Taco Bell Corp.

Fast-Food Workers Walk Out Across NYC, Demand Higher Wages

Newly formed strike-organizer Fast Food Forward is coordinating a protest with hundreds of the city's fast-food workers today, beginning with the 280 Madison Avenue McDonald's at 6:30 this morning, where employees walked out demanding better wages. More strikes are expected today at noon in Penn S ... More >>

Medical Marijuana: Can Weed Treat Obesity?

We're still trying to wrap our heads around this item, but here we go... Several British researchers claim that cannabis -- fondly known for inducing intense cravings for everything from Hot Pockets to Doritos to Taco Bell -- might actually have appetite suppressant qualities, and could even be use ... More >>

Reviewing the Doritos Locos Taco

William Grimes, former restaurant critic at The New York Times, reviews the Doritos Locos Taco today:Like almost every normal American, I like Doritos Nacho Cheese Flavored chips. For precisely that reason, I regarded the taco version with dread. Would it violate the spirit of the chip? Or, converse ... More >>

Since When Were Black Beans 'Upper Class'?

Taco Bell's New Doritos Taco

The cheaper of the two is the one to get. In an amazing act of cross-branding, Taco Bell has painted its hard taco shell bright orange with a chemical-tasting spice mixture - and called it a Doritos. Or maybe what's amazing is that they didn't think of it before - from 1978 to 1997, Pepsico (the c ... More >>

Blogroll Gazette: Food Mashups, Restaurant Nostalgia

Inspired by Taco Bell's Doritos shells, McSweeney's imagines other food mashups. Serious Eats gives us Frank Bruni's recommendations for dining on the Upper West Side.

Screw the McRib: Bring Back These 5 Discontinued Fast Food Items

McDonald'sWhat's better than the McRib? Oh, we'll tell you what's better.​ If you haven't been watching television, reading any food blogs, or paying visits to McDonald's recently, you might not know that the cult favorite McRib sandwich is back. The sandwich stuffs a pork patty (sorry, no act ... More >>

Happy National Taco Day! Find NYC's Best Tacos

It's National Taco Day, apparently! While New York City might not be Los Angeles when it comes to scoring premium carne asada off the street, there are still lots of excellent taco options to try. Plenty of new spots have opened since we listed the 10 Best Tacos in New York a couple of years ago, wi ... More >>

Heidi Knowles, Washington State Mom, Tries To Sell Baby in Taco Bell

​ A mom tried to sell her baby for $500 in a Taco Bell in Vancouver, Washington last week, joining a long tradition of people attempting to sell their children in down-market chains. 36-year-old Heidi Knowles approached a woman at the restaurant and tried to hand her her baby boy, making it clear ... More >>

European E. Coli Culprit Found; Taco Bell Launches In-Store Entertainment, Wi-Fi

​Newsflash: In-N-Out outranks McDonald's in a Consumer Reports survey. Oh, and chains like the Golden Arches and Taco Bell aren't as cheap as they profess to be. [Reuters] European investigators have traced the devastating E. coli outbreaks in Germany and France back to this likely culprit: f ... More >>

SmartMoney's 10 Fast-Food Chain Secrets

The 'M' stands for mum.​OK, so maybe we've been ragging on fast-food chains lately. But, as a new SmartMoney roundup reminds us, it's important to stay suspicious of these ubiquitous cheap-food dispensers. The article lists 10 secrets restaurant chains continue to hide from their patrons. And ... More >>

PETA Applauds Taco Bell for Cutting Out Meat; Stephen Colbert's Answer is to Just Eat More

Beef-esque Crunch Burrito.​Not everyone is pissed at Taco Bell for skimping on real meat in its taco fillings. PETA recently posted on its blog that it's the 35 percent meat people should be upset about -- not the other 65 percent, which is made up of oats, yeast, soybeans, corn starch, citric ... More >>

Five Reasons You Should Hate Taco Bell, Besides the Lack of Real Meat

​This is Mexican food? It looks like a horny Chihuahua splooged on it. 1. Meat, schmeat -- are you ever certain of the meat supply at any fast-food outlet? A few years ago, there was a website that claimed the average McDonald's hamburger had been lodged in permafrost for around three years ... More >>

Lawsuit Claims That Taco Bell's Meat Is Indeed a Mystery

Robert SietsemaNo, you don't want to know what's inside that burrito.​This shouldn't really come as a surprise, but according to a lawsuit filed in Alabama, the "meat" used in Taco Bell dishes isn't really meat.

Taco Bell Says Lawsuit Is 'Absolutely Wrong'

Taco BellHoo, boy.​Following this morning's news of the class-action lawsuit claiming that what Taco Bell calls "beef" doesn't meet the USDA's minimum requirements for anything called "beef" or "seasoned ground beef," the company is doing damage control.

Taco Bell's Beefy Crunch Burrito, a Review in Which Fork in the Road Performs a Caesarian

​The Beefy Crunch Burrito comes shrouded in a generic wrapper, as if Taco Bell isn't sure it's a keeper. National fast-food chains continue innovating at breakneck speed, trying to keep pace with the competition and stabilize their market share - all the while being assaulted by new chains an ... More >>

A Look Back at the Top Stories of 2010

Albert Michael/StartraksBaby porn​ Sure, sure, a new year is now upon us, but as we usher in 2011, let's take a quick look down memory lane to see what stories reigned supreme on Fork in the Road in 2010. Come relive the year of Padma, the Pizzacone, and eating in Times Square.

Fast Food Chains to Redouble Efforts to Fatten Americans in 2011

Victoria BekiempisDunkin's sausage pancake bites: part of a growing arsenal.​Donna Simpson, New Jersey's most famous fat lady, used Thanksgiving to remind America that she is still committed to one day weighing 1,000 pounds. And thanks to some recent menu updates, she'll be getting plenty of h ... More >>

Cheese Lobby is Making America Fat on Behalf of the Government

​The United States Department of Agriculture is pairing with businesses like Domino's Pizza and Taco Bell to make you fat by loading up already bad food with more cheese. They're doing it through a middle man, Dairy Management, a "marketing creation" of the government, which is responsible for ... More >>

Behold The Musical Spoils Of The Brooklyn Book Festival

​Ah, the Brooklyn Book Festival, a five-year-old, free, all-day blowout of panels, readings, and extraordinary quasi-literary happenings, where you might see, say, Ian MacKaye complaining about people who say "just type it in" when they mean "Google it." (On a panel with Thurston Moore and Lup ... More >>

Taco Bell Linked to Salmonella Outbreak; Thomas' English Muffins Go to Court

​Some people in L.A., where restaurant letter grades have existed for some time, apparently seek out eateries with a B or C grade, as that usually means great, authentic ethnic food. [NY Daily News] Just as Taco Bell launches its new Carnitos Tacos, the chain is being linked to two multi-stat ... More >>

The New Taco Bell Pacific Shrimp Taco

​Is the American eating public ready for mayo in their tacos, and cilantro in their fast food? The name of the thing put me on my guard. What the hell does "Pacific shrimp" mean? When I was a kid, "Gulf shrimp" meant something--wild shrimp from the Gulf of Mexico. But nowadays, nearly all shr ... More >>

Will a Chihuahua Actually Eat Taco Bell?

​Ever since Gidget, the Chihuahua best known for her purported desire for Taco Bell, went to the big drive-through in the sky this summer, we've been thinking about Chihuahuas, and whether or not they actually like crappy Mexican food. The breed is the smallest of all dogs and has a long his ... More >>

¡Ask a Mexican! In Praise of Fast Mexican Fare

Were Your French Fries Cooked in Corn Oil?; Just How Much Salt Is in Your Favorite New York Food?

​In light of Mayor Bloomberg's plan to cut our salt intake, just how much salt is in New York foods? Delicatessen's bagel and smoked salmon plate has 105 percent of the recommended daily intake, Char No. 4's lamb pastrami sandwich has 92 percent, but Sigmund Pretzel Shop's pretzels only have ... More >>

Das Racist: Thanks, Internet!

Brooklyn's finest have a few thoughts on their online celebrity

The Future Is Bleak for Foodies; Forget Jared. Meet Christine, Taco Bell's Diet Poster Girl

​The latest food recall comes from National Steak and Poultry in Oklahoma, which is recalling some 248,000 pounds of beef that might be contaminated with a strain of E. coli. The meat could be linked to illnesses in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, South Dakota, and Washington. [ABC News] Wh ... More >>

Why Won't Taco Bell Cop to Cupcakes?

Nevada Tumbleweed/flickr​ According to Nation's Restaurant News, Taco Bell officials are denying last week's report that the chain is testing such sweet and market-saturating treats as Red Velvet cupcakes and smoothies in at least one location in Southern California. Could they be embarrassed ... More >>

Here's an iPhone Snap of Jim Jarmusch Watching Caribou Vibration Ensemble at All Tomorrow's Parties

My terrible iPhoneI would suck as a member of the paparazzi. As a taste of the absolutely epic experience that was All Tomorrow's Parties New York this past weekend, I give you an iPhone snap of Jim Jarmusch watching Caribou Vibration Ensemble yesterday afternoon. (It's no Mary Gaitskill rapping Da ... More >>

This Wesleyan Mafia Thing Seems To Be Getting Out Of Hand

Yikes So our good friends Das Racist played/terrorized Public Assembly Sunday night as some sort of value-added Wesleyan supergroup dubbed Spanish Broads. How'd it go? A Brooklyn Vegan writeup that begins "At what can only be described as one of the worst live shows I've ever seen," that's how it w ... More >>

Foods Go High Fiber; Taco Bell Gets a First Meal

​In a response to consumer demand for more nutritious foods, food companies are putting out fiber-rich products once again. Danone, Kellogg, and General Mills are among those that have added extra fiber to some of their product lines. [Wall Street Journal] Food equals ratings on networks like ... More >>

Islands

Esquire Serves a Super-Sized Fast Food Feature

macrofarm/flickr​This month's issue of Esquire devotes considerable coverage to the topic of fast food, with a round-up of the country's best (In-N-Out) and worst (Taco Bell) chains, thoughts about burger joints, and chef confessionals about the last time they ate fast food. Our fair city's culina ... More >>

Adios, Taco Bell Chihuahua

People magazine brings news of the passing of Gidget, the Taco Bell chihuahua responsible for scalding the phrase "Yo quiero Taco Bell" into the brains of untold millions. The dog, who at times seemed less canine than cuddly Trojan horse for Mexican stereotypes, died from a stroke last night at the ... More >>

RIP Peter's

Even sadder to Fork in the Road than the passing of the Taco Bell chihuahua is the demise of Peter's Grocery on Madison Street. EV Grieve posted the news earlier today, along with numerous photos of the decades-old storefront, which was located on the edge of Chinatown. The shop, which was owned by ... More >>

Other Perspectives on the Big Show: "Do Not Go to Siren Fest Hungover!"

Combing through various Twitter/blog Siren dispatches, I am struck by this treatise, from Pop Tarts Suck Toasted (splendid name, bizarre sentiment), which laments the author's recent alcohol intake but features some excellent pics of the Future of the Left bassist's leap into the crowd (one of my ... More >>

This Weekend! 4th of July Edition

It's our country's birthday this weekend. Thursday, the Celebrate Brooklyn festival hosts Puetro Rican pop star Obie Bermudez at the Bandshell; he paid his dues working a Bronx laundromat job for three years. Luke Temple earned his weight by pulling hours at a candy store; Friday, he fronts Here We ... More >>

Das Racist

This Week's Voice: Das Racist, dead prez, Woody Allen's Whatever Works, New York Asian Film Festival, Peter Terzian's Heavy Rotation, and More

Ben RowlandDas Racist, not thinking Arby's In this week's Village Voice Music Section, Rob Harvilla chats with geniuses behind "Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell," otherwise known as Das Racist. J. Pablo takes a stroll through Bed-Stuy with dead prez. Bret Gladstone with the Avett Brothers at I ... More >>

A Chat with Das Racist, the Geniuses Behind "Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell"

Scenes from a fast-food restaurant (on Jamaica Avenue!)

This Week in the Voice

Maybe you've heard of "snowflake babies" but never really known what they were. They're not really babies -- just frozen embryos about the size of a comma. But because they can be implanted in women and gestated into children, conservative Christians say the frosted 'flakes are people. And they're r ... More >>

¡Ask a Mexican! Taco Hell

An East Coast Chicano suffers

Yelpers Find Worst Restaurant Bathroom in City

The bathroom at the Taco Bell on 14th Street between University and Fifth Avenue (click to examine more closely) Rummaging through Yelp the other day, Fork in the Road discovered some of the worst reviews we'd seen in a long while, and they focused on the bathroom at a local Taco Bell. Here are som ... More >>

New Pool Party Brings Out The Cuties!

And finding people who, surprisingly, aren't all wet.

Red Menace: The Tomato Salmonella Outbreak

Where to Eat off the Jersey Turnpike

Pizza Shut

A beloved Brooklyn pizza joint is targeted by the city

NY Mirror

Animal Magnets

Super Bowl Ads Attract Viewers with Unnatural Nature