Taco Bell Is Overhauling Menu with 'Meal-Sized' Items Under $3 as Americans' Budgets Grow Tighter
You’ll always remember the friend who took you out to dinner the week that your wallet was empty.
Taco Bell seems to be employing the same reasoning, providing more stomach-filling meals at a lower price to help customers struggling with the growing food prices.
The Mexican fast food chain said in a news release Monday that it is refreshing its Cravings Value Menu on Thursday by removing five items and adding six new “meal-sized” options for under $3.
Taco Bell told Business Insider the changes are in response to customers seeking greater value amid rising prices across the fast food industry.
Gone from the value menu are the Chipotle Ranch Grilled Chicken Burrito, Beefy Melt Burrito, Cinnamon Twists, Fiesta Veggie Burrito and Classic Combo.
In their place are six new menu items packed with more food to better satisfy customers looking for an inexpensive meal:
• “$1.99 Double Stacked Taco: This taco is stacked with classic Taco Bell flavors, made up of a Crunchy Taco shell filled with seasoned beef, fiesta strips, lettuce, cheddar cheese, all wrapped in a soft tortilla with nacho cheese sauce.
• “$2.19 Stacker: Indulgent cheesy, beefy flavors all stacked together, made up of seasoned beef, nacho cheese sauce and 3-cheese blend, folded together into a tortilla.
• “$2.79 Cheesy Double Beef Burrito: Beefy, cheesy flavors featuring double the seasoned beef, seasoned rice, nacho cheese sauce, fiesta strips, 3-cheese blend and reduced fat sour cream, all wrapped up in a tortilla.
• “$2.29 3-Cheese Chicken Flatbread Melt: Cheesy chicken indulgence featuring grilled chicken, creamy chipotle sauce and 3-cheese blend, all folded into a pillowy flatbread.
• “$2.49 Chicken Enchilada Burrito: Mexican-inspired flavors made up of grilled chicken, seasoned rice, red sauce, 3-cheese blend and reduced fat sour cream, all wrapped up in a tortilla.
• “$2.99 Loaded Beef Nachos: Nachos loaded with flavor in every bite featuring nacho chips topped with seasoned beef, beans, nacho cheese sauce, red sauce, reduced fat sour cream and guacamole.”
Restaurant Business Online reported in December that restaurant menu prices, especially at fast food chains, are increasing at rates exceeding overall inflation, according to data from the federal government.
Over the past 12 months, fast food menu prices have climbed 6 percent, the outlet reported.
Thanks, Bidenomics.
But it’s not just eating out.
According to Nerd Wallet, grocery store prices rose 2.9 percent from November 2022 to November 2023, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
McDonald’s customers across the U.S. have been feeling the bite as the Golden Arches increased its prices by roughly 10 percent in 2022 and said in October that it planned to do so again by the end of the year, according to Vox.
Last year, a journalist was charged $17.59 for a McDonald’s Big Mac combo meal at a rest stop and expressed his shock on social media. The post went viral, with many commenters voicing their outrage.
This was at a rest stop, but these McDonald’s prices are nuts right??? pic.twitter.com/0qq8Ima3ZA
— Sam Learner (@sam_learner) July 18, 2023
In light of the situation people are facing, Taco Bell is positioning itself as a champion for customers by looking out for their wallets.
While it may cut into profits, perhaps the company is betting on a return to a better time if this year’s elections result in a goodbye to President Joe Biden and the runaway inflation that marked his time in the White House.
Whatever the reasoning, the restaurant chain is sure to become the refried refuge of many Americans looking for a real value meal during these lean times.
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