Taco Bell's 13 Most Complained-About Items

Taco Bell continues growing in popularity. In 2023, there were 3% more orders at the chain, according to CNN, especially as people look to find more ways to save money on food. Yet, even among Taco Bell fans, there are some common complaints about menu picks. And, interestingly, some of the most complained-about dishes are also some of the most enduring and well-loved menu items.

The problem usually isn't with the dish itself, but with a lack of consistency in how it's made. For example, if employees don't know how to work the machines, skimp on ingredients, add ingredients haphazardly, or serve hot ingredients cold and cold ingredients hot, the product isn't as good as it could be — or how someone may remember it tasting the last time.

When looking at the foods that get the most complaints at Taco Bell, perhaps they don't have to be avoided completely, but it might be worth looking at local reviews to see if these items often get complaints at your neighborhood Taco Bell before you order them.

Read more: Fast Food Restaurants That Serve Low-Quality Beef

Cinnamon Twists

Cinnamon Twists are twisty fried treats made with wheat and rice flour as well as corn meal, and are then dusted with cinnamon and sugar. At just over $1 a pop, they are a popular add-on for a sweet treat at the end of the meal and they often show up as an option for a lot of Taco Bell box meals, too. Yet, people seem to complain about them more than they love them.

Some customers have compared Cinnamon Twists to styrofoam and packing peanuts, existing in a weird texture and flavor valley between pork skins and cinnamon churros. One Redditor said the problem is that "[t]hey under fry them, use old grease, don't let them expand properly or use too little or too much cinnamon, or don't coat it properly." Though they also conceded, "When they are made correctly they are pretty awesome."

Back in the '80s, Taco Bell used to have a cinnamon-dusted tortilla dessert called Cinnamon Crispas, which some customers remember as being superior. Others say that the earliest incarnation of Cinnamon Twists from the '90s was better than today's iteration.

Nacho Fries

Nacho fries are one of those Taco Bell menu items that people either love or hate. However, there's enough love for them that they keep making a comeback. They're basically french fries coated in bright orange Mexican spices that come with a small dipping container of nacho cheese sauce. However, the main complaints are that they aren't always served warm, crispy, or well-seasoned.

One of the problems is that the Nacho Fries tend to be soggy. However, this isn't the default since some locations manage to churn out super crispy versions. So, getting them while they're fresh is probably one of the biggest keys to enjoying the fries. Employees are allowed to serve them for 15 minutes after they've been fried, and they only take three minutes to prepare, so try asking for them fresh if you're eating inside the restaurant.

Another complaint is that employees sometimes under-season the potatoes or don't season them at all. Employees have explained this is often because the restaurant has run out of the seasoning rather than they forgot to add it. Yet, without the seasoning, customers agree that they look and taste a lot like Burger King fries instead.

Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes

Thankfully, Taco Bell has potatoes to bulk up the vegetarian options on the menu, but items like Nacho Fries and Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes don't always have a consistent quality and can draw complaints. Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes are wedges covered with reduced-fat sour cream and nacho cheese sauce. They garner much of the same complaints that the Nacho Fries do when they're served old instead of fresh — or when they aren't seasoned correctly.

When bad, the texture can range from mealy to soggy or even dried out. One customer said on Reddit that "[i]t's always potato roulette. Will they be super old, kinda old, medium old, or will they scorch your mouth with the fury of a thousand [suns]?"

Other complaints come when Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes are served without the cheese or, on the other end of the spectrum, when they are swimming in cheese. One former Taco Bell employee explained on Reddit that when Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes are drowning in toppings, that's a sign "they're older ... that's why they load up on the cheese/sour cream. You won't get that on fresh potatoes." Customers also sometimes lament that the dish no longer contains green onions — but the chain removed green onions from the menu completely in 2006 after there was an E. coli outbreak.

Burrito Supreme

A Burrito Supreme is a popular order at Taco Bell, even though it ends up being a disappointment many times. It starts with seasoned beef and beans along with fresh toppings like shredded cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, and onions. Plus, it gets a dollop of reduced-fat sour cream and red sauce. You'd think that combination wouldn't be difficult to mess up, but the complaints are mainly because of one single ingredient: lettuce.

Particularly, customers hate when the warm ingredients heat up the lettuce. One Redditor asked, "What madman puts lettuce in a burrito? Surrounded by beef, sour cream, and beans. It's practically a soup surrounded by tortilla." Many diners customize their order and omit the lettuce to avoid this scenario.

There are also those who think the Burrito Supreme is not as filling as it once was. As one Redditor said, "It's priced ridiculously high for how much is in it, sure there are quite a few different ingredients ... but there's like one mouthful of each." Of course, you can pay extra money for more meat or other ingredients, but the Burrito Supreme already costs nearly $5, so that can add up quickly.

Quesadilla

The standard Taco Bell Quesadilla comes with a shredded three-cheese blend and creamy jalapeño sauce. For meat lovers, there's an option that comes with chicken and another that comes with steak. It sounds simple enough, but the dish seems to be another hit-or-miss menu item with problems that relate back to how it's prepared.

One customer shared on Reddit that "[h]alf the time they aren't melted. It's 50/50 if it's missing the sauce. Prob 1/4 of the time they aren't even cut. Half of them are just [a] tortilla or goopy."

There are other complaints, too. Some people have noted their quesadilla came with completely cold cheese. And if they get sauce, it's often the wrong one. As one disgruntled customer shared on Reddit, "I can't explain how disgusting a cold, not melted, chicken quesadilla from [T]aco [B]ell is, when there isn't even a dot of creamy jalapeño sauce on it to provide some comfort, some type of flavor, some type of f****** hope." Some employees have explained that there's a right and wrong way to use the steamer to make quesadillas, and unmelted cheese happens when employees don't know how to use it properly.

Cheesy Bean And Rice Burrito

Cheesy Bean and Rice Burritos are cheapies that are more filling than you might expect for $1.19 (on average). They contain beans, nacho cheese sauce, creamy jalapeño sauce, and seasoned rice. But, skimpy ingredients, cold ingredients, and price increases are among the biggest complaints customers have about this Taco Bell menu item.

A "[c]heesy bean and rice burrito is either like biting into warm, melty bliss, or it's like biting into some mud. No in between," said one customer on Reddit. To make sure it's nice and melty, though, some customers have noted it's best to order this burrito grilled.

Another problem some customers complain about is that one side often contains all the beans while the other contains all the rice. And when you get to that rice, sometimes it's crunchy rather than soft. Even worse, some customers complain about getting almost nothing inside or finding that it only has only a scant amount of sauce.

It may be easy to assume that employees are skimping on ingredients because it's a cheap option on the Cravings Value Menu. However, in some locations, people have found this value-menu item listed at $2.49, which is a 109% increase over the average $1.19 price.

Chalupa

Taco Bell's Chalupas have a puffy wheat flour shell instead of a puffy corn masa flour shell, meaning they're not exactly authentic Mexican fare. However, authenticity is not the main complaint here since the chain is known for offering typically Tex-Mex dishes. Instead, the complaint regarding Chalupas comes down to doneness and texture.

Many times, the shell is hard and stale instead of having the gold standard fluffy and flakey texture they should maintain. Others have complained about Chalupas being uncooked, undercooked, floppy, chewy, or not having as much crunch as they'd like. An employee on Reddit explained that "the Chalupa setting for the fryer overcooks [it] beyond being edible. Most stores just use their own timing, which is why you can find variance among different stores."

Another issue is that employees will often fry up several Chalupas and then use them as needed over the next few hours. So, a good way to get a fresh one is to order them when the restaurant is extremely busy and likely making them fresh rather than depending on an older supply.

Crunchwrap

Taco Bell's Crunchwrap is a flour tortilla that has a wealth of ingredients wrapped inside and folded into a circular shape before being grilled. The bulk of a Crunchwrap Supreme comes from seasoned beef, while the bulk of a Black Bean Crunch Wrap Supreme is beans. Both contain tomatoes and lettuce along with nacho cheese sauce and reduced-fat sour cream. The main problem here seems to be when the ingredients aren't used in the right proportions.

Like Burrito Supremes, lettuce is an ingredient that some people aren't happy about in their Crunchwrap, either. However, the lettuce problem is a little different in this case. As one customer shared on Reddit, "Even though it's my favorite item, the Crunchwrap might be riskiest item to get, it's either super flat with no filling or like 70% lettuce and tomatoes." When this happens, customers complain that the filling ends up being more like a salad. Or there's the issue of having hardly any filling at all. While the Crunchwrap might still have crunchiness, it might come burnt and either deflated or stacked up thick with almost nothing inside.

Mexican Pizza

We all couldn't wait for Mexican Pizzas to come back — so much so that chain locations often sold out. So, why are we complaining about them now? It's mainly because Taco Bell's pick du jour doesn't always live up to the hype. At the base, a Mexican Pizza comes with seasoned beef and beans between two crispy shells with a topping of tomatoes, a shredded three-cheese blend, and sauce, and is then heated. Since it's often the most expensive thing on the Taco Bell menu, customers understandably expect better quality with this pick.

But still, the dish has a lot of problems. Some have found Mexican Pizzas that are not filled well, some that have more sauce in the box than on the pizza, and some with fishy-tasting, under-ripened tomatoes. Even when the restaurant isn't busy, customers complain that employees don't seem to take a lot of care with putting the pizza together properly or ensuring a quality product. They sometimes don't bother cutting it into pieces either, or may use broken shells, or put it together off-center.

Oddly enough, multiple people have complained about Mexican Pizzas sometimes tasting like oven cleaner. Others have also complained about it tasting like it's been fried in rancid oil or that it has a bitter taste.

Beefy 5-Layer Burrito

The people who think lettuce has no place on a burrito have a friend in the Beefy 5-Layer Burrito. It contains seasoned beef, beans, and shredded cheese, with no greens in sight, and becomes gooey with the addition of nacho cheese sauce and reduced-fat sour cream. So, the lack of hot lettuce should solve the problem, right? Sadly, there are other issues with the way it's made and poor distribution of ingredients.

One confused Redditor said, "I truly don't even know what it is supposed to be at this point. Sometimes it has the expected filling, then it's like coated in the nacho cheese and wrapped in another tortilla, sometimes it's just beef and refried beans in a single, what seems like corn tortilla, and anything in between." At $3.69, on average, it's not a Cravings Value Menu Item, but customers complain that it sometimes has so few ingredients that it feels like one.

Another problem with the Beefy 5-Layer Burrito (and other tortilla-based menu items) is how Taco Bell employees fill it. Sometimes, it's a good mix of everything, but other times you get different pockets of singular ingredients with each bite.

Bean Burrito

Simple menu items should be difficult to get wrong, but even Taco Bell Bean Burritos have their problems. This popular menu item comes with just four ingredients: beans, shredded cheese, onions, and red sauce. Poor quality ingredients, incorrect ingredients, and sloppy distribution are the main complaints here.

Well-made Bean Burritos can be really good, but if the beans are cold and congealed, the cheese is cold rather than melted, and the burrito-makers skip the red sauce, it tastes like sadness. Other complaints include finding beef inside the vegetarian pick, barely getting any beans at all, or randomly getting unwanted lettuce and tomatoes that aren't on the advertised ingredient list.

Ingredient distribution is also a big complaint. It seems that the normal pattern is to spread beans all over the tortilla and then put all the other ingredients in one spot in the middle. So, you end up with only a few bites that have all the flavors you expected together.

Baja Blast

The Baja Blast first appeared on the Taco Bell menu in 2004 when the chain decided it wanted a unique drink customers couldn't get anywhere else. It's Mountain Dew-based and comes in a regular, Zero Sugar, and frozen version, with several variants popping up over the years. Despite having a cult following and being extremely well-loved, it's not without its occasional complaints. The biggest seems to be it not tasting right or not being available.

One of the most frustrating things that can happen is to receive a regular Mountain Dew when ordering a Baja Blast or to get one that tastes like nothing but plain soda water without the flavor. On the other end of the spectrum, the drink sometimes comes with too much syrup. The syrup distribution issue can be such that the beverage tastes different with every visit. However, the real tragedy for die-hard Baja Blast fans is their local Taco Bell completely running out of the necessary components and not being able to get a new shipment for days or weeks.

Even with so many die-hard fans, not everyone loves the drink, either. It's been compared to Listerine mouthwash and Pine-Sol floor cleaner. Some people also dislike it because it tastes bitter.

Cheesy Rollup

The Cheesy Rollup is the only thing on the Taco Bell Menu that's still just $1. It's literally nothing more than a rolled-up tortilla with the shredded three-cheese blend melted inside. It's always been a great option for those who don't have much money to spend; however, some think it costs too much or shouldn't be on the menu at all.

Even though it's only $1, a lot of people think it's still overpriced for what you get. One customer said on Reddit, "Its not even WORTH a dollar! 50 cents at MOST! It is not even a quesadilla, it is the flattest little strip of tortilla with the least amount of cheese inside. Usually, it's just mostly tortilla." There are a lot of ways you can upgrade it for an upcharge, however, there are limitations. For example, some customers used to add Mexican Pizza Sauce to it to try to create a Cheesarito (but it's said the restaurant app doesn't allow this option anymore). Luckily, the only quality complaint is occasionally getting it without melted cheese.

While some people complain about Cheesy Rollups taking up valuable space on the menu, others disagree. Not only are they like a mini quesadilla for those who don't want a full one, but they're great for kids, picky eaters, vegetarians, and even hungry dogs. So, even if they don't have value for everyone, they're still a valuable menu item, and employees say they're still extremely popular.

Read the original article on Mashed