Taco Bell

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Taco Bell is a famous American-based fast food restaurant in California. They are known for their delicious Mexican-inspired food items such as burritos, tacos, nachos, and quesadillas.

The chain was founded in 1948 in San Bernardino, California. The founder, Glen Bell is a young entrepreneur who first owned a hotdog stand named “Bell’s Drive-In”. Bell saw a lot of people queueing up for tacos at Mitla Cafe and decided to check it out. The restaurant became famous among locals for its hard shelled tacos. Bell tried to copy the recipe and explain it to the owners, but they didn’t give him permission. Eventually, they saw how he was attempting to make tacos, so they allowed him to see it come together.

He opened the first Taco Bell in 1951 and the name changed several times before finally settling on Taco Bell. It was originally named Taco-Tia and then El Taco and ended with Taco Bell. In 1962, Glen Bell was able to open the first Taco Bell at Firestone Boulevard in Downey, California. In recent years, a new Taco Bell has been built across the same street from where he started.

The first location of the restaurant was only 400 square feet. While it started as a family-style place like you might stumble upon in San Mateo, the menu expanded over time to also feature Mexican favorite dishes such as Burritos, Tostadas, Frijoles, Tacos, and Chiliburgers, all for as low as 19 cents (2 dollars in 2021).

After nearly 30 years of operation, one of the first restaurants to close in Huntington Beach served its last customers on December 31, 1986. However, due to an acquisition in November 2015, the 71-year-old eatery was saved from demolition and moved 72km (45 miles) north to Irvine and is currently in its permanent home.

The first franchisee was opened in Torrance, California in 1964. That location remained but has been repurposed. It is now at West Carson Street. In 1967, a new restaurant opened at 324 South Brookhurst. The 100th restaurant that opened there was replaced by this. In March 1967, the first location opened on East Main St. in Springfield, Ohio.

The original model of the restaurant was completely different from the one you might be familiar with – there was no indoor seating nor drive-thru service. This model is still around today and restaurants have repurposed many of these closed locations into something else when they got too old. Taco Bell went public in 1970 with over 300 restaurants.

Taco Bell has had a few office locations. They were previously located in Palos Verdes, then moved to 2424 Moreton Street, then to Irvine, and finally settled into 17901 Von Karman Avenue.

Today, Taco Bell is one of the top competing fast food chain in the United States. They offer a wider variety of food that people love so much. They are delicious, fresh, and healthy. They even offer a Mexican Pizza that became permanent on their menu on September 15, 2022, but Taco Bell Rewards members can get early access to it starting September 13, 2022. They can order via the Taco Bell app or pick it up at the store. They also offer food items for any type of dietaries including vegan and keto diets. You can check out our vegan and keto guide below!