina chicken taco, no purchase required.
Legend! Thanks for the reply, Iām gonna try it out now.
Did they take away the free BYOC box for you? Because that was the new member reward for me the last 2 times I did it
Just worked! Thanks again, also a little tip since you helped me, you donāt have to make a brand new email every time- I just tried it with my āclash off clans alt accountā strategy and it works.
In gmail you can ācreateā a new email by just adding a + and random things to your existing email and it considers it a brand new email without going through the process again, and all emails sent to the new one go to your originals mailbox.
Example: your original email is [email protected]
So you go to the tbell website and when you create the new account youāll put in [email protected] and itāll send the verification to the original email (note: it doesnāt have to be +1 it can be anything you want after the +)
Hope this helped and wasnāt too wordy
I do this with the McDonaldās app using apples āhid my email featureā and my vpn. Iāve got so many free fries, Big Macs and $4 off coupons over the last year. Didnāt know Taco Bell app gave sign on bonuses, thanks for the heads up.
Covid was the best thing that could have happened for big business. Lockdowns bringing staffing issues, supply chain shortages. People around the world again asking for higher wages during this crazy time. The election dividing people more and more as misinformation spreads more and more. The wars breaking out. So much has happened between 2019 to present day. (Yes, I see the image is showcasing 2009 to 2024, but still!)
Of course, there is a touch of inflation on its own merit. That was their door. Throughout all the smoke and chaos I've listed and more, businesses were able to steadily increase prices without notice. In the guise of inflation, they pushed more and more, and here we are. You can't net record profits while also pointing the finger at inflation for the price increases.
It's simply greed. These businesses are going to find the opportunities to take advantage of these past 4-5 years will not last. I'm sure they are foaming at their mouths in excitement to see what smoke and chaos this upcoming election potentially brings regardless which way it goes.
I'll put my tinfoil hat down. Sorry, if I got a little crazy there.
It's more simple than that. COVID happened. People started eating take out exclusively to avoid spending time at the grocery store in close contact with other humans. It was dirt cheap at first. Then they got addicted to take out and don't want to go back to buying ingredients and cooking.
Covid was also when grocery delivery became an option, so that kinda pokes a hole in your "exclusively eating takeout" argument. Besides, I was an "essential" worker, what did I have to fear at the grocery store that wasn't already being breathed directly into my face by ignorant customers who refuse to wear their mask?
Taco Bell has gotten me through some hard times and I won't forget that. The only way to not feel like you are getting raped though is to order the cravings box through the app. If you are going off of the standard menu the prices are almost comparable to Chipotle or Qdoba
As a fellow chicken quesadilla enjoyer Iāve found a work around. Get the veggie build your own box for $5.99, choose the cheese quesadilla, customize it and add chicken for $1.50. You end up with a chicken quesadilla, burrito, side and drink for $7.49. Not a bad deal compared to what they are charging for a chicken quesadilla alone or itās meal.
DUDE SAME, the exact thing too that I miss is those chicken kay-soh-dill-uhs, but $5.19 for just one when I can get the cravings box for that? Haven't had one in over a year now. Even if the cravings box didn't exist, they're just a fucking rip off at this point.
that 89 cents was promotional pricing when that burrito first came out. it went to $1.99 very quickly. so it's more like a slightly above 200% increase. Costs of raw materials is also going up: dairy prices have gone up a lot in the past couple of decades as demand in Asia for dairy has gone up, previously it didn't have high demand there because of the prevalency of lactose intolerance there.
And without a doubt, part of it is simply charging more because they can. We've shown that we really like fast food and we'll pay more than we used to be ok with in order to get it. Supply and demand.
And I can get that a CGC side and a drink for 5.99 total. Prices at TB are designed to drive people towards items. Of people are clueless enough to spend 4 dollars on a 5layer burrito that's on them.
Taco Bell is beat now. Iāll only go there a couple times a year to get chalupas but other than that Iām out on Taco Bell. Their prices are stupid and the food is sub par. A small private place by me makes huge custom burritos for like $7-$9 that are as big as 6 Taco Bell burritos and 100x better. I just canāt justify eating there unless Iām really jonesing for a chalupa.
How these motherfuckers arenāt charging less than a buck fifty for a bean burrito is a goddamn crime and the reason they lost my business last year. Itās beans, a flour tortilla, a few pieces of chopped onions, maybe some cheese, and a bit of house sauce. And it costs me a value meal to order two. Fuck them.
I've given it up. Not just the prices but my local chain has horrible employees that couldn't care if you lived, died, or grew mushrooms in your crack.
You're not the only one who has that question. A couple of months ago, I started browsing this subreddit after not going to Taco Bell in sixteen years and was saying to myself "What the fuck!" when I saw what the prices at Taco Bell currently are right now in 2024.
I got 3 things at TB today for $18š I didnāt realize it had gotten this bad.
I think Iām done with fast food. Itās just not worth it anymoreā¦for wallet and health.
A combination of promotional pricing in the beginning and inflation for the inputs (food/labor) increasing at higher then the inflation rate.
You have to remember that in 2009 we were in the middle of the great recession and places were offering all sorts of discounts to fight for what little spending money people had. The beefy 5 layer burrito was basically a $2 burrito TB was using as a loss leader to draw customers in and hopefully profit on their other purchases.
People keep saying promotional pricing but where the fuck is that promotional pricing now? No where to be found as they offer shit gimmicks that no one asks for and canāt hold up to two minutes in the bag. Add to it that they arenāt made properly half the time. Once they fuck up the cravings box there is absolutely no reason to go there.
You just answered your own question, the cravings box is the promotional pricing item now. The cravings box with a cheesy gordita crunch, a bean burrito, a side and a drink is $5.99 where I am and the CGC by itself is $5.29.
No bro. Thats an item to draw people to the app. Donāt be obtuse. It use to be every item came out at a āpromotional priceā. Like every god damn one of them except when they would put out dumb shit like cantina menus where they knew āhealthyā people would pay regardless. Now you get a soggy giant cracker for $4. Or wait we can put the soggy cracker in a wrap that they havenāt made well for over a decade and charge $6 fucking dollars. And for the extra $2 we will make it extra soggy. Crispy cantina taco, finally had that in the taco discovery box. Dog shit. Definitely not worth what? $3 dollars? Half filled cat shit chicken hot pockets? No thanks, not even gonna try that. How much was that one? $3 as well?
Inflation doesnāt happen over a steady curve despite this rule of thumb people keep quoting about prices doubling every ten or fifteen years. It may coincidentally happen to work out that way because itās the exception not the rule. If I flip a coin 10 times a day and it happens to land on heads 3 times it is not a āruleā. The way inflation works is that you wake up one day and everything is really expensive because reasons. There are targets for inflation and so on but it is more wishful thinking forecasting the results of the prisonerās dilemma. [Inflation Rate YoY](https://www.investopedia.com/inflation-rate-by-year-7253832) is in reality pretty random even with, my favorite disclaimer from economics, all things considered equal.
Had to delete the Taco Bell app. The price for a Cheesy Bean and Rice Burrito has increased from $1 to $1.79. Additionally, the $3 deals available nationwide are hardly accessible in the DC area.
The traffic at my local store is minimal. Used to be popping there every time I drove by. Sad, really.
They knew we would be up in arms. They made sure to bring back the Mexican pizzas just to keep us from rioting, but they never should have taken it away!
Minimum wage doubling is most of the US and the appification of fastfood(the in store prices are higher so they can offer discounts, which are the real prices)
For a price that low, they were likely selling it at a loss just to attract customers. They'd make their money back on sides and drink purchases, or returning customers trying something else.
Where did anyone get a 5 Layer for 89cents? In 2009 it was definitely not that. Worked with them since 2008 and still work with them. It was 1.29 when it first came out at my location.Ā
Either way, yes the prices have increased a lotĀ
Only thing that makes sense is that its one of their high profit items. They are always more then happy to throw it into a box despite how much they cost separately
Yeah... Individual items are definitely crazy compared to box combos.
Like Taco Bell is still the Pizza alternative for "hey lets order this one item for everyone for cheap."
Because befor they were price competing walk in orders and now they are price competing Delivery.
Like compared to their old prices its nuts but at least my taco bell is still the cheapest Door Dash option I have available.
Prices at Taco Bell are ridiculous, but to be fair, the high percentage rate is also a factor of starting off a low base ($0.89) as well. If it only went up 46.4% these would only be $1.30 today. Even if they had only jumped to $2 a piece thatās still a 124.7% increase.
I have found 90 percent of the menu can be replicated with store bought taco shells, flour tortillas, ground hamburger meat,refried beans, velveeta (I just get the store brand that costs half) sour cream and iceberg lettuceā¦the Taco Bell kits are good for this but the cheap stuff works too if you put effort into making it. The chicken and steak stuff is a little trickier but can be done
I mostly stoped going 2 years ago when their prices shot up from a $5 to a $9 box. Otherwise I think Iāve went 2 times in the past year because nothing else was open.
Just a friendly reminder kids. It's not 15 years ago, and it just continues to go higher.Ā Anyone distraught over price increases over years time.. have their head in their ass.Ā
Comparing a walk-in price to an appās price isnāt really apples to apples. There could be mark-ups for things like third-party delivery services baked right into the price
Iām so glad someone posted this, I had someone on this very subreddit telling me I must have been thinking of the 90ās when burritos were .89 lol, ignoring that I was born in 99
Even more reason to cook at home if you can. Iām currently betwee housing living at a motel so Iām stuck with fast food for a while but when I still had a place I was just making my own. A good rice cooker is like $60 and makes perfectly fluffy rice every time. Beans and rice are incredibly cheap too. The meat can get slightly expensive sometimes but still less per serving than this.
Steaming the wrap youāll need a strainer that can sit atop a pot of water for the best results.
Clean as you cook and youāll be able to prep like three days to a week worth of easily microwaveable or reheat able fixings in like half an hour from start to finish including dishes.
One of several reasons why I do not go to Taco Bell, KFC, or even Pizza Hut anymore. Also, YUM! Brands supports anti-pro-labor policies and the Texas based YUM! franchisee, MUY, goes so far to court Trumpanzee candidates.
I used to eat Taco Bell at least once a week with my partner. The $2 burritos were so incredibly addicting, but ever since we started budgeting and cooking at home, I've discovered just how simple it really is to assemble a burrito and fry some cheese on the side of it in a pan. You can even add whatever veggies, meats, sauces, etc. you want to them. Your imagination is the limit.
We've lost 20 lbs since quitting, and she says my TB is even better than the real thing.
Haven't been to a Mexican chain restaurant in months because the prices are worth it. My local joints are so much better and i support my community. One particular place owns the property so they can control the prices. I can tell you that the price and portions there are too good to pass up versus cooking at home.
I can get disgustingly full off one of the $5 boxes plus a few CBR, literally impossible to get this full for about $10 at any other fast food place.
I'm not saying anyone should do this, but if you've got a starving family or something....
Chipotle is now effectively cheaper than taco bell. I end up spending $17 at Taco Bell where Iād be at Chipotle spending $13.
I wish it wasnāt like this, Taco Bell carried me thru college. I miss my boy :(
I honestly donāt understand why people are going to fast food places at all currently. Just stop going. No Taco Bell, no McDonalds, no Wendyās just stop. They donāt provide value. There are cheaper options that taste better and are better for you.
If people stopped going they would be forced to drop their prices. But people still go and complain while forking over their money and wonder why the prices keep going up.
Because companies realized people are dumb enough to pay 5 bucks for basically any item. Look at grocery stores: 5 for this, 5 for that, on average everything has a new price floor while your pay stayed the same, and Iām not describing inflation, Iām describing an agenda.
I do food delivery but I never eat out or even look at prices so I was absolutely FLOORED when I was picking up an order and it was taking a while, so I looked at the menu to see how much a 3 Taco Supremes meal was these days: $11.99! Like WHAT THE FUCK?
My local Taco Bellās are having a price war. They keep flipping the prices of the bean burrito +/- $1.00
Which is insane when you consider bean burrito is like a $1 to begin with but some months itās $2 and some months itās back to $1.xx
This baseball forum I used to visit had this [running joke](https://www.royalsreview.com/2010/11/13/1811961/what-will-11-get-you-at-taco-bell) about 15 or so years ago about how much food you could get with $11 at Taco Bell. It seemed like a never ending cornucopia of food. Now, thatās just a regular meal, if that.
People really paying $5 for a la carte items when the $5 box exists?
Donāt say you donāt have the app or the web when thatās the app interface in that screenshot.
I used to love TB and now there's no point, even when I want TB level Mexican I just go to one of the nine million Mexican restaurants around and at least I get to fill up and get chips/salsa for the same amount I'd spend at the drive through
To put into perspective $10 in 1964 today has an inflation rate of 913% so in 13 years Taco Bell has increased the price in a fraction of the time with half the inflation rate
Hopefully that made sense
This is why I get the $5.99 box . Honestly if it werenāt for that I would never visit Taco Bell anymore . The full menu prices for what you get just isnāt worth it .
The beefy 5 layer has a way way higher inflationary rate than the average at TB is. As someone that has continuously bought TB from the early 2000s to literally today, the beefy 5 layer, on it's own, has always seemed like it has a "fuck you" price attached to it because it is included in every single meal deal you can buy (same with many common single items). This is attempting to get people to buy meals instead of just a single item, and punishing those who do not. For instance, the current 7 dollar luxe cravings box contains one of these (currently 3.99 on my menu), plus a chalupa supreme (currently 4.99 on my menu) , a double stacked taco (1.99) a small side (chips and cheese-2.49, or cinn twists-1.79.), and a drink (2.59). This is a total of 15+ dollars of food/drink if bought individually, for 7 dollars if bought in the box.
Recently discovered that a local New Mexican chain sells burritos with ground beef, rice, beans and queso for $2.19. The flavor and size puts Taco Bell to shame.
Oooooh name them for me??
Anita's! The specific burrito is the Zorro Taco Meat. Heads up - as far as I know it and the Zorro Chicken are exclusively takeout items.
Closest one is 3 hours away šššš
Oh no! Sorry to get your hopes up! š
The closest one to me is 25 hours lol
Same lol. Seems to be a DC thing from a quick search.
š«”noted, thank you for your service
Is This the same chain that's in northern Virginia? If so I thought it was not so good 10 years ago. It's possible growing up with tex mex I just hate new mexico style but they had the worst tortillas I've had from a Mexican place.
No way! I had the same thought haha I loved Anitaās so much as a kid!
Should be called Anita's fajitas
Anitaās is so great! One of my favorite places to get breakfast burritos when in Northern VA.
Yeah I realized that I have a local Mexican place open late just like Taco Bell, it's much higher quality, and is priced either similarly or slightly more expensive. It doesn't have a drive through but that doesn't matter much to me.
There's an Anita's here in Phoenix. I think it's the same chain from NM. When I lived in Albuquerque Anita's was a regular stop. When I'm in town I still hit Anita's and Frontier near UNM.
is it the same as little anitaās?
I haven't been to it but it is branded Little Anita's. From the pics online it looks like it is. Maybe this weekend I'll get over there.
I also have a local mexican joint that has all day every day burritos for $4 each and they come with beans and rice by default and you can add any of the following at no extra charge, beef, chicken, beans or cheese. The burritos are fucking huge and I can barely eat 2 of them and I tend to eat big meals, They are twice the size of the 5 layer burrito. I dont understand why people eat fast food anymore, the prices have exceeded just about every mom and pop or local food joint so theres no reason to go there anymore. most mom and pop places even have drive-thrus and you can just call ahead and have your food ready if you're in a hurry.
This is the way.
Taco Bell is gonna wind up like chipotle. Once, the internet's sweetheart, but loses that title thanks to greed and slashing serving sizes.
Chipotle constantly having e coli also didn't help
I always have to wonder how different the story of Chipotle would be if they were franchised instead of all corporate owned. Almost all of Chipotle's issues boiled down to individual employees/managers not following health and safety procedures. Taco Bell, McDonald's, and most other major chains have similar salmonella, e coli, and other diseases outbreaks, but for them blame just falls back on store or franchise owners. Or for systematic problems they're able to pass blame back to their distributors. Media also plays a big part in it all. Chipotle made big news with their Washington E. coli outbreaks in 2015, and everyone became hyper aware of any Chipotle related issues, with some still bringing it up today. Meanwhile any stories about people getting sick at Taco Bell never go anywhere, since the general public's reaction to that is usually "what did you expect eating there?".
Thereās also the issue of fresh and raw ingredients vs heavily processed and ready to make recipes. The way fast food is made to be prepared cuts a lot of the risks compared to even fast-casual places like Chipotle or Moeās.
Definitely a major part of Chipotle's reform 2015-2018. Switching to more processed lettuce and tomatoes that had gone through better sampling and testing to reduce risks. Still more hands-on prep and serving involved than fast food, but they have got a lot of their process more in-line with other chains nowadays.
I think the reaction to the 2015 outbreak was in part because chipotle was going so hard on the advertising around that time to become a household name. They were also pushing the whole āall natural organic and healthyā thing as their main tagline to the extreme through advertising in the early and mid ā10s. It makes sense the public lashed out after such a hit to their public image like that.
Last time I had Chipotle I was non stop shitting and throwing up for three days. Never again
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
This used to be me, until I went through my order and one trip at a time removed a single ingredient as an experiment. Turns out I was having a weird reaction to the lettuce, so now I get my regular without the lettuce and I'm usually fine now.
Usually
Science requires sacrifice!
I never get their lettuce
Itās already seeming like that to meā¦and my wallet.
I used to go to the bell a couple times a week bc they were cheap. I havenāt been in forever.
Take a look at chipotles stock price. Don't think they care about opinions of anyone but shareholders.
I see this for most of the fast food franchises. I hardly eat out any more due to the outragous menu prices, but when I do I only order the main item outside of a combo. No way in hell am I paying $2.49 for a God dam deep fried potato.......
Chipotle is opening around 300 stores this year. Meanwhile Taco Bell has been slowly decaying over the years. They're not in the same situation at all.
That should be any fast food company. Honestly, it feels great going to restaurants and spending about the same as fast food
And influencers walking out of Chipotle
Fast food in general is getting worse as prices go up. Both quality of food and quality of service has dropped significantly.
I mean, the whole reason Chipotle went downhill is because it was purchased by Taco Bell CEO
Did the chipotle CEO used to be Taco Bellās CEO?
Stop paying for it.
i did about a year ago. still waitin on that price drop
Use the app. Online exclusives. 6.99 for a speciality, a normal item, a side item and a drink. The same order without the deal is like $13. Probably the best deal in fast food right now.
This is why I donāt mind scamming them by creating a new account and getting unlimited free beefy 5 layers. Probably have gotten $400 of free burritos over the past couple years. Itās not much, but itās honest work
Good. Finally someone gets a little relief.
I tried this, for me it was a BYO cravings box. It worked for the first 2 accounts I created and then the third had no welcome rewards. Do you know what I did wrong by chance?
Yea so what I do is, clear browser history and delete Taco Bell App. Then go to your mobile browser, create new email(I like Hotmail/outlook, no phone number required), and then create your new Taco Bell account on safari(not the app). Redownload the app, sign into your new TB account, and it should work. Free beefy 5 layer, soft taco or cantina chicken taco, no purchase required.
Legend! Thanks for the reply, Iām gonna try it out now. Did they take away the free BYOC box for you? Because that was the new member reward for me the last 2 times I did it
No prob. And yea, I think they only did that for a couple months
Just worked! Thanks again, also a little tip since you helped me, you donāt have to make a brand new email every time- I just tried it with my āclash off clans alt accountā strategy and it works. In gmail you can ācreateā a new email by just adding a + and random things to your existing email and it considers it a brand new email without going through the process again, and all emails sent to the new one go to your originals mailbox. Example: your original email is [email protected] So you go to the tbell website and when you create the new account youāll put in [email protected] and itāll send the verification to the original email (note: it doesnāt have to be +1 it can be anything you want after the +) Hope this helped and wasnāt too wordy
Wow. Thatāll save me a lot of time. Thanks!
I do this with the McDonaldās app using apples āhid my email featureā and my vpn. Iāve got so many free fries, Big Macs and $4 off coupons over the last year. Didnāt know Taco Bell app gave sign on bonuses, thanks for the heads up.
Covid was the best thing that could have happened for big business. Lockdowns bringing staffing issues, supply chain shortages. People around the world again asking for higher wages during this crazy time. The election dividing people more and more as misinformation spreads more and more. The wars breaking out. So much has happened between 2019 to present day. (Yes, I see the image is showcasing 2009 to 2024, but still!) Of course, there is a touch of inflation on its own merit. That was their door. Throughout all the smoke and chaos I've listed and more, businesses were able to steadily increase prices without notice. In the guise of inflation, they pushed more and more, and here we are. You can't net record profits while also pointing the finger at inflation for the price increases. It's simply greed. These businesses are going to find the opportunities to take advantage of these past 4-5 years will not last. I'm sure they are foaming at their mouths in excitement to see what smoke and chaos this upcoming election potentially brings regardless which way it goes. I'll put my tinfoil hat down. Sorry, if I got a little crazy there.
The only line between academia and schizophrenia is proof.
I'm using that line thank you lol
No, amen. Itās called āexcuseflationā or just āgreedflationā.
It's more simple than that. COVID happened. People started eating take out exclusively to avoid spending time at the grocery store in close contact with other humans. It was dirt cheap at first. Then they got addicted to take out and don't want to go back to buying ingredients and cooking.
His write up is correct and yours is wrong.
Covid was also when grocery delivery became an option, so that kinda pokes a hole in your "exclusively eating takeout" argument. Besides, I was an "essential" worker, what did I have to fear at the grocery store that wasn't already being breathed directly into my face by ignorant customers who refuse to wear their mask?
I love t bell but corporate greed in America is terrible and thatās why
šÆ
Taco Bell has gotten me through some hard times and I won't forget that. The only way to not feel like you are getting raped though is to order the cravings box through the app. If you are going off of the standard menu the prices are almost comparable to Chipotle or Qdoba
Yeah I just order the BYOC box until I earn enough points for a fire reward, then get a gordita with a stacker for $2.
It's the only thing i buy anymore. I miss my chicken quesadilla but it's not worth it
As a fellow chicken quesadilla enjoyer Iāve found a work around. Get the veggie build your own box for $5.99, choose the cheese quesadilla, customize it and add chicken for $1.50. You end up with a chicken quesadilla, burrito, side and drink for $7.49. Not a bad deal compared to what they are charging for a chicken quesadilla alone or itās meal.
Awesome, thanks for this hack!
DUDE SAME, the exact thing too that I miss is those chicken kay-soh-dill-uhs, but $5.19 for just one when I can get the cravings box for that? Haven't had one in over a year now. Even if the cravings box didn't exist, they're just a fucking rip off at this point.
Cravings box is $14.99 even with the app for me lol
that 89 cents was promotional pricing when that burrito first came out. it went to $1.99 very quickly. so it's more like a slightly above 200% increase. Costs of raw materials is also going up: dairy prices have gone up a lot in the past couple of decades as demand in Asia for dairy has gone up, previously it didn't have high demand there because of the prevalency of lactose intolerance there. And without a doubt, part of it is simply charging more because they can. We've shown that we really like fast food and we'll pay more than we used to be ok with in order to get it. Supply and demand.
And I can get that a CGC side and a drink for 5.99 total. Prices at TB are designed to drive people towards items. Of people are clueless enough to spend 4 dollars on a 5layer burrito that's on them.
And they still have locations that pay the $7.25 federal minimum wage
my habitual reaction to price increases: some CEO somewhere needs a new yacht.
Never forget what was taken from you š
Taco Bell is beat now. Iāll only go there a couple times a year to get chalupas but other than that Iām out on Taco Bell. Their prices are stupid and the food is sub par. A small private place by me makes huge custom burritos for like $7-$9 that are as big as 6 Taco Bell burritos and 100x better. I just canāt justify eating there unless Iām really jonesing for a chalupa.
Bag of nacho cheese costs $3 and they charge $1.00 for 1.3 oz xD
How these motherfuckers arenāt charging less than a buck fifty for a bean burrito is a goddamn crime and the reason they lost my business last year. Itās beans, a flour tortilla, a few pieces of chopped onions, maybe some cheese, and a bit of house sauce. And it costs me a value meal to order two. Fuck them.
Well no shit guys. Obviously paying the corporate executives who do literally nothing millions of dollars isn't FREE
Greed -- They raise prices and then blame it on inflation and not corporate greed.
This reminds me. I gotta finish that film. Thanks
It's a good one.
I've given it up. Not just the prices but my local chain has horrible employees that couldn't care if you lived, died, or grew mushrooms in your crack.
Greed
Corporate greed. Sadly TB is still one of the best values for eating out. Which is why they've been able to get away with it.
You're not the only one who has that question. A couple of months ago, I started browsing this subreddit after not going to Taco Bell in sixteen years and was saying to myself "What the fuck!" when I saw what the prices at Taco Bell currently are right now in 2024.
I got 3 things at TB today for $18š I didnāt realize it had gotten this bad. I think Iām done with fast food. Itās just not worth it anymoreā¦for wallet and health.
Itāll crash back down when everyoneās completely broke
A combination of promotional pricing in the beginning and inflation for the inputs (food/labor) increasing at higher then the inflation rate. You have to remember that in 2009 we were in the middle of the great recession and places were offering all sorts of discounts to fight for what little spending money people had. The beefy 5 layer burrito was basically a $2 burrito TB was using as a loss leader to draw customers in and hopefully profit on their other purchases.
People keep saying promotional pricing but where the fuck is that promotional pricing now? No where to be found as they offer shit gimmicks that no one asks for and canāt hold up to two minutes in the bag. Add to it that they arenāt made properly half the time. Once they fuck up the cravings box there is absolutely no reason to go there.
You just answered your own question, the cravings box is the promotional pricing item now. The cravings box with a cheesy gordita crunch, a bean burrito, a side and a drink is $5.99 where I am and the CGC by itself is $5.29.
No bro. Thats an item to draw people to the app. Donāt be obtuse. It use to be every item came out at a āpromotional priceā. Like every god damn one of them except when they would put out dumb shit like cantina menus where they knew āhealthyā people would pay regardless. Now you get a soggy giant cracker for $4. Or wait we can put the soggy cracker in a wrap that they havenāt made well for over a decade and charge $6 fucking dollars. And for the extra $2 we will make it extra soggy. Crispy cantina taco, finally had that in the taco discovery box. Dog shit. Definitely not worth what? $3 dollars? Half filled cat shit chicken hot pockets? No thanks, not even gonna try that. How much was that one? $3 as well?
>Thats an item to draw people to the app.Ā That's literally what a promotional item is.
So their stock price could go from $22 in 2009 to $133 today
I choose Taco Casa over all of them.
Corporate greed.
The Jumbo Jack was $.99 cents in 2008, now it is around $5 or $6 dollars.
Corporate greed
Inflation doesnāt happen over a steady curve despite this rule of thumb people keep quoting about prices doubling every ten or fifteen years. It may coincidentally happen to work out that way because itās the exception not the rule. If I flip a coin 10 times a day and it happens to land on heads 3 times it is not a āruleā. The way inflation works is that you wake up one day and everything is really expensive because reasons. There are targets for inflation and so on but it is more wishful thinking forecasting the results of the prisonerās dilemma. [Inflation Rate YoY](https://www.investopedia.com/inflation-rate-by-year-7253832) is in reality pretty random even with, my favorite disclaimer from economics, all things considered equal.
they started using beef and chicken instead of soylent geeen
In fairness, Tacobell drastically improved their food sourcing quality.
Corporate greed and people willing to pay. Nothing more.
I just go buy real tacos now from somewhere else.
Had to delete the Taco Bell app. The price for a Cheesy Bean and Rice Burrito has increased from $1 to $1.79. Additionally, the $3 deals available nationwide are hardly accessible in the DC area. The traffic at my local store is minimal. Used to be popping there every time I drove by. Sad, really.
They knew we would be up in arms. They made sure to bring back the Mexican pizzas just to keep us from rioting, but they never should have taken it away!
They also shouldn't have taken away the Caramel Apple Empanadas, but here we are without them.
It is fucking ludicrous how expensive Taco Bell has gotten.
Minimum wage doubling is most of the US and the appification of fastfood(the in store prices are higher so they can offer discounts, which are the real prices)
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
capitalism.
I remembered being given 20 bucks as a kid snd realizing "I could get about 18 beefy 5 layer burritos!"
Yeah this is why I don't go to Taco Bell anymore
The worst part is that their tagline at the time was āWhy pay more!ā and then they asked us to spend much more
Screw you taco š. It's OVER!
Minimum wage is still $7.25 in Tennesee. Make it make sense.
Easy. Growth mindset.
89 cent beefy five layer burritos, the world was perfect and we didnāt even know it.
Beans, rice, cheese and flour tortillas are just that more expensive silly
For a price that low, they were likely selling it at a loss just to attract customers. They'd make their money back on sides and drink purchases, or returning customers trying something else.
I guess the people who were warning a Big Mac would cost $10 with higher minimum wages needed to give a Taco Bell example like this
Greed. Taco Bell has no excuse except greed.
Support your local spanish restaraunt
It's almost as if people don't correlate the record high profits of companies along with record high inflation pricing
Where did anyone get a 5 Layer for 89cents? In 2009 it was definitely not that. Worked with them since 2008 and still work with them. It was 1.29 when it first came out at my location.Ā Either way, yes the prices have increased a lotĀ
Only thing that makes sense is that its one of their high profit items. They are always more then happy to throw it into a box despite how much they cost separately
Yeah... Individual items are definitely crazy compared to box combos. Like Taco Bell is still the Pizza alternative for "hey lets order this one item for everyone for cheap."
Because befor they were price competing walk in orders and now they are price competing Delivery. Like compared to their old prices its nuts but at least my taco bell is still the cheapest Door Dash option I have available.
Prices at Taco Bell are ridiculous, but to be fair, the high percentage rate is also a factor of starting off a low base ($0.89) as well. If it only went up 46.4% these would only be $1.30 today. Even if they had only jumped to $2 a piece thatās still a 124.7% increase.
I have found 90 percent of the menu can be replicated with store bought taco shells, flour tortillas, ground hamburger meat,refried beans, velveeta (I just get the store brand that costs half) sour cream and iceberg lettuceā¦the Taco Bell kits are good for this but the cheap stuff works too if you put effort into making it. The chicken and steak stuff is a little trickier but can be done
Itās still the cheapest option in my area.
Cheesy Double Beef Burrito is where itās at for $2.79
I mostly stoped going 2 years ago when their prices shot up from a $5 to a $9 box. Otherwise I think Iāve went 2 times in the past year because nothing else was open.
Cause inflation hit all 5 layer and the shell
I got three items, a soft drink and cinnamon twists for $17.50 yesterday. Unreal.
My other question is how is a bean burrito more expensive than a cheesy bean and rice burrito?
Just a friendly reminder kids. It's not 15 years ago, and it just continues to go higher.Ā Anyone distraught over price increases over years time.. have their head in their ass.Ā
It's crazy!
You cannot get green sauce on the app. Red is no bueno, but 30 cent add of Mexican pizza sauce does a bean and cheese burrito best $3 spent on FF
How? People keep buying it.
Corporate greed
Comparing a walk-in price to an appās price isnāt really apples to apples. There could be mark-ups for things like third-party delivery services baked right into the price
I wouldnāt buy a beefy 5 layer even if it was $1.00
CPI is bs
Iām so glad someone posted this, I had someone on this very subreddit telling me I must have been thinking of the 90ās when burritos were .89 lol, ignoring that I was born in 99
corpoās gonna corpo, choom
Even more reason to cook at home if you can. Iām currently betwee housing living at a motel so Iām stuck with fast food for a while but when I still had a place I was just making my own. A good rice cooker is like $60 and makes perfectly fluffy rice every time. Beans and rice are incredibly cheap too. The meat can get slightly expensive sometimes but still less per serving than this. Steaming the wrap youāll need a strainer that can sit atop a pot of water for the best results. Clean as you cook and youāll be able to prep like three days to a week worth of easily microwaveable or reheat able fixings in like half an hour from start to finish including dishes.
We keep paying for it!!
I haven't eaten at Taco Bell going on 2 years now. It was because they started selling a chicken quesadilla for $7 fucking dollars. No thanks.
for $5 i went to an authentic family owned Mexican food truck and got food for 2 whole days
I'll give you a hint, it isn't inflation
One of several reasons why I do not go to Taco Bell, KFC, or even Pizza Hut anymore. Also, YUM! Brands supports anti-pro-labor policies and the Texas based YUM! franchisee, MUY, goes so far to court Trumpanzee candidates.
āāMoneyā - Eugene Krabsā - Taco Bell
%400 is much more accurate when looking at food, labor and insurance costs......thx biden
SHRINKFLATION
I used to eat Taco Bell at least once a week with my partner. The $2 burritos were so incredibly addicting, but ever since we started budgeting and cooking at home, I've discovered just how simple it really is to assemble a burrito and fry some cheese on the side of it in a pan. You can even add whatever veggies, meats, sauces, etc. you want to them. Your imagination is the limit. We've lost 20 lbs since quitting, and she says my TB is even better than the real thing.
In just eight months my usual order has gone up by over two frickin bucks
Corporate greed
If tacobell could just, spend five cents more making a taco shell that doesn't crumble because of the slightest touch, that'd be great. Thaaaaaaanks.
Haven't been to a Mexican chain restaurant in months because the prices are worth it. My local joints are so much better and i support my community. One particular place owns the property so they can control the prices. I can tell you that the price and portions there are too good to pass up versus cooking at home.
It's easy, people keep buying it. So they keep increasing the price
What the FUCK do you mean they were 89cents when I was 7, why the fuck can't we have that now. It's so buttcheeks
Greedflation is real.
I can get disgustingly full off one of the $5 boxes plus a few CBR, literally impossible to get this full for about $10 at any other fast food place. I'm not saying anyone should do this, but if you've got a starving family or something....
Chipotle is now effectively cheaper than taco bell. I end up spending $17 at Taco Bell where Iād be at Chipotle spending $13. I wish it wasnāt like this, Taco Bell carried me thru college. I miss my boy :(
Theyāre $3.99.
Greed. It's just greed.
I honestly donāt understand why people are going to fast food places at all currently. Just stop going. No Taco Bell, no McDonalds, no Wendyās just stop. They donāt provide value. There are cheaper options that taste better and are better for you. If people stopped going they would be forced to drop their prices. But people still go and complain while forking over their money and wonder why the prices keep going up.
Please stop eating there.
Because companies realized people are dumb enough to pay 5 bucks for basically any item. Look at grocery stores: 5 for this, 5 for that, on average everything has a new price floor while your pay stayed the same, and Iām not describing inflation, Iām describing an agenda.
The inflation numbers are a blatant lie
Corporate greed
General inflation was around +50% but food (groceries even) is up by like 400%.
jason sudeikis
I do food delivery but I never eat out or even look at prices so I was absolutely FLOORED when I was picking up an order and it was taking a while, so I looked at the menu to see how much a 3 Taco Supremes meal was these days: $11.99! Like WHAT THE FUCK?
this sub cant just be talking about numbers all the time
Once taco bell knows they got you hooked, they up charge everything
Just use the app. They are like a dollar when you buy the 5 dollar meal deal.
My local Taco Bellās are having a price war. They keep flipping the prices of the bean burrito +/- $1.00 Which is insane when you consider bean burrito is like a $1 to begin with but some months itās $2 and some months itās back to $1.xx
Cheesy bean burrito my beloved
This baseball forum I used to visit had this [running joke](https://www.royalsreview.com/2010/11/13/1811961/what-will-11-get-you-at-taco-bell) about 15 or so years ago about how much food you could get with $11 at Taco Bell. It seemed like a never ending cornucopia of food. Now, thatās just a regular meal, if that.
BuT SuPpLy ChAiN iSsUeS
They use better quality ingredients now.
People really paying $5 for a la carte items when the $5 box exists? Donāt say you donāt have the app or the web when thatās the app interface in that screenshot.
Corporate Greed
I used to love TB and now there's no point, even when I want TB level Mexican I just go to one of the nine million Mexican restaurants around and at least I get to fill up and get chips/salsa for the same amount I'd spend at the drive through
Ohh look at that. a daily reminder that the economy is an elder abomination that will kill us all!
To be fair when things are newer, they are cheap so people will try them
Promotions.
"beef"y š
F*ck C*vid!
Start supporting your local Mexican food trucks. I havenāt eaten at Taco Bell since January and Iāve stopped missing it.
If you want a drink, just get the online excusive box. You get a drink, chips, and 1 more items (Chalupa ir crunch wrap) for $1 more
To put into perspective $10 in 1964 today has an inflation rate of 913% so in 13 years Taco Bell has increased the price in a fraction of the time with half the inflation rate Hopefully that made sense
At my location they serve you a tortilla full of beans and cheese nothing else when you order this
Capitalism, baby. Gotta increase shareholder profits year over year!
This is why I get the $5.99 box . Honestly if it werenāt for that I would never visit Taco Bell anymore . The full menu prices for what you get just isnāt worth it .
You could get a burrito for 89 cents in the 2000ās. That is actually insane.
The beefy 5 layer has a way way higher inflationary rate than the average at TB is. As someone that has continuously bought TB from the early 2000s to literally today, the beefy 5 layer, on it's own, has always seemed like it has a "fuck you" price attached to it because it is included in every single meal deal you can buy (same with many common single items). This is attempting to get people to buy meals instead of just a single item, and punishing those who do not. For instance, the current 7 dollar luxe cravings box contains one of these (currently 3.99 on my menu), plus a chalupa supreme (currently 4.99 on my menu) , a double stacked taco (1.99) a small side (chips and cheese-2.49, or cinn twists-1.79.), and a drink (2.59). This is a total of 15+ dollars of food/drink if bought individually, for 7 dollars if bought in the box.
Ya see... corporate greed. That is all.