Hey, not every item on Taco Bell’s menu can be up to par with that of a Doritos Locos Taco, right?
As with any popular fast food chain, not every item on the menu becomes a hit. Since its inception in 1962, this same sentiment can be said for Taco Bell. For well over 5 decades, this iconic fast food chain has managed to create fast food magic with classics like the crunchwrap supreme, Doritos locos taco, and my personal favorite, the cheesy gordita crunch.
Besides, It’s also a great place for cheap and convenient fast food for those on a tight budget. While there are plenty of tasty options to choose from on their menu and prices are more reasonable as opposed to other chains like Chick-fil-A or Panera Bread, this list commemorates a different breed of products.
Products that never had enough fan fair to continue to thrive at the fast food chain establishment or Foods that were simply discontinued due to fans’ lack of interest. That’s right folks, this list is the 10 worst Taco Bell menu items of all time.
The 10 worst items of all time at Taco Bell
10. Seafood Salad
For those who didn’t know already, there was a point in time when Taco Bell went all Long John Silvers and took a chance at serving seafood. During the mid-80s, the chain ran several commercials promoting the new product.
One of the adverts even included a subtle/not so subtle jab at McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish sandwich. Unfortunately for Taco Bell, the dig at Mickey D’s didn’t age too well, as their seafood salad has since been discontinued while the Filet-O-Fish remains a mainstay for the McDonald’s fast food chains worldwide.
To their credit, they seems to have learned from their past mistake here, as there hasn’t been a new commercial for anything that has to with seafood at this chain since then. While I’m sure everyone appreciates Taco Bell’s effort in trying something new, one can only imagine that it stays that way.
9. The Black Jack Taco
For the next entry, we move on from something that Taco Bell isn’t quite familiar with to a certain type of food that they can arguably produce better than anyone else: tacos. Over the years, favorites like the Taco Supreme, soft taco, and the aforementioned Doritos Locos taco have all been well received by critics and fans alike.
That’s why it may come have come as a shock to some when the Black Jack taco didn’t live up to expectations. As far as appearance goes, the Black Jack Taco is everything you’d expect it to be. By that, I mean that it’s a standard taco with a black shell.
Admittedly, the product itself wasn’t meant to be anything groundbreaking, but the one thing that made it unique turned out to be its main problem.
According to Fandom, The Black Jack Taco was notorious for making the customer’s stool turn green during its brief stint on the fast food chain’s menu. While this taco doesn’t make the list because it tastes bad, an unwanted green colored bowel movement is more than enough… unless of course, you’re into that sort of thing.
8. The Bacon Club Chalupa
Although it’s not the worst Taco Bell creation, it certainly isn’t one of their brightest ideas, either. Consisting of a soft, but chewy chalupa shell topped with chicken, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, ranch, and that oh so unforgettable bacon, the Bacon Club Chalupa made its debut in 2008.
While the ingredients complemented each other well, for the most part, the bacon factor was another story. It’s hard to believe that bacon doesn’t go well with everything, but unfortunately, in this case, bacon did not go well with this taco.
This particular entry made a brief return in 2015, but it was quickly re discontinued shortly thereafter. Ever since then, a small number of Taco Bell fans await the day this item makes its return while the rest of us aren’t spending any time crying over its absence.
7. The Biscuit Taco
It’s no secret that Taco Bell’s history with breakfast has always been on the shotty side of things. Before its launch in the early 2010s, the 90s saw the debut of what would be the first attempt at their perception of what the most important meal of the day should taste like.
Included in its relaunch, the chain took at a chance with a little something called The Biscuit Taco. To put it bluntly, it was similar to their waffle taco, but with a biscuit instead. On paper, it looked decent enough but didn’t quite get the job done as far as quality when it came to the taste.
After about a year on the breakfast lineup, The Biscuit Taco was discontinued and hasn’t made a return to Taco Bell since then. This entry isn’t an attempt to write off Taco Bell as lackluster when it comes to breakfast, but The Biscuit Taco just wasn’t it, chief.
6. The BLT Soft Taco
At number 6, we get a combination of Taco Bell and bacon. As we all know, when these two are included together to make a taco, it’s rarely a good idea. Nonetheless, let’s chit chat about Taco Bell’s notorious BLT Soft Taco for a moment.
It consists of a soft taco shell, lettuce, tomatoes, bacon, cheese, and (get this) ranch instead of mayonnaise. If you couldn’t tell by reading its table of contents that this was the fast food chain’s take on a BLT sandwich, I’m confirming that to be true.
The problem is, one works and one doesn’t. BLT sandwiches are exactly what its acronym details: bacon, lettuce, and tomatoes on bread. Taco Bell’s version adds cheese, replaces the mayonnaise with ranch sauce, and kicks the bread to the curb for a taco shell.
When you stop and think about, maybe they should’ve named it the BLTC instead given the change in ingredients. Of course, then, the name may not have been as appealing to some, but if you ever got the chance to try this taco while it was still available, there’s a good chance you wouldn’t have liked it, regardless.
5. Chicken Ceaser Grilled Stuft Burrito
Much like the previous entry with its spin on the BLT sandwich, the Chicken Ceaser Grilled Stuffed Burrito was a spin on the chicken caesar salad. Since I’m assuming everyone reading this is familiar with a chicken wrap, I won’t waste too much time writing about the product’s taste.
With that being said, the product was discontinued shortly after its debut in the year 2003. This entry is unique in that there isn’t anything too negative to rip on about the taste of the product and that this one really just boils down to a lack of interest in customers.
While The Bell’s Chicken Ceaser Grilled Stuft Burrito may have been written off as a glorified Ceaser salad wrapped up in a tortilla, this product seems to have garnered a cult-like following over the years. According to Fandom, several Facebook revival pages have been made to bring this former Taco Bell item back on the menu.
4. The Chicken Club Burrito
We continue the Taco Bell & bacon chronicles with yet another blast from the past: The Chicken Club Burrito. Aside from the obvious ingredients like chicken, lettuce, and diced tomatoes, Taco Bell ups the ante by also including bacon yet again.
This time around, it’s not the bacon that makes this particular item an entry for their worst efforts, it’s the chicken, as shocking as that may sound.
According to one So Yummy post, this mid-90s Taco Bell item was referred to as bland in regards to its taste and the post also reads that Taco Bell’s chicken has never quite been on point. While this fast food chain’s chicken game is a debatable topic, it’s hard to refute the fact that The Chicken Club Burrito wasn’t what foodies were hoping for.
3. The Cheetos Burrito
If you couldn’t already tell by the title, the idea was to take all the elements of a Taco Bell burrito such as beef, rice, and cheese; then add some Cheetos chips for a unique flavor. Unlike previous entries on the list, this Taco Bell idea was only made available for a short time in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Due to all of Taco Bell’s useful collaborative efforts with brands like Fritos and Doritos, you’d think this item would be a shoo-in for another successful menu item. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case.
Apparently, after its short life span in Cincinnati, the item was discontinued. This means that unless you were visiting The Nati or you lived there, chances are, you never got a chance to taste this item.
2. Taco Bell’s Naked Chicken Chips
On occasion, Taco Bell goes outside of the comfort zone to bring us something other than a typical taco or burrito creation. Sometimes this sort of thing pays off with a perfect example being the release of their critically acclaimed Nacho Fries or the Bell Beefer. Other times, as with their Naked Chicken Chips, not so much.
To put it simply, this menu item was Taco Bell’s version of chicken nuggets or chicken strips. Of course, since it’s Taco Bell they included some nacho cheese sauce and jalapenos, so there’s that.
While the taste wasn’t the issue, there wasn’t really much need for a fast food place that revolves around Mexican style cuisine to release something that you’d find at your local KFC, Chick Fil A, or Popeyes and the item’s lack of popularity proved that very point.
1. The Naked Egg Taco
Hey, remember that time the popular fast food chain came out with an item called the Naked Chicken Chalupa? If you don’t, that’s perfectly fine because that particular item isn’t bad enough to earn itself a spot on this list. However, their Naked Egg Taco certainly does.
While these two taco ideas sound a lot alike, the similarities end with their names and appearances. The Naked Egg Taco has been described as messy, greasy, and an all-around odd meal.
This item was first introduced in the year 2017 as part of Taco Bell’s breakfast lineup. After being taken off the menu, it made its unfortunate return to your local Taco Bell restaurant the following year.
Shortly after, the item was once again discontinued and hasn’t made another return since. While the Naked Egg Taco may have been a miss, you still have to give them points for originality with this one.
Which menu item from Taco Bell do you believe is the worst of all-time?