Free taco day
Look, I’m not going to front like I’ve never been to Taco Bell but I’ve only gone in the absence of other viable choices and I’ve never, ever called it “Mexican” food. Taco Bell is pure and simple junk food and there’s no other way to describe it. People eat there because it’s cheap. Today it’s super cheap: as part of a World Series promotion , Taco Bell is offering everyone a free taco today between 2 pm and 5 pm today at any of their many Puget Sound locations.
It’s Taco Tuesday!
I read an interesting article recently about how Taco Bell was trying another move into Mexico. The article started with that, but quickly moved into a cool account of the author growing up on Southern Cal and seeing Taco Bell. He said that that for many people this was their first exposure to Mexican food. At the time there weren’t any Mexican restaurants to speak of and you generally had to know someone to get good Mexican food, so Taco Bell was kind of a interesting thing. It was a clean restaurant that served up Mexican like meals. What I found even more interesting about the article was that he said that even 15 years ago it was hard to find a Mexican restaurant in New York City due to the fact that most of the Latin people there come from the Carribean. Now it’s not so much since there are plenty of Mexicans in NY now, they cook most of the food at the high end gourmet restaurants (large Oaxacan influx in the last 10 years). The famous Tony Bourdaine has said that he would not have been successful if it weren’t for the Mexican immigrants that cook for him. Very cool article, I wish I could remember where I read it.
Tony,
If you do happen to remember where you read that article, let me know. It sounds interesting.
Eating Taco Bell is blasphemy in my Family. Tony is right about Taco Bell looking to move into Mexico. In Sonora, where my family is from, there is a Taco Bell on both sides of the border near Nogales. I believe the only reason they are doing it is because it seems like there is a demand for more fast food in Mexico. I am not sure if it is going well so far though.
La Carta de Oaxaca here in Seattle. Absolutely Delicious. If you haven’t gone, I definitely recommend you do, since it is not to be missed.
Hey Zee,
I found the article: http://www.salon.com/mwt/food/eat_drink/2007/09/05/taco_bell/
I originally stumbled across it on BoingBoing.net (love the Boing!). It’s a great read.
Tony–thanks! I appreciate it!
Gabe–I will check out La Carta de Oaxaca, I don’t think I’ve been there yet. Thanks for the tip, I am excited to give it a try.