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In this episode of Tacos of Texas, we dig into a slightly controversial question, “Did Taco Bell steal the taco? We break it down and talk about the origins of the taco in the U.S., how it crossed borders and into drive-thrus, and what gets lost and gained when culture is overtaken by corporate America. From tacos dorados to crunchy shells and late-night cravings, we unpack the history and who really gets to tell the story of one of the most iconic foods in America.
The full transcript of this episode of Tacos of Texas is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps.
Mando Rayo [00:00:00] This land is your land, this land is my land. Hey, it’s the American dream. Hit me with that all American soundtrack.
Mando Rayo [00:00:11] You
Mando Rayo [00:00:19] Yo quiero taco ver. What’s up, Taco World? I’m taco journalist, Mando Rayo, and welcome to the Tacos of Texas podcast, El Seis. Produced by Denny Productions in partnership with KUT and KUTX Studios. And we’re back exploring taco culture in Texas through the eyes of the people in the Lone Star State. So grab a hard shell taco and hot sauce in a packet and get ready for some muy tasty taco conversations. In this episode of Tacos of Texas, we dig into a slightly controversial question. Did Taco Bell steal the taco? I break it down and we talk about the origins of the taco in the US. How it crossed borders and drive-throughs and what gets lost and gained when culture is overtaken by corporate America. From tacos dorados to crunchy shells and late night cravings. We unpack the history and who really gets to tell the story of one of the most iconic foods in America. Listeners, heads up, this episode is different. There will be no guests, so you’ll have to listen to me for the full episode. I’ll be diving into a question that’s been sitting with me for a while. Let’s go. I can get into this. Alright.
Speaker 3 [00:02:21] Yo quiero taco, man
Mando Rayo [00:02:27] Dung, you know that sound, that sound that instantly takes you somewhere. Imagine this, it’s two in the morning. You’re leaving a party, cruising through a drive-thru, and suddenly you’re ordering a Doritos Tacos Loco Supreme, a cheesy gordita, or who knows, even maybe a Mexican pizza, or marronero with cheese. And then, somewhere in between the first bite and the hot sauce packet, you stop and wonder, I don’t know if this is Mexican, but it sure is going down good after a night of getting P-E-D-O, Bezo that is. So today we’re asking a question that’s been sitting in my head for a long time. This just in, did Taco Bell steal the taco? Now, before you change the radio or podcast channel, hear me out, mi gente. I know, I know. You’re probably asking yourself, why is Mando El Taco Journalist, supporter of small mom and pop shops in Texas, covering the story on Taco Bell, the conglomerate? Well, let me explain. Because what looks like a story about a fast food chain is really a story of our culture, about the American dream, and about who gets to tell the story. Love it or hate it, Taco Bell is part of the American experience. Some of us grew up on it like me. Here’s my Taco Bell story. Growing up on the border, we didn’t make a run for the border. Nah, you know the border crossed us. As most of you know, I grew up on the border in El Paso and every now and then we would go to talk about, like when we get together with the cousins, the primos and family and you needed to feed a house full of hungry kids. And even though we ate it, we knew very well that this wasn’t actually Mexican food. For us, it was a simple way to experience the American way of life that really existed right along the Mexican food we grew up on. We grabbed one of those mega taco packs. Everybody would get four or five tacos and somehow it worked. It fed a lot of hungry chavallos growing up. What I remember the most was how cheap it was. Back then, that mattered. Sure, Jack in the Crack, that’s what we call Jack in The Box, had two tacos for 99 cents. But you know that Taco Bell was the OG. And when I got older and started juggling work and school and trying to make ends meet, Taco Bell became even more practical. It was a quick drive-through meal when money was tight and time was short. And what about their numbers? They’re massive. Taco Bell has over 9,000 locations across the United States and around the world. From an ocean tide California bungalow to a gigantic repurposed bank in Guatemala and a two story building in Tokyo. Taco Bell serves more than 40 million U.S. Customers per week and more than two billion customers every year. That’s a billion with a capital B. In 2025 alone, the company generated over $18 billion in revenue. How do you go from a crispy taco at $1.99 to the billions? Talk about feeding the rich! And here’s another fun fact. Did you know that Taco Bell was the first fast food chain certified by the American Vegetarian Association? They sell roughly 350 million vegetarian items annually. The most American taco chain in history. As a vegetarian pioneer? Okay, people. But here’s the thing for millions of Americans. Taco Bell, with their crunchy yellow shell, barely seasoned beef, shredded lettuce, and bright orange cheese is the taco. So how did this happen? How did one fast food chain become the world’s biggest taco seller? How did a Mexican dish become one of the most recognizable symbols of American fast food? And whose story was left out along the way? Mi gente, let’s find out.
Mando Rayo [00:06:51] Well, if you ever playin’ the motoware Try takin’ my way, pass the highway, that’s the best Get your kicks on Route 66
Mando Rayo [00:07:12] Oh, Merca! To understand Taco Bell, you have to understand the moment it was born into, because Taco Bell is the product of a uniquely American moment. This was the post-World War II era. America emerged from the war stronger than ever. Millions of soldiers came home looking for a new life, and the economy was booming. Railroads, suburbs, and new highways were being built at a rapid pace. As the car became king, Americans were moving fast and living fast, and they wanted food to match that. The first drive-thrus were born and restaurant chains were popping up everywhere, like Mickey D’s and our beloved Water Burger in Texas. Suddenly, any food could become the next big thing. Now all of this growth, somebody had to build all of it, right? Can you guess who? That’s right. Black Americans, Chinese immigrants, and Mexican workers. Let’s not forget that at that time, a lot of Mexican people were already here. Why? Because before 1848, most of the American Southwest, California, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, was Mexico. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo redrew the border, but the families stayed where they were. Instead, the border crossed them. Generations had already been living, working, and cooking in this land long before anyone called it the United States. And then the Bracero Program formalized a new arrangement. Starting in 1942, millions of Mexican laborers came north to work the fields and build infrastructure. These workers brought not only their labor, but also their families, their traditions, and their foods. Mexican culture became more and more woven into the fabric of everyday American life. But what McDonald’s had done to the burger hadn’t happened to the taco yet. Sooner or later, somebody was going to figure out how to put their version of a taco at every exit. The only question was, who would get there first? This land is your land, this land is my land. Hey, it’s the American dream. Hit me with that all American soundtrack. Because regardless of your background, anybody can achieve prosperity and success. If you just work hard enough, you can and will make it. No matter the obstacles, you’re a pioneer, an explorer, an entrepreneur who can build something from nothing. Or you can do what one guy in San Bernardino did, peep over to a Mexican restaurant, gain the trust of the family who runs it, and take their family recipe. Let me take you back to 1937. It’s the final years of the Great Depression. We’re in San Bernardino, California, alongside Route 66. Doña Lucia Rodriguez and her husband, Salvador, newly arrived immigrants from Jalisco, Mexico, opened a small restaurant to feed their family and growing neighborhood. They named it Mitla Cafe, and Lucia starts making tacos. Back in Jalico, her family made tacos stuffed with mashed potatoes. But this is America, so she had to work with what she can find. Ground beef, cheddar cheese, tomatoes, iceberg lettuce. She fries the shell until it’s crisp. Sound familiar? That’s right. The hard shell taco has arrived in America here at Meet La Cafe. An immigrant woman takes a family tradition, adapts it to her new reality, and creates something people can’t get enough of. Her business is thriving. Now, let’s jump in time. It’s 1948. The Second World War ended not too long ago. Mila Cafe is still thriving. But across the street, a 25-year-old man from Minnesota named Glenn Bell has opened a hamburger and hot dog stand. While his business isn’t that great, the McDonald’s brothers around the corner are doing fantastic. They got a model. And Bell realizes that going in competition with them in the hamburger business is probably a lost cause. So he thinks and thinks, how do I make this work? And while he’s thinking, he stares in front of him and sees the long lines at Meet La Cafe across the street every single day. Why are they so successful? He wonders, he must figure it out. And now a segment on when white people wonder and how Mexicans did it. Let’s take the pyramids. No, it wasn’t aliens. How about that barbacoa pet? No, It wasn’t a modern day pet master that did that. And the most elusive one, the margarita machine. Actually, did a white person? No, that one actually was a Mexican. And now, back to our regular scheduled program. So what does Glenn Bell start doing? He starts hanging around the restaurant and gets friendly with the family at Meat La Cafe. And eventually he ends up in their kitchen. There he watches from up close how the meat is seasoned and how the shell is fried. He carefully studies every step of it. And then what does he do? He takes what he learned, walks back across the street and gets to work. Six years after opening his hamburger and hot dog stand, he launches his first taco concept and calls it Taco Tia. Then comes El Taco. He keeps working on the formula and tests the concept. And in 1962 in Downey, California, Glenn Bell opens the first official Taco Bell, a tiny 400 square foot taco building Selling Hardshell tacos for just a few cents apiece. More locations to follow, then more and more. In 1967, Taco Bell crosses into Texas, literally making a run for the border, which, by the way, would later become their actual slogan. And their first Texas location, El Paso. That’s my hometown. Can you believe that? In one of the most Mexican cities in the state. Yjole!
Speaker 4 [00:14:15] Drive on into Taco Bell and try to break the border where just a little cash buys you all the tacos you can eat. Just 59 cents each, and your drink refills are free. So break your appetite and break your thirst with 59 cent original tacos and free drink refils. You won’t break us, but keep on trying.
Mando Rayo [00:14:41] Glenn Bell understood something early on. If you want to sell the taco to mainstream America, the food is almost beside the point. You need to sell an idea of Mexico. One that feels exciting, but safe. So how does he do that? Bell brings in an architect to create a look that feels south of the border. Mission style arches, taco walls, and adobe colors. Everything carefully designed to signal Mexico. But a version of Mexico that mainstream America could walk into without thinking twice. Mexico, but comfortable. Mexico, but simplified. Mexico without the Mexicans. And it worked. Even if you look at their early commercials and into the 1980s, the people eating and working at Taco Bell were predominantly white with not one Mexican in sight.
Speaker 4 [00:15:40] When America’s looking for something exciting to eat, America heads for Taco Bell! All the things you love so much
Mando Rayo [00:15:47] Me before you rise with that Taco Bell touch With no sauce, hot sauce, a mild sauce too That Taco Bell just
Speaker 5 [00:16:03] When classic Corvettes, VCRs, and free meals on the wheels, reels, and meal sweepstakes enter not participating restaurants.
Mando Rayo [00:16:09] The excitement, the crunchiness, eating a taco from the middle. See what happens when you let a big box chain introduce you to Mexican food. See, see what happens. So, because for many Americans in the 1950s and 60s, Mexican food was still unfamiliar territory. In fact, the Taco Bell was expanding across the country. Many customers didn’t even know how to pronounce the names of the food they were actually ordering. Which is, let’s be real, still true today.
Speaker 3 [00:16:41] So we want an order of the case of Dillis. Okay, quesadillas. And one enchilada. Bueno, una enchiladda. The fagitis de polo. Fajitas de pollo. Can we get a side of guacamole with that? That’s stupid. I’m going to guacamoles in a moment. For God’s sake. Well, guacamol. And a side frijoles. IT’S FRIJOLES, YOU FRICKIN’ MOLES!
Mando Rayo [00:17:16] The Fajitas de Polo. Come on, people. How did Taco Bell solve that? With a pronunciation guide, of course. What did you think? It’s 1972, 10 years after the first Taco Bell opened, the menu included a pronunciation guy. And now, a special guest that will help us do this is Nick, our sound guy.
Speaker 6 [00:17:41] Almost all Americans get this wrong. You may have seen these words on menus, but do you actually know how to say it? It’s not take-o. It’s taco. It is not ber-ay-to. It’s burrito. It is Not free-jo-lay-s. It’s frijoles. Standard legal model job of this commercial is a parody and a work of fiction. It is not authorized and endorsed or associated with the real brain being mocked. Viewer discretion is advised. Side of beans may be required. Tacos of Texas is not responsible for any embarrassment at restaurants.
Mando Rayo [00:18:22] Okay, if anyone wants that pronunciation guide, you can download it on our Instagram. So Taco Bell was introducing Americans to a curated version of Mexico through a very specific American lens. In a way, this is just a very similar story to Tex-Mex and how Mexican food was made palpable for the American taste buds. Now, someone’s gonna say, Mando, Glenn Bell didn’t steal anything. He didn’t force his way in. He was invited into the kitchen by the family. He simply watched and learned and then built his own thing. That’s business. That’s the American dream. Hey, and I hear that. I hear the American Dream. We love that story. And Glenn Bell, he lived it. A young white guy with big idea who built one of the most recognizable fast food chains on the planet. But here’s the thing about the American dream. It always had fine print. Because when Glenn Bell could dream it and do it, many of the Mexican, Mexican-American, black and indigenous people around him simply could not. Because the system making the dream possible for the majority culture of America, well, it wasn’t built for people of color. Think of redlining, for example. Remember that? Banks literally drew red lines on maps and labeled them neighborhoods too risky for loan. Too risky for mortgages, too risky for business expansion. So even if you had the food and the customers, you most probably didn’t have access to the resources to build a successful business. Redlining kept many doors closed for people of color. And let’s be clear here, this is by all means not a new or exceptional story. Long before Taco Bell, there were countless Mexican entrepreneurs creating businesses with very few resources. And time and time again, we’ve seen others profit from their ideas while the original creators were pushed aside. Take the San Antonio Chili Queens, for example. In the late 1800s, Mexican women filled downtown plazas with tamales enchiladas and chile con carnivals and people loved it. But instead of being recognized as businesswomen, they were treated as a curiosity. Then came the regulations. Strict sanitation rules that outdoor vendors couldn’t meet. One by one, the chile queens were forced out. Gone. Just like that But the demand for Mexican food didn’t disappear in Texas. A businessman from Chicago named Otis Farnsworth saw an opportunity. So he opened the original Mexican restaurant in 1900 in Dallas. What was on the menu? Those accepting dishes moved indoors and repackaged for white customers. He was able to build a thriving business. When someone like Glenn Bell with access to capital, credit and systems that support growth walks into a community that’s been structurally denied all of those same things, and then takes the most valuable cultural product in that space and scales it into a billion dollar empire, what should we call that? I don’t know what was in Glenn Bell’s heart. Maybe he didn’t set out to hurt anyone, but I do knew this. While he acknowledged Mitla Cafe, where he learned the ways of the taco, did he actually thank the family? Did Taco Bell offer compensation? I think he just took it and ran with it. Stories like Lucia Rodriguez from Mitla cafe matter because too often we remember the corporations and we forget the people who came first. We forget the immigrants, the working-class families. The entrepreneurs who actually shape the culture. And we can’t let that happen. Steven Alvarez, who teaches a course at St. John’s University in New York called Taco Literacy, said it well in a BBC travel article. It’s important to recognize that Bell was a failed fast food entrepreneur before he had the realization that the restaurant across the street from his failing business was booming. The Mitla Cafe. What happened here is a white guy seeing opportunities to market Mexican food to a mainstream audience for the love of profit and not the love of Mexican people. So if Taco Bell managed to convince two billion people that their version of the taco was the taco, you’d think they could convince anyone. Turns out there’s one place where it didn’t work. Mexico in 1992, and again in 2010. They tried it and it failed twice because Mexicans saw that they weren’t real tacos. In an NBC News article, Mexican writer Carlos Monsivais nailed it. He said, bringing Taco Bell to Mexico was like bringing ice to the Arctic. Ay, que frio with that quote. Another misfire in the Taco Bell saga, the Yo Quiero Taco Bell campaign launched in the late 90s. Remember that cute little talking chihuahua?
Speaker 3 [00:24:14] Yo quiero Taco Bell
Mando Rayo [00:24:21] I think a lot of Latinos have a love-hate relationship with these kinds of images. I mean, just think of Speedy Gonzales and Slowpoke Rodriguez, Yo Quiero Taco Bell. These four words became an instant hit. But it didn’t take long for people to ask, okay, but what exactly are we laughing at here? Think about it. A Chihuahua speaking in Spanish with an exaggerated accent. That’s not Mexican culture. That’s a cartoon of Mexican identity. That’s Mexican culture flattened into a joke for mass consumption. Eventually, public pressure got so loud that Taco Bell had to pull the dog off the air. Oh, poor Chihuahua. But the damage and message stuck around. And here’s where the story takes a turn I did not expect. Because I thought I knew how this story ended. Corporate America soups in, takes the culture, makes billions of dollars, and no return on investment for the community that created it. We’ve seen that movie before. But Meet La Cafe, the family, they never sued, they never complained publicly, never tried to capitalize on the story. In an interview with CBS News, Mike Montaño, co-owner of Meet La Café, opened by his grandmother, Doña Lucia Rodriguez, said, I don’t want people to feel like they weren’t successful or that they were taken advantage of or anything like that. And I’ve been asking myself, is that because they genuinely don’t care? Because they’re happy with what they have? Or is it something deeper? Is it something cultural? Here’s what I think. It’s probably a mix of all that. But there is something in being Mexican and Latino and how the older generation was taught to avoid conflict and to maintain harmony. And back in 1950, white men dominated business. They made the rules and ran the city councils. They controlled who got loans and who didn’t. So you didn’t push back. You kept your head down and made sure your family got to eat. And unfortunately… That’s the same thing. That restraint, I still see it today. But remember, we’re talking about Salvador and Lucia Rodriguez, immigrants from Jalisco who came to America and built something real. They were able to feed their family and their community and are still feeding generations of people. In the end, Bell’s motivation and Lucias’ were never the same Belle wanted to conquer, Lucia wanted to nourish. Those are two completely different relationships with food and with people. And what Mi La Cafe builds is something you can’t mass produce. So, was the Americanization of the taco inevitable? Probably. Glenn Bell is the American dream. I’d say he’s also the embodiment of privilege. And those two things are not as different as we like to think. Now, some would argue, and look, it’s not crazy, it’s a crazy point that having more people eat Mexican food is a good thing. But I keep coming back to the same question. At what? Cost the expansion of Mexican food doesn’t have to be accepted just because it happened not Everything has to be consumed by mainstream America and if you genuinely want to understand the food and the culture then dive deep into the pronunciations dive deep into the style of tacos and I’d say that’s just the way to do it because Just because a white man introduces something to the masses doesn’t make it a good thing. It just makes it loud. So it’s time to finally answer the question, did Taco Bell steal the taco? When you think about it, that recipe may have been shared in spirit of generosity, but it was ultimately taken without meaningful compensation. Someone who didn’t fully understand the cultural significance of the food profited from it without looking back? In my book, the answer is yes. Taco Bell did steal the taco. Yo no quiero Taco Bell. Dong! I’m Ando Rayo, El Taco Journalist. This has been the Tacos of Texas podcast. This has been the Tacos of Texas podcast, developed and produced by Identity Productions. If you enjoyed today’s episode and are craving more taco content, go to our website at www.identity.productions. Or follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube at IdentityProductions and United Tacos Of America. This is your host, Mando El Taco Journalist Rayo. Vamos a los tacos! In the next próximo Tacos of Texas, Baja Style Tacos. Let’s head to the coast for some Baja style tacos with a crew from Ensenada ATX.
Louisa Van Assche [00:29:59] The Tacos of Texas podcast is presented by Identity Productions in partnership with KUT and KUTX Studios. Our host and producer is Mando, El Taco journalist, Rayo. Our audio is mixed by Nicholas Worden. Our video production is taken care of by Dennis Burnett. Our wonderful interns are Quetzal and Diego Rayo, and our story and line producer is me, Luisa Min Van Asse. Music was created by Peligrosa in Austin, Texas. And King Benny Productions located in the Quinto Barrio of Houston. Special thanks to Tinu Thomas at KUT and KUTX in Austin for her research and support on this episode.
This transcript was transcribed by AI, and lightly edited by a human. Accuracy may vary. This text may be revised in the future.
