Our Favorite Discontinued Taco Bell Item Was Unlike Anything On The Menu

The word "traditional" isn't in Taco Bell's lexicon, especially with menu items like nacho fries, Crunchwraps, and Doritos tacos. Taco Bell has a reputation for bold and creative items like these, and it's constantly cycling its creations on and off the menu. Out of all the discontinued Taco Bell items out there, we miss some more than others. Mashed even ranked popular discontinued Taco Bell items (which were popular for either good or bad reasons) and determined that the Bell Beefer is what we miss the most.

Mashed looked into 11 discontinued items in total and ranked them from worst to best in terms of fan responses, flavor, and memorability. The Bell Beefer was introduced to Taco Bell's menus in the '70s, but because it was unlike anything on the menu, it holds a special place in the chain's history. It consisted of standard taco ingredients — beef, lettuce, tomato, cheese, and sauce — in between a hamburger bun rather than a taco shell. The ground, well-seasoned beef made the sandwich reminiscent of a sloppy joe, and plenty of customers enjoyed this hybrid meal.

Some Taco Bell items are destined for demise. Its seafood salad, for example, was one of the biggest flops in Taco Bell's history (because who wants seafood from Taco Bell?). The Bell Beefer, on the other hand, had a solid run with the fast food chain, remaining on the menu from the '70s until the '90s. Despite its fans, the Bell Beefer didn't take off enough for it to endure the constant cycling of fast food menus. Taco Bell even changed its slogan to "Think outside the bun" in 2002 (which has since been replaced by "Live Más"), but some folks — like X user @JimJubilee — seemingly never moved on.

Back in my day Taco Bell had a burger called the Bell Beefer and people threw sit-ins called Stank Festivals when they got rid of it. We used to be a proper society 😤 pic.twitter.com/h9ZgKC2fXi

— jubilee jim (@JimJubilee) April 12, 2024

The Bell Beefer left an impression on Taco Bell fans, especially those who've been campaigning to get the iconic menu item back. One Facebook group dedicated to the Bell Beefer cause has close to 6,000 followers — that's a lot of people who never forgot how delicious the sandwich was. In the meantime, plenty of creative fans and cooks have developed copycat Bell Beefer recipes online to fill the void it left and recreate some semblance of its nostalgic taste. Many discontinued Taco Bell items deserve a comeback, but the Bell Beefer does, especially.