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U.S. has a new favorite Mexican eatery. Taco Bell...

SDG

By SDG
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SDG

SDG 3319

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Posted (edited)

I''m not sure how I feel about this, but I love the bean burritos.  

 

"Taco Bell is America’s favorite “Mexican restaurant,” according to a new survey.

The fast food chain beat out Chipotle (CMG) and Moe’s Southwest Grill to win “Brand of the Year” for the first time since Harris launched its EquiTrend Study 30 years ago. 

The Harris Poll EquiTrend Study measures the overall health of a brand by asking consumers questions based on three variables — familiarity, quality and future consideration. The results are aggregated into a one-number score. 

This year, Taco Bell (YUM) surpassed Chipotle and Moe’s Southwest Grill, the latter of which was the Brand of the Year in 2016 and 2017. Prior to that, Chipotle ranked as the No. 1 Mexican restaurant brand, but its standing was severely impacted by various outbreaks of foodborne illnesses. The fast casual and health-conscious chain experienced a 10.7 point drop in 2016 because of the negative sentiment surrounding the brand. Other choices included Qdoba, Baja Fresh and Del Taco.

Taco Bell has gained traction with innovative product offerings, by serving breakfast and creative selections like Mexican Crispy Chicken Pizza and the Naked Egg Taco. The brand rolled out limited edition Nacho Fries earlier this year, which was the most successful product launch in Taco Bell’s history.

“Taco Bell’s marketing is ubiquitous so it wasn’t surprising to me that they came out on top this year. It’s not so much that Moe’s or Chipotle are falling off the map. Taco Bell has just been a stronger brand as of late, as demonstrated by the strong familiarity and consideration marks,” said Amir Kanpurwala, the director of the survey.

The 2018 Harris Poll EquiTrend Study is based on a sample of 77,031 U.S. consumers at least 15 years old surveyed online, in English, this year from January 3 to February 15."

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/taco-bell-americas-favorite-mexican-restaurant-153058944.html

Edited by SDG
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MNLonghornFUKM

MNLonghornFUKM 8921

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Posted

Taco bells biggest problem is that I feel they don't pay their employees crap so they get stuck with worthless idiots who dont give a fuck about performance.

 

The McDonald's across the street from our TB can pump through 4-5x as many cars through the drive thru before the TB can get just one through...going to TB can be a unnecessary 30 min risk if you're stuck behind 6 cars 

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Spankytoes

Spankytoes 1747

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10 minutes ago, wood said:

Gotta admit I love some Taco Bell from time to time, too. But damn I miss Baja Fresh. And wtf is a Moe's Southwest Grill?

Moe's is terrible food that shouldn't be served in prison.

TB is a worthy title holder. 

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LonghornJones

LonghornJones 838

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Huge fan of TB. I really miss the $.59, $.79 $.99 menu, but I understand inflation.

Chipotle will never top TB. Different dishes altogether. And Chipotle does not have a drive-thru, at least the ones I am familiar with. The closest option to Taco Bell is Taco Bueno, imo, and i prefer Taco Bell over the freshness of Bueno.

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MNLonghornFUKM

MNLonghornFUKM 8921

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7 hours ago, wood said:

Gotta admit I love some Taco Bell from time to time, too. But damn I miss Baja Fresh. And wtf is a Moe's Southwest Grill?

Moes has bomb queso.

 

It's another chipotle, qdoba, pancheros what have you. Sometimes their chicken is pure bark and inedible. 

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utee94

utee94 15903

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1 hour ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

Moes has bomb queso.

 

It's another chipotle, qdoba, pancheros what have you. Sometimes their chicken is pure bark and inedible. 

Yeah their queso is good.  Everything else is pretty bad, even by fast-food-wrap/burrito standards.  

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kopp0e

kopp0e 1135

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9 hours ago, krevo said:

I had a quesorito and a cheesy gordita crunch yesterday and can definitely confirm Taco Bell is the best Mexican restaurant in America.

It's not a bad fix from Taco Bell if all you have is 6.00 and are trying to get full (I guess)...

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Prepuce of Doom

Prepuce of Doom 21142

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The employees are also forced to shout "Welcome to Moe's!" every time a new customer comes through the door. It's unnecessary and forced whimsy that leads to an annoying overall atmosphere even beyond the mediocre food. 

The Bell near my house has shockingly conscientious workers - must have poached them from Chick-fil-A. 

I'm always tempted to pop my head in the door of Chipotle to yell "enjoy the free diarrhea with purchase!" but I rarely do. 

Panchero's is the clear winner in the weird "fast casual and purportedly health Mexican food" market. 

Edited by Prepuce of Doom
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Air_Matt

Air_Matt 19

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Did yall see the story on Ugly Delicious about how Taco Bell came about?

Apparently a guy opened up a burger joint across the street from McDonald's and couldn't compete. He would go across the street after work to eat at some Mexican joint and after eating tacos there for some time he came up with the idea for Taco Bell. 

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VolenteHawk

VolenteHawk 495

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On 5/9/2018 at 8:01 AM, wood said:

Gotta admit I love some Taco Bell from time to time, too. But damn I miss Baja Fresh. And wtf is a Moe's Southwest Grill?

An assembly line burrito place that has good queso and salsa, which helps down out the terrible burrito.

But they can't stay open in Austin, locations at Parmer/35 (years ago) and out in Cedar Park (recently) both closed fast.

 

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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 105701

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In the dictionary, "Sadness" is defined as "eating a fucking Moe's burrito bowl at Boston Logan airport, when you can see Legal Seafoods in the next terminal through the glass, but you can't get there because different security checkpoint."  Fucking Moe's.  In Boston. And it was my BEST choice in that terminal.

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Jameslaw121

Jameslaw121 4455

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1 hour ago, Apep said:

I never understood how Chipotle did so much better than Qdoba, Baja Fresh, Freebirds, or fresh Mex/fast casual places.

As far as cheap, fast food, Taco Casa is the best.

Great Business model too. They only have like 5 ingredients....

 

 

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SimonBolivar

SimonBolivar 10962

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2 hours ago, Apep said:

I never understood how Chipotle did so much better than Qdoba, Baja Fresh, Freebirds, or fresh Mex/fast casual places.

As far as cheap, fast food, Taco Casa is the best.

If I have to get Taco ____ then it's going to be 2 bean burritos from Taco Casa for like $2.15 or something crazy like that.

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MNLonghornFUKM

MNLonghornFUKM 8921

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Posted (edited)
3 hours ago, Apep said:

I never understood how Chipotle did so much better than Qdoba, Baja Fresh, Freebirds, or fresh Mex/fast casual places.

As far as cheap, fast food, Taco Casa is the best.

chipotles  barbacoa is good.

 

(cue the "thats not real barbacoa, youre from minnesota you dont know real mexican, blahblahblah post)

Edited by MNLonghornFUKM
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Sam Lin

Sam Lin 3567

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Posted

A quick search shows a bunch of Del Taco locations closed around TX. How long ago was that, and does anyone miss them? It's a different style of shitty fake Mexican than Taco Bell, satisfying a distinctly different craving. I used to drive 45min to get to one in SC at times (sober and not high).

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52-80

52-80 19288

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Posted
On 5/10/2018 at 5:36 PM, SimonBolivar said:

Do you people eating at Taco Bell not have taquerias in your town?

Apples and oranges.

TB Itaewon was a good drunken AM food joint.  (its closed now, RIP).

I also frequent the Chipotle in Paris La Defense.  

 

no shame in the game

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phdhorn

phdhorn 6224

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Hey man, Taco Bell is better than about 86% of some of the "Mexican" restaurants I've been in.    I'll allow it (maybe the best "Mexican" non-Mexican food in the U.S.).

Moe's closed here in Bee Cave after about six months.  They just couldn't seem to get their shit together, and their stuff tasted like grass, except for the queso.

Increasing number of parking spaces outside in front through their run should told ya.

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Judge Roybeanbag

Judge Roybeanbag 11830

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9 hours ago, phdhorn said:

Hey man, Taco Bell is better than about 86% of some of the "Mexican" restaurants I've been in.    I'll allow it (maybe the best "Mexican" non-Mexican food in the U.S.).

Moe's closed here in Bee Cave after about six months.  They just couldn't seem to get their shit together, and their stuff tasted like grass, except for the queso.

Increasing number of parking spaces outside in front through their run should told ya.

Yeah I eat at plenty of good taquerias, but sometimes going to the Taco Bell drive through with my son and getting a dozen crispy tacos in a box, and eating six of them just hits the spot.  

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elfenix

elfenix 34396

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Posted
I never understood how Chipotle did so much better than Qdoba, Baja Fresh, Freebirds, or fresh Mex/fast casual places.

As far as cheap, fast food, Taco Casa is the best.
Chipotle has an easier sell to investors than freebirds (fewer ingredients - lower costs) but they're all just mission burrito places. Like I said up thread, calimex.

Oy Moe's I've been to was the parmer/35 location. Don't remember it being either good or bad. Last several times I've seen one has been in an airport.
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Lhorn

Lhorn 5045

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Never understood people who genuinely enjoy TB.  It doesn't taste "bad" but it's also not "good."  I eat there for no other reason than I don't want to go to the alternative or because there are no alternatives.  It would almost never be a first choice.  The worst thing about TB is that they seem to think that everyone wants some special ranch sauce or a crazy amount of sour cream on everything.  Food ends up being the consistency of diarrhea.

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Baboontyme

Baboontyme 2845

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7 hours ago, Lhorn said:

Never understood people who genuinely enjoy TB.  It doesn't taste "bad" but it's also not "good."  I eat there for no other reason than I don't want to go to the alternative or because there are no alternatives.  It would almost never be a first choice.  The worst thing about TB is that they seem to think that everyone wants some special ranch sauce or a crazy amount of sour cream on everything.  Food ends up being the consistency of diarrhea.

I hate that shit. Everything has some kind of creamy goo sauce in it. The couple times of year I do get TB I usually order it online for pick up at the drive thru so I can pick and choose my ingredients. Much less chance they screw it up. 

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