1. Taco Bell hasn’t always been Taco Bell…so, what was it before?
Back in 1954, the beloved Mexican fast food chain started out being known as Bell’s Drive-In. Upon opening their first location, a second location was also opened up called Taco Tia, in which 19-cent tacos were being sold.
Now, I don’t know about you, but I think that on their next anniversary T-Bell should have a 19-cent taco promotion. Just sayin’.
It wasn’t until 1962 where the first proper Taco Bell location was opened over in Downey, California. In a short tiny span of just five years, there were already over 100 locations of the chain! Today, there is a whopping 350 chains that operate over 7,000 restaurants worldwide, serving more than 40 million customers a year, according to some history! Holy cow!
One more cool fact in relation to this already cool one is that their very first building called Numero Uno was able to actually be ‘picked up and saved’ and moved on down over to Downey, California where the brand’s headquarters is now located.
While I do think that Taco Bell is a much better name for the chain, I also think that it definitely wouldn’t be what it is or even exist if it weren’t for Bell’s Drive-In and Taco Tia! Thank you!