I Tried Taco Bell’s New ‘Decades Menu’ & One Cheesy, Zesty Item Reigned Supreme
Being a regular Taco Bell customer can be a rollercoaster of emotions. No other major fast-food chain shakes up its offerings so frequently, constantly adding new menu items while abruptly dropping others. One day, your favorite order will be right there waiting for you. The next day—poof!—it’s gone, with no indication of when, if ever, it’s coming back. Just ask fans of the Enchirito or Mexican pizza, two beloved foodstuffs that Taco Bell unceremoniously dumped over the years.
With every breakup, however, there remains a glimmer of hope for a joyous reunion someday. Both the Enchirito and Mexican pizza eventually came back, albeit only briefly in the former’s case. And that’s what lovers of four bygone Taco Bell delicacies can now look forward to with today’s launch of Taco Bell’s new Decades Menu.
The prolific Mexican chain has returned one popular item from four decades. These limited-time comebacks include the Tostada, an original item from Taco Bell’s first menu in the early 1960s; the Green Sauce Burrito, which was popular in the 1970s; the much-missed Meximelt from the 1980s; and the Gordita Supreme, which rose to prominence in the 1990s. A fifth item, the early-aughts sensation Caramel Apple Empanada, will eventually join the group of returning throwback faves next month.
Curious how well these specters of Taco Bell past would resonate with contemporary tastes, I rambled on down to my nearest Taco Bell to try each one. Here’s how they tasted, each ranked in descending order, beginning with my least favorite and counting down to the one nostalgic bite that still holds up.
