We’ve heard a lot lately about how the cost of fast food is too dang high. Industry leader McDonald’s raised its prices by 10 percent last year — on top of the 10 percent they went up the year before that — and chains such as Chipotle and Chick-fil-A are steadily and substantially hiking their prices, too.
Consumers, many of whom count on drive-throughs for sustenance on a budget, are supersized mad about it, too. Diners’ tales of the eye-popping amounts they paid for their food — a $16 Big Mac meal in Idaho in 2022 and an $18 one in Connecticut last year — have gone viral.
To appeal to the pinched, some chains are focusing on making their value menus, which typically feature lower-priced, a la carte items, more attractive. Chief among them is Taco Bell, which has long been known as the destination for the broke and hungry. Last month, it debuted a retooled “Cravings Value Menu” of 10 items, each for $3 or less. The lineup, which includes four existing items and six new ones, is aimed at people looking for “more satiating, meal-sized items,” and not just snacks, the company said in a news release.
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The chain’s recent ad featuring the band Portugal the Man plays up its role as the original go-to spot for cheapsters. “It was the one restaurant we could afford on like our $3 per diem,” one of the musicians says. “You were living when you went to Taco Bell.”
So it seems beggars can be choosers after all — but which of the chain’s “value” items are actually bargains? To find out, we tried all of them, a collection that costs just over $20 total and weighs in at nearly four pounds of food. (The total: $20.71 for 3.78 pounds.)
The prices listed below are those on the chain’s website, though I should note that the prices at my nearest location, inside Washington’s Union Station, were higher — perhaps because you expect to pay more for just about everything at a train station that’s often flooded with tourists.
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Here’s how they stacked up:
Cheesy Roll Up
$1 / 3 ounces
This slight specimen, which consists of nothing but grated cheese melted and rolled in a tortilla, is the cheapest item on the menu, but honestly, it didn’t seem like a great deal. “It looks like a pencil eraser,” one colleague said, before biting into it. “And it kind of tastes like a pencil eraser.” (To be fair, it probably suffered the most of any of the value-menu array from the delay between ordering and eating, since there’s nothing to distract you from that unfortunately seized-up cheese.) At best, it’s something you could imagine ordering to keep a post-errands, meltdown-approaching toddler from ruining the trip home.
Cheesy Bean and Rice Burrito
$1.19 / 6.5 ounces
Beans and rice are a budget diner’s staples, and they reunite here for my favorite item on this menu. Pleasantly salty refried beans form the bass line of this straightforward combination, and I’m here for that. I didn’t pick up on much of the “creamy jalapeño sauce” that was allegedly in the mix, but a dab from one of Taco Bell’s hot sauce packets (“fire” is my go-to) perked up the flavor. This is what I would order for myself to fend off a hangry fit.
Spicy Potato Soft Taco
$1.19 / 4 ounces
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Another winner for vegetarians, for whom Taco Bell is the rare fast-food chain with varied options — or anyone wary of most fast-food proteins. The potatoes were decently crispy, and the chipotle sauce added complexity, though maybe not in a good way, due to a faux-smoke note that I found off-putting.
Double Stacked Taco
$1.99 / 4.75 ounces
Taco Bell has a knack for pairing crunchy textures with soft, and this item employs the chain’s fun party trick of layering a hard taco shell within a soft tortilla, glued together with some nacho cheese sauce (a configuration that not only creates a pleasant juxtaposition but also cuts down on the mess of a crumbling shell). Alas, the beef brings the whole thing down — I personally dislike the fine, nearly paste-like texture of Taco Bell’s ground beef mixture. But if you’re a fan, this is otherwise appealing.
Stacker
$2.19 / 5.25 ounces
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If biting into six layers of tortilla encasing a relatively thin filling (of ground beef, cheese and nacho cheese sauce) is your idea of a good time, this one is for you. If that sounds like a carb-heavy, low-flavor proposition [raises hand], you should look elsewhere for your snacking needs. This might be an unpopular opinion, since the Stacker has a fan following that was vocally upset when the item was discontinued in 2017. I suspect, though, that their enthusiasm for the thing might have had something to do with its original price tag of just a buck. At more than twice what it used to cost? They might prove to be fair-weather friends.
3 Cheese Chicken Flatbread Melt
$2.29 / 5 ounces
Okay, I get that carbs are often the cheapest way to add heft to a menu item, but the thick, doughy blanket provided by the titular wrap is just too much. At the same time, it’s not enough, since it offers no textural contrast to the soft fillings. Taco Bell’s chicken — with a bit of pleasant chew, served here in thin strips — is an improvement over the beef, but again, there’s an appearance by the chain’s chipotle sauce and its faux-smoke redolence that would make me say pass (or at the very least swap in a different sauce).
Chicken Enchilada Burrito
$2.49 / 7.25 ounces
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This combination of chicken, rice, cheese, sour cream and red sauce was another win for me. I started to suspect that the taco artists who prepared my order employed a very light hand with certain sauces, because as I found with the bean and cheese burrito, there didn’t seem to be much red sauce. That would have added a welcome punch to the party. Another squeeze from a packet, though, and I got the balance I was looking for. Bonus: This burrito felt hefty enough in which to make a meal.
Loaded Beef Nachos
$2.99 / 11 ounces
This aptly named fella is, indeed, loaded, with chips heaped with refried beans, beef, nacho cheese, sour cream, red sauce and guacamole. I’d advise eating this hot off the drive-through, because the base will quickly go soggy under all those accoutrements. And it goes without saying that this is definitely not a car-friendly dish, since it requires some deft scooping to manage. I was rightly suspicious of the guac, fearing that a fast-food version of my favorite dip would disappoint. It had a pleasant lime-forward flavor, but it suffered from a thinner consistency than the freshly mashed kind — and I found it creepy that the mixture showed no sign of browning hours after I purchased it. But if it’s bang for your buck you’re after, this chonky dish clocks in as a particularly good deal.
Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes
$2.59 / 5.2 ounces
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I’m not sure who, exactly, this petite bowl is for. People who really like forks? Those who insist upon a side item to go with their entrees? It’s pretty simple, just cubes of potatoes topped with nacho cheese and sour cream — and pretty bland and beige.
Cheesy Double Beef Burrito
$2.79 / 8.6 ounces
If it’s ground beef you’re after, this might be your pick (again, I’m not, but you do you, Taco Bell Beef Fans). It boasts twice the amount of the protein found in the chain’s regular taco, with the addition of “fiesta strips,” which seem to be vividly colored tortilla chips, cheese, nacho sauce, sour cream and rice. This is another option best eaten right away, as those chips quickly lost their crunch. It’s also another standout bargain, weighing in at over half a pound.
correction
A previous version of this article incorrectly said that a collection of Taco Bell's “value” items weighs 3.78 ounces. It weighs 3.78 pounds. The article has been corrected.
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