Taco Bell is constantly changing up their menus. If you blink, your favorite things are gone. Here are some of those items that need to be brought back immediately and why.
Taco Bell is one of those fast food restaurants that most people love, and there’s something for everybody. Whether you’re vegetarian, vegan, or just eat things how they’re made, there’s something for you on the menu to get to love and become a favorite of yours. One thing about Taco Bell is that they are constantly changing their menu by either bringing new items in or by taking menu items out.
Most of the times, you’ll go to order your favorite thing on the menu, and it’ll just be gone without any notice (that’s happened with a couple of my favorites that you’ll read about later on). Some things have been brought back (years later that is); however, some have stayed off the menu and have never returned back again to see the light of day.
In the next few coming slides, you’ll see some of the items that have been retired or taken off the menu for good that should come back immediately to grace us with their presence again.
1. Pintos & Cheese
I’m sorry, but this one has to be the first one on the list here. For me, this is the menu item that I am the most disappointed in that it is off the menu. Oddly enough, it’s also one of the simplest things on the menu that I think many people kind of forgot about or never even knew about to begin with. It was on the value menu, so paying $1.00 for a little pot of refried beans with some melted jack cheese on it, couldn’t have been beat!
The sad day came for me when I went in a Taco Bell (just about a year ago) with my boyfriend to order some food for us and some other people, when to my most sad of surprises, Pintos & Cheese was off the menu (for good, as far as I know). Sure, you can still get around this by adding refried beans to any menu item and putting them on the side; however, it’s just not the same without the delicious and creamy melted cheeses to go on top of it.
It was the perfect side for anything else that you may have ordered from Taco Bell. If you ordered something and slathered it in some Diablo hot sauce packets, then Pintos & Cheese was the perfect side to cool it down and help you enjoy your food just a bit more than you already do!
Overall, while I’m sad that this menu item is no longer available, I have found my new replacement (until Pintos & Cheese comes back years later) with their Black Beans or Black Beans & Rice which is just as good, but makes me miss the OG Pintos & Cheese even more!
2. Chipotle Chicken Griller
This is yet another menu item that I’m just not so sure why it was taken off the menu or discontinued. It was one of the most delicious things that I had ever tasted at Taco Bell. Since they’ve taken this delicious griller off of their menus for good, they’ve tried to add more chipotle chicken-based things to their menu, but once again, it’s still not the same.
Here’s a little bit about the Chipotle Chicken Griller. It was a delicious flour tortilla stuffed to the gills with grilled chicken strips, reduced-fat sour cream, and creamy spicy chipotle sauce, and then all thrown into the grilling press to give it that classic crunch and tortilla grill marks as well!
The one thing that is pretty brand new (to me, at least) that is somewhat comparable to this is the Chipotle Chicken Grande Burrito. While it’s very different from the Chipotle Chicken Griller in terms of looks and what’s inside of it, the taste is still pretty similar and can suffice for now until the OG Chipotle Chicken Griller eventually comes back to make our mouths water and satisfy our cravings once again! The Chipotle Chicken Grande Burrito is a flour tortilla stuffed to the gills with shredded chicken breast, seasoned rice, and that same creamy spicy chipotle sauce (THANK GOD). The one thing this is missing is some beans and grill marks!
In fact, upon doing some research, this menu item is so dang popular that there is actually an online petition to sign to bring the Chipotle Chicken Griller back (and yes, I signed it today actually). The goal is to get 1,000 signatures, and so far the petition has 516 signatures (more than halfway there)! If you’ve tried this or want it to come back so you can try it, then sign the petition to make us Taco Bell and chipotle sauce lovers happy once again!
Sign the petition right here!
3. Spicy Chicken Crunchwrap Supreme
This menu item was originally available from 2006-2010, so I myself have never tried it before; however, I’m adding it to this list because I definitely want to try it for myself. Crunchwraps are one of my favorite things to order at Taco Bell because it’s got a little bit of every taste inside of it, and is the perfect blank canvas to add or replace anything you’d like in it as well.
Here’s a little bit about the Spicy Chicken Crunchwrap Supreme. Essentially, this is what you’d call a take-off or a spin-off on an otherwise cult classic favorite from the establishment itself. It simply contained chicken (not sure if it was grilled chicken strips or seasoned shredded chicken), Lava sauce, lettuce, tomato, and sour cream (what makes it supreme is the tomato and sour cream for most other items on the menu as well, just for some simple referencing here).
While doing some research on retired menu items, I found that some people thought that this was a waste of a menu item and ruined the classic favorite Crunchwrap Supreme (my Dad’s personal favorite thing as well), others also thought that it was a great take on such a favorite that really just amped up the flavor in all honesty.
All in all, I’d love to try this; however, if I ever feel a craving coming on for it, maybe I’ll just sub the original Crunchwrap meat (seasoned beef) for some grilled chicken strips and add chipotle sauce (until it comes back on the original menu, IF it ever does). That’ll do for now.
4. Enchirito
This item goes back a bit further than the rest of the menu items that will be on this list going forward and previously. This item originated in the 70’s and was retired in the 90’s. This was essentially a burrito/enchilada hybrid slathered in a tangy red taco sauce, topped with exactly three black olives and served in a reheat-able metal tin.
This delicious-sounding treat was brought back intermittently throughout the 90’s and 2000’s; however, it was eliminated for good back in 2013.
This menu item originated a while ago, so I never got the pleasure to try it for myself, but like the Spicy Chicken Crunchwrap Supreme in the previous slide, I’m placing the Enchirito on this list because, upon doing some research on this topic in particular, this is definitely a menu item that I’d be interested in trying and probably end up loving as well.
Burritos covered in sauce are one of the tastiest things. In fact, my favorite place to order a smothered burrito is a local place to me called Chuy’s. It’s a tex-mex type of place that serves some of the best mexican food around. My favorite thing to order from there that my boyfriend got me hooked on is their ‘Big As Yo’ Face’ Burrito with chicken or steak, and smothered in their delicious Queso (honestly speaking, they have the best Queso that I’ve ever had at just about any and every restaurant around.
Back to the Enchirito, if you’d like to try something similar to the Enchirito, find your local Mexican restaurant and order a smothered burrito and just patiently wait for the Enchirito to come back to Taco Bell (if it ever does, and hopefully it will at some point in time).
If you wanna order something similar, just order your favorite burrito and grab a load of hot sauce packets and smother it yourself while you’re at it!
5. Grilled Stuft Nacho
Without even reading much about this discontinued menu item at first, it just already sounds like something I’d like as well. It’s folded into a triangle shape, much like a nacho (the flour tortilla), and filled with beef, nacho cheese, sour cream, and red crunchy tortilla strips. What doesn’t sound good about this?! Come on…..
This menu item was originally introduced in 2013 and discontinued just a short year later in 2014. Although it was briefly brought back in 2015 (yet another short year after being discontinued in the first place), it has since been removed from the menu and hasn’t been seen ever since, unfortunately.
Again, I am adding this to the list as something that I think should be brought back for me to try as well (because I’ve never gotten the chance to try this when it first originated and came out on the official menu). This just sounds perfect. It sounds like a nacho all wrapped up, and the perfect thing to be able to customize to your very own liking, depending on what you might put on your nachos (not wrapped in a tortilla and warmed to perfection). This would probably be perfect with some shredded chicken and chipotle sauce as well (to satisfy the Chipotle Chicken Griller being gone as well).
This also comes in a variety that should also be brought back:
THE CHICKEN CAESAR GRILLED STUFT BURRITO! I want this to be brought back as well, so if Taco Bell is reading this, please bring both of these items back I AM BEGGING YOU! (This was originally released back in the Summer of 2003 and should be brought back in the Summer of 2020)!
6. Naked Chicken Chalupa
The Naked Chicken Chalupa was originally introduced back in January of 2017, and only offered as a limited time offer, then leaving the menu that same February (so you basically got one whole month to try it originally, UGH). Then, Taco Bell announced that the Naked Chicken Chalupa would be making a comeback back on May 10,2018; however, since then, no one has seen it on a menu, and what a disappointment.
This particular menu item is right up there with the Pintos & Cheese in my personal opinion. In my opinion, this was probably one of Taco Bell’s most genius menu items to ever be released. The breaded chicken shell replaces the traditional flour tortilla shell, but it’s not the only menu item to replace the shell (years ago, an egg taco shell came out as a breakfast item but it is no longer available anymore).
With the breaded chicken shell (that is the most delicious part of this whole thing), this delicious menu item is filled with lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, and a creamy avocado ranch sauce only. There was no meat inside of it because the protein portion was already taken care of with the breaded chicken as the shell. While I have absolutely no idea how they could possibly get the chicken to stay in the shape of a taco shell, I really don’t care because no matter how they get it like that, it’s delicious nonetheless. One thing I added one time was some nacho cheese sauce, and that just topped it off in the most perfect of ways possible!
One good thing! Some carbs are saved with having the chicken as the shell, if you’re so worried about that (just as a little fun fact here).
DEAR TACO BELL, PLEASE BRING THESE BACK ALONG WITH PINTOS AND CHEESE! YOU’LL BE DOING EVERYONE A FAVOR IN THE LONG RUN, INCLUDING YOURSELVES!
All in all, Taco Bell has surely come out with some real winners on their menu. From little side dishes, to regular meal menu items, Taco Bell just knows how to do things right; however, some of my most favorite menu items have since been removed from the menu, and some items that I never got the chance or opportunity to try, have since been discontinued likewise.
If Taco Bell brings anything back from this list, bring back everything (so I can try certain things and so I can indulge and treat myself to some of my old favorites at hand here).
Taco Bell needs to take notes of certain cult classic favorites and bring them back or not remove them from their menus in the first place. They know what works for their customers, so just keep it that way.
Although some of the newer menu items to be introduced are good, they just don’t compare to some of the old favorites that people loved back when they were originally released, and still will love if they were to be brought back today!
Basically, if you love something that Taco Bell has since taken off the menu, start or sign a petition to bring it back (stuff like that has happened before, so it surely isn’t impossible here to happen again)!
Let us know in the comments down below what your favorite retired menu item is from Taco Bell, and how much you want it to be brought back. Also, what’s your favorite current or new menu item as well! We’d love to know and chat in the comments, so let us know!