Taco Bell

Stopped in for a quick bite to eat with my kiddo. I have to say this is probably one of the better Taco Bells here in town! The food quality has ALWAYS been good and the service is fast and for the most part very friendly. No matter how busy they are the lines in both the D/​T and the inside seem to remain moving quickly. I say this with a bit of irony. Because they are literally right next store to probably one of the worst McDonalds in town! So kudos to the team there for capitalizing on McDonalds inability to deliver right in their backyard!

I stopped in for a quick bite to eat for lunch. I remembered that this Taco Bell used to be next door to Sicily’s Pizza on Dimond back in the early 90’s. It was the old school building from the 80’s which you can still see occupied by sushi or Thai places around town today similar to the old-​school red roof Pizza Huts from back then. The service at this Taco Bell is way better than the one down at Jewel Lake. Service was very quick and I only ended up waiting for a couple of minutes for my order to come up. I appreciated the fact that the employees here gave equal consideration to the diners eating in rather than prioritizing the drive-​thru down in Jewel Lake which made the wait almost ten minutes for a simple Burrito Supreme meal order. I tried that new promotional item they’ve been hyping in the commercials for the Quesalupa.
It was pretty good. The wrap came as a cross between a chalupa and a fried pita with your standard ingredients for a Beef Burrito Supreme. Almost all of their promotional items taste like their Beef or Taco Supremes with one or two ingredients added, not that I’m complaining. Some of my longtime favorites from the 80’s and early 90’s are still popular today like the 7-​layer Burrito and the Meximelts. I was addicted to the Meximelts as a kid and I would always order several of these when I visit. The 7-​layer Burrito was a favorite of mine during my high school years and I’m glad to see that it is still on the menu.
On a previous visit, I insisted to a friend of mine, who’s a vegetarian, to get the 7-​layer because it’s huge and filling for just one and that there was no meat, basically beans, sour cream, guacamole, shredded cheese, rice and diced tomatoes. She never had one and thought I was trying to play a joke on her. (I assure everyone, I have a lot of friends who are vegetarians and vegans that I would never even consider playing a joke like this on them.) She ordered one and sure enough she loved it.
This was a smart relocation for Taco Bell. There was talk years ago that they were considering relocating in the food court at the Dimond Center. In my humble opinion, that would’ve been a disastrous move. That place is chaotic and uncomfortable to dine in when it gets crowded as well as having to deal with loiterers hanging around and staring at you while you eat. The restaurant for the most part is kept clean and well-​stocked with napkins, sauce packets, and ice for the drink dispensers. Definitely my favorite Taco Bell over the Jewel Lake, midtown, and Muldoon locations.

Busy and Fast. I have to say that the people that work there are actually really nice. They dont give you a fake hello, its a nice H-​E-​L-​L-​O. Fresco Steak Taco was fresh and delicious!

I stopped by this week to try the new Volcano Taco. Being a bit of a chili head I was looking forward to a real spicy taco. The signature volcano sauce on the taco seems to get its heat from cumin instead of cayenne. Not exactly the hot and spicy flavor I expected. It wasn’t bad but I think I will stick to their normal taco with plenty of fire sauce.