Why Some People Think Taco Bell Has Gone Downhill

Taco Bell has a place in many people's hearts with memories of going through the drive-thru for 4th Meal after a late night out or purchasing a party pack (or two or three) for a Super Bowl party. With so many winning items, from the famous Crunchwraps to Cinnabon Delights, you can never go wrong with whatever you order here. If only they had a tapas menu to enjoy a little bit of everything in one sitting!

However, in late 2020, a Reddit thread started by Cicada_God_3301 gained some traction that didn't exactly paint the chain in the best light. It's titled, "Taco Bell has went from my favorite fast food restaurant to being completely average and unremarkable. Good job Taco Bell" — and apparently many other people agree, with 96% of the users who interacted with the post upvoting it.

The issue that fired everyone up seems to be the fact that Taco Bell has removed a good number of items from its menu — in their eyes, with no good reason. Like introducing the delectable, limited-edition nacho fries, only to take them away or nixing the shredded chicken burrito that was enjoyed by so many.

The Reddit thread really went off on the chain, highlighting a handful of menu items that Taco Bell has cut that fans clearly aren't happy about. Among the picks they unwillingly had to say goodbye to are the Beefy Fritos Burrito, the Shredded Chicken Quesadilla Melt, the Nacho Crunch Double Stacked Taco, the Triple Layer Nachos, and the Fiery and Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Tacos.

Taco Bell is known for constantly changing its menu, due to its desire to keep up with demand, but obviously the demand for all these items remains high. One disappointed Reddit user wrote, "The beefy Fritos burrito had no business being as good as it was. I recommended it to so many people and everyone loved it."

Some die-hard fans have even created petitions for their favorite menu items to be brought back, utilizing facts and rhetoric to try to persuade Taco Bell HQ. According to Lue Nordblom, the creator of this Change.org page that aims to bring back the Fiery Doritos Locos Tacos, 500 million orders had been sold in 14 months alone.

However, this isn't the first time that some of these meals were taken off the menu. According to Delish, the Nacho Crunch Double Stacked Taco was only available for a limited time in 2020 for $1, and many customers jumped on the opportunity to purchase this item before it was taken away again.

So with the demand, is there a chance we'll be able to taste the goodness of these retired favorites again? We can only hope.