In 1962, Glen Bell founded what is now one of today’s go-to fast food joints, Taco Bell. It all started as a small-town taco stand in Downey, California and is now known for its iconic Mexican-inspired menu.
Taco Bell’s founder, Glen Bell, is a World War II veteran and opened his first hot dog stand, called Bell’s Drive-In, in 1948. His inspiration arrived from the success of a local Mexican restaurant called Mitla Café. The café was known for its delicious hard-shell tacos. After Bell learned the recipe, he opened his first taco stand in 1954, Taco Tia. Now, back to 1962, on July 6th, the official Taco Bell restaurant finally opened. It was located on 7112 Firestone Boulevard in Downey, California. The menu highlighted tacos, burritos, tostadas, and chiliburgers, all priced at 19 cents each.
Of course, Taco Bell has come a very long way since it was first opened. Recently, on January 13th, 2026, Taco Bell announced that they would be rolling out their new Luxe Value Menu, debuting nationwide on the 22nd. It introduced five new elevated creations paired with five of their previous fan favorites. What makes this so eye-catching is that all the items on this menu cost only $3 or less. The menu offers a variety of bold, irresistible flavors and brand new installations to kick off the new year. All Taco Bell Rewards Members gain early access to the menu starting on January 16th by using the Taco Bell app.
Now, let’s have a look at the new menu. Four of my fellow classmates and I, Natalie Shuba, Sydney McCabe, Molly Neuzil, and Emerson Edie, collectively tasted, rated, and included a few thoughts on all eleven menu items. One of each item was purchased, except for the salted caramel churros due to the item only coming in a three pack. Together, all of the menu items cost $27.38. I’d like to give a special thank you to Molly and Emerson for helping split the cost! A few more things before we get into the review itself: the rating given to each item will be averaged out from everyone who tasted it, each item was cut into a bite sized piece for each contributor (therefore everything was consumed in moderation), and experiences from Taco Bell may vary from day to day and this is simply just a fun review and not meant to direct any hate towards the Taco Bell owners or staff at the restaurant we chose to visit.
We started the review with the Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes. The score this item will be receiving is a 6.4. I thought the potatoes were delectable and well-balanced with the sour cream and cheese sauce. Molly thought the flavor was just okay and nothing special, while there was a collective decision that the potatoes lacked consistency when it came to the crunchiness of each bite.
Up next is the new Chips and Nacho Supreme Dip. Unfortunately, our chips were not included in the order, likely due to the order being larger than average. To substitute the chips, we used tortilla chips I had on hand. The group’s decision was a 6/10. Emerson thought that the flavors mixed well together. Natalie wanted me to include that the chips used definitely affected her rating, and Sydney did not try this one due to her sheer hatred for refried beans, which were the base of the dip.
After that, we decided to try another new item, the Salted Carmel Churros. The score it is receiving is a 7.5/10. Natalie enjoyed the dessert, but wanted to include that she is not fond of caramel. I also agree with that, and I believe that the seasoning was overpowering the cream on the inside of the churro. Molly and Sydney both agree that it was delicious, but it is lacking a dipping sauce, preferably chocolate.
Our next item up for review was the new Mini Taco Salad. It was given a great rating of 8.7/10. The shell was just the perfect crispy and airy texture; however, Sydney and I both agree that the refried beans in it were very strong.
The new menu item, the Avocado Ranch Chicken Stacker, was up next for review. It earned a 7.2/10 from the reviewers. It was noted to be flavorful and refreshing. Natalie commented that the chicken had a chewy texture.
Next on the list is the Spicy Potato Soft Taco. The biggest comment we all agreed on for this item was its lack of consistency with its spicy sauce. Sydney felt that the taco may be better off as a hard shell rather than a soft shell, meaning maybe the franchise could consider a crunchy version of this taco. We gave this a 5.9/10.
As for the Cheesy Bean and Rice Burrito, this one barely would have made the cut if it weren’t for one thing. The rating it is receiving is a 1.8/10 due to its overpowering bean distribution. We all agreed that the burrito is much better when ordered with no beans, which is what I call a cheesy rice burrito. What I like to call a cheesy rice burrito. We highly recommend trying this burrito without the beans if you are also not a fan of it.
The next item we tried achieved the highest-ranked spot from the entire review, a score of 8.9/10. The 3 Cheese Chicken Flatbread Melt found a special place in our hearts, and Sydney noted that this item will become a new staple that she will consider when eating at Taco Bell. The flavours matched the texture of the bread very well and definitely deserves its spot as the best item on the Luxe Value Menu.
The next item we reviewed was the Cheesy Double Beef Burrito. I personally enjoyed its tortilla strips ratio and thought that the flavors paired well together. On the other hand, Molly and Sydney both agreed that the burrito lacked flavor and would not order it again. Emerson commented that the burrito tasted homemade and could tell there was extreme effort poured into making the item. We collectively scored this as a 7.2/10.
We then moved on to the group’s least favorite item on the menu, the Beefy Potato Loaded Griller. Molly’s initial reaction was “leave the potatoes alone”. We all agreed that this burrito was way too overpowering with its potato ratio and was something that belonged in a bowl rather than in a tortilla. It barely passed by with a score of 0.4/10.
The final item to be reviewed was sadly not included in our order: the Cheesy Roll Up. Like I once mentioned earlier, our order was large and mistakes were likely to occur with such a big request. The good thing is that the item is very simple. It is only a tortilla filled with cheese.
Overall, this was a good experience, and we all got to try out new items. To recap, the highest rated option was the 3 Cheese Chicken Flatbread Melt, and the lowest rated item was the Beefy Potato Loaded Griller. I averaged out all of the scores to see what the Luxe Value Menu’s rating was as a whole. The scoring resulted in 6.67/10. I think that we all agree that this is something we would try with other fast food restaurants.
